FBI seeks info on man with facial birthmark

The FBI and the Department of Public Safety yesterday sought the public’s help on a potential lead in the disappearance of missing sisters Faloma and Maleina Luhk—a man who has a very distinctive birthmark on his right cheek.

“I would emphasize that the individual that I will speak about is not a suspect or a person of interest in this investigation. But is someone who was seen in the area during a relevant time period who may have witnessed something that might be relevant to the case,” FBI special agent Tom Simon said during a media briefing near the bus stop in As Teo where the Luhk sisters were reportedly last seen on May 25, 2011.

Simon said that, on May 6, 2011 at approximately 10:30pm a white four-door car with some body damage on the front passenger side was seen driving in this area.

He said the vehicle with tinted windows, drove up the road near the entrance to the Santa Lourdes shrine and parked in the dark area.

“At the time one of the neighbors who was concerned that something was going on walked up to the car and engaged with the driver and spoke to the driver. And the driver said he was looking for someone and eventually drove off,” said Simon, who is the FBI Honolulu media relations coordinator.

As he showed a drawing of the driver to the media, the special agent described him as a Pacific islander and about 30 years old, with short clean cut hair.

“One thing that is very distinctive about the individual who is driving the white car is that he has a very distinctive birthmark on the face,” he said.

Simon said the sketch, which was given to them by a witness, is not an official police sketch, but that is only “something to jag the memory of the people.”

Simon said anyone who knows this individual or any individual fitting this description is encouraged to contact either the FBI Command Post at (670) 322-0054 or the DPS Incident Command Center at 664-9090.

He said the birthmark is located on the right side of the face, underneath the eye toward the nose.

“I want to emphasize that this person is not a suspect in the disappearance of these girls nor a person of interest. We want to talk to him if he saw anything suspicious,” he said.

Simon said the person was seen on May 6 so they are talking about a couple of weeks before the girls disappeared.

Simon said they want to make sure that they leave no stone unturned in this investigation because nothing is more important to the DPS police and the FBI than getting these girls back home safely.

“So we want to make sure we speak to everyone who spent any amount of time in this neighborhood if they saw anything suspicious,” he said.

Simon said the person will not be arrested as they just want to have a friendly conversation with him to see if he has seen anything that would be of interest to law enforcement in this matter.

“The important thing here is the actual birthmark. This is one of the many leads we are running down right now. We are not excluding any leads in this investigation,” he said.

DPS Commissioner Ramon Mafnas said they have already searched over 400 sites and followed over 100 leads.

“And as we speak the search operations continue,” Mafnas said.

Simon said to his knowledge nobody has been placed under the hold departure list in connection with the investigation.

“We have no names of the suspect in the investigation. No one has been in custody, there’s no one has been detained. Right now we are still on the ‘who’ve done it’ phase of the investigation,” he added.

Elbert Quitugua, the grandparent of the Luhk sisters, told Saipan Tribune yesterday that the family and an anonymous person have put up a $10,000 cash for information leading to the whereabouts of his granddaughters.

This now brings the total cash reward in this case to $33,500. The $20,500 other cash rewards were earlier offered by the FBI ($10,000), Pacific Amusement Inc. ($10,000), the NMI Crime Stoppers Program ($1,000), IT&E ($1,000), Sorensen Media Group ($1,000), and Rabby Syed’s Saipan City Taxi Association ($500).

Quitugua said it is nice to see that people are coming forward, helping them, and offering cash rewards.

“We’re still praying and we want to thank from the bottom of our heart as to all the donors. We thank them for their caring, that maybe by pledging it would definitely increase the amount and that would hopefully help people thinking hard to really come forward and give us information,” he said.

On the arrival of tracking expert dog from Hawaii, Quitugua said they are very anxious and upbeat that the FBI is bringing it in.

“We hope that the dog will pick up something,” he said.

On the FBI’s statement that Ruhtik Luhk, father of the girls, did not cause the girls’ disappearance, Quitugua said that’s the FBI’s job as they were there (Pohnpei).

“That’s good if it’s not him. If the FBI is clearing him from any involvement that’s very good to hear. So that we can move on to the next leads that we can concentrate on instead of concentrating on him,” he said.