Police Continue Search for Escapee Clyde Loa Who is Considered Armed and Dangerous  

Hawai‘i Island police are continuing their search for 31-year-old Clyde Loa Jr., one of three men who escaped from the Hale Nani Correctional Facility on Friday, December 13, 2024. The other two escapees have since been captured.

On Sunday morning, July 20, 2025, members of the department’s Criminal Investigation Division and Vice Section, assisted by the Special Response Team (SRT), executed a warrant at a property in Puna where Loa was believed to be illegally squatting. Upon executing the warrant at a residence on Io Kea Road (Road 4) in the Hawaiian Acres subdivision, police arrested and charged 34-year-old Cierra Victoria Elderts on two outstanding warrants. Her total bail was set at $15,000. Loa was not located at the scene.

During the search, detectives recovered a stolen vehicle on the property that had been reported stolen in December 2024. The vehicle was secured pending the execution of a search warrant.

Police remind the public that anyone who knowingly hinders the apprehension, prosecution, conviction, or punishment of a suspect may be charged with first-degree hindering prosecution, a Class C felony.

Police ask anyone with information on the whereabouts of Clyde Loa Jr. to call the police department’s non-emergency number at (808) 935-3311, or contact Detective Bryson Pilor of the Area I Crime Reduction Unit at (808) 961-2272 or via email at Bryson.Pilor@hawaiicounty.gov.

Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300. Crime Stoppers does not record calls or subscribe to caller ID. Tipsters may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.