Hawaii : Nancy Ellen Baugh & Paul Featherman

Written By Navigating Advocacy Podcast

Today we are traveling to the beautiful island of Hawaii to the island of Kauai. This island is nicknamed the garden isle because pretty much the entire thing is a rainforest.  Tourism is the largest industry with somewhere around 100,000- 140,000  people visiting the island each month. That is a lot of tourists if you ask me. According to crimegrade.com the crime on this island is rated as a B-. It has a slightly lower crime rate than the US average. There is a crime rate of 31.26 per 1000 residents in a typical year. There are some pretty rough areas on this island and in those areas a person could be a victim of a crime as high as 1 out of every 17. But on the other hand, they have less than one murder a year, So I guess that is good. 


We are going all the way back to 1979 for today's story of young love and then horrible tragedy. Paul Featherman who went by Sonny was born February 26th, 1952 to parents Paul and Helen in New Jersey. He was the second son. He had a half-brother named Ralph. In his childhood, the family would move to Cape Canaveral, Florida where he would eventually meet and fall in love with Nancy Ellen Baugh. She was born May 16th, 1959 to parents Clarence and Betty. She had an older sister and three older brothers and was the baby of the family. She was described as warm, loving, and fun. She loved animals and plants. Nancy's family is from New Jersey but they eventually moved or spent half of their time in Cocoa Beach, Florida and she had a lot of extended family in Hawaii so her immediate family would visit often. Her brothers, uncles, and cousins were very involved in the surfing scene.  


In 1976 Sonny and Nancy would meet and fall in love fast. Nancy was only 17 and living at home while Sonny was making plans to move to Hawaii that coming winter. Of course, Nancy wanted to go with him but her parents told her she had to wait until she turned 18 years old. So on May 16th, 1977 exactly on Nancy’s birthday, Sonny sent her a dozen roses and a plane ticket to join him in paradise. The couple started working and saving money to buy some land. They both had a love of horticulture and wanted to grow their own food and plants on their own land. By 1978 they thought they were ready to take the plunge of being landowners so they set their sights on the big island. They lived there for three months trying to make a land deal happen only to eventually be disappointed and return to the island of Kauai (Kuh·wai·ee) and rent a small house close to the beach. By this time Sonny is around 27 years old and Nancy is 20 years old. Sonny gets a job as a cook at a local resort and then a few months later Nancy gets a waitressing job at the same resort. Nancy doesn't have her driver’s license so working at the same place helps them be able to keep their schedules the same so the couple could carpool together. 

On June 2nd, 1979 the couple attended a party of a friend and co-worker. Nothing out of the ordinary was reported about this party and they leave around 10: 30 because they both have to work early the next morning. These two were  very punctual and responsible. They never missed work and always planned ahead of time. The next morning the couple never arrived at work. The resort manager couldn't get a hold of them so he called in a coworker to cover for them, this so happens to be the man that threw the party the night before. This guy I am sure was annoyed and maybe thought the duo slept in because of the party so before going to work he stopped by their house on the way. When he got there he noticed the front door opened. I don't know if this is strange or not but this guy decided not to go into the house alone, maybe he was scared, maybe he knew something was off so he went to a neighbor and had him walk in with him and what they find is something of a nightmare. 

Sonny was naked laying facedown near the bedroom door with a pillow underneath him. A pool of blood underneath his head. No sign of Nancy. The theory is Sonny got up from bed hearing an intruder grabbed the pillow to cover himself as he walks to open his bedroom door and as soon as he opens it he is shot. They call 911 at 9:07am and it comes out that Sonny was shot with a 12 gauge shotgun to the face. Nothing was missing, even though there was cash inside the house and the house was neat and orderly like it always was. There was zero ideas where Nancy could be but police would soon learn that she was a victim in all of this because neighbors would come forward with what they heard and saw that night without ever calling authorities. 

I’m talking about seven neighbors who heard a gunshot and then a woman screaming but just went back to sleep. Then police got another tip from a person that stated someone told them about a guy illegally camping that saw two men dragging a woman down the beach that night however, this person didn't call the police either and when police eventually tracked him down he denied ever saying that or seeing anything. Researching this case I have come across many reports of people not wanting to get involved or saying they cannot say anymore out of fear. If this guy did see two men dragging a struggling woman down the beach this was the last time Nancy was ever seen alive.

Sonny’s parents received an Anonymous call before the police could even positively identify his body and notify next of kin stating Sonny was dead. They have never figured out who made this call. 


33 years later in 2012, the island received massive rainfall and flooding. We are talking 28.5 inches in a 24-hour period because of this rain Nancy’s remains were uncovered and spotted by a passerby. They matched the DNA from those remains to Betty, Nancy’s mother.  Police thought this would be their big break in the case but honestly, it had been so much time, authorities were not able to get much additional information. Those neighbors’ slash witnesses pretty much clammed up after saying they heard someone screaming. There are many reports that this area was like the wild west and people were truly scared to come forward even though as they all state everyone knows what happened that dreadful night to this beautiful young couple. 


Here are a few of the theories police checked into. Based on the fact that Nancy was taken, initial thoughts were that she was the target while Sonny was an obstacle the killer needed to remove. With this authorities started to see who might want to take Nancy and they came up with an ex-boyfriend. This guy would apparently send her threatening letters and wanted to get back together with her. They dated before she ever moved to Hawaii, so this guy was back in the States and he was actually recovering from a bad motorcycle accident so he was ruled out very quickly. 


Another theory or strange behavior that came from Nancy herself is that a few months prior to her kidnapping her parents visited her and Sonny in Hawaii. While there Nancy would visibly be frightened and her mother could tell she was uncomfortable walking around town. When asked about this Nancy told her mother that there were a few guys around town that would always stare at her and she felt like she was being followed. 

Too often we talk about the theory of drugs or a drug deal going south. I mean yes this is always a possibility. The couple did have a small amount of weed at the house and during this time illegal marajuana farms were popping up like crazy. I read reports of a house fire in a nearby town the same night of the home invasion and this house could have drug ties. Does this make them connected at all, who knows? But it was a lead the police looked into.  


There was zero evidence of forced entry so was this someone the couple knew, did someone come over to hang out after the party? These two didn't have any enemies, they were quiet and well-liked, worked, and spent the majority of their time together. 


Just like in any other place, there are organized crime groups aka gangs. Starting in 1960 a well-known group called the Yakuza Mafia made Hawaii their home after immigrating from Japan. The leader is into some pretty dark things. There are a few surf gangs that will protect their territory at all costs. 

One of the theories that came up was about some well-known brothers on the island. These men, if they are real and not just folklore, were violent and dangerous, and literally everyone on the island was afraid of them. Now, this comes from the web sleuths forum page so take this for what it is, but a commenter on there stated it was the brother and there were a few other people involved. The brothers, whoever they are have since passed on but there have to be people out there that still know what happened. 


On February 7th, 2014 Nancy’s remains were cremated and sent back to her family in New Jersey where they would take half of the cremated remains and scatter it in the bay, and the other half in cocoa beach both places Nancy always loved. 

Her brother stated “From that moment on, it changed my family and our lives forever,” “It’s been very traumatic for years. If my parents were around, we couldn’t talk to them about it. It was their only daughter, their youngest child. And they wouldn’t talk about it,” he said.


Who killed Paul “Sonny” Featherman?


Anyone with information related to Paul “Sonny” Featherman’s murder should contact Kauai Special Investigator John Burgess at 808-241-1734, Special Investigators Joe Adric or Paul Kanoho at 808-241-1757 or email coldcase@kauai.gov.


THIS EPISODE CONTAINS CONTENT THAT MAY BE DISTURBING OR SENSITIVE TO LISTENERS. DISCRETION IS ADVISED.


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Navigating Advocacy Podcast

Whitney and Melissa, hosts of Navigating Advocacy, blend their true crime interests with a mission to spark justice through storytelling, inspiring action, and building a community of advocates.

https://www.navigatingadvocacy.com
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