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Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory: May 25 has been a poignant day for the FBI and our law enforcement and community partners since 1983, when President Ronald Reagan proclaimed it National Missing Children’s Day.

But that date carries a different kind of gravity on the island of Saipan in the Southwest Pacific Ocean, where two young girls—a pair of sisters named Faloma and Maleina Luhk—vanished while waiting to board their school bus on May 25, 2011.

Their disappearance rocked their local community.

Abductions are uncommon in Saipan, and the island’s entire population is on par with that of a small city.

As we approach the 14th anniversary of the sisters’ disappearance, the FBI’s Honolulu Field Office is urging the public to come forward with any information they might have about the Luhk sisters’ whereabouts.

On this episode of our podcast, we’ll discuss Maleina and Faloma’s disappearance and why the FBI is still determined to find them. Most importantly, we’ll explain how you can help us solve this case and bring closure to their family and their community.

I’m Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory, and this is Inside the FBI.

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Oprihory: On May 25, 2011, at approximately 4 o’clock in the afternoon, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Department of Public Safety received a call that two young sisters—9-year-old Maleina Luhk and 10-year-old Faloma Luhk—never reported to school or returned home that day. The girls were last seen at a school bus stop.

Retired FBI Special Agent Haejun Park: They were two girls of Chamorro descent and daughters of Jermaine Quitugua, who is from the Quitugua family. They were children of the community, meaning we probably saw them at some point or another being a small island. And when they went missing, everybody kind of knew who they were.

Oprihory: That’s Haejun Park, a retired FBI special agent who led the Bureau’s investigation into the girls’ disappearance for more than a decade.

Park: After speaking with family and law enforcement, FBI was invited to assist in the investigation.

Oprihory: Saipan is part of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (also known as the CNMI), an island chain located thousands of miles from the West Coast of the continental United States. Because the CNMI is a U.S. territory, the FBI has jurisdiction to investigate federal crimes committed there. Our Honolulu Field Office has a satellite office—known as a resident agency—on Saipan.

Park: FBI spoke to numerous witnesses on that day, and we learned that Faloma and Maleina never made it to school. From there, we started a[n] exhaustive search over the next few weeks, continued for the next 14 years.

Park: Saipan—an island of approximately 50,000 residents. These two little girls, Faloma and Maleina, were like family. Everybody knew each other in the island. So, when this tragic event happened, it not only was an investigative case, but it was a personal case because also, like I said, it affected many, many families all throughout the island.

Park: On May 25th, 2011, when the reported matter first came to our attention, every law enforcement agency and entity in the CNMI came together for one cause.

Oprihory: This alliance of law enforcement and government agencies included:

the U.S. Marshals Service
the Drug Enforcement Administration
the Department of Homeland Security, and
Commonwealth partners, including the CNMI Customs and Quarantine, the CNMI Department of Public Safety, the CNMI Department of Corrections, and the Commonwealth Ports Authority
According to Park, community members also played a major role in the early part of the investigation.

Park: In the beginning stages, we had numerous volunteers to help comb through the jungles, the dense, thick jungles on foot to help us cover more land.

We had law enforcement officers and government agencies flying to Saipan to support us, but it took people on the ground to help us look further into the jungle, where they knew the land, they knew the woods, they knew the back jungle, back beaches.

Oprihory: To date, the FBI has interviewed numerous witnesses and searched the island of Saipan and the surrounding waters. And because Saipan is only reachable by air or sea, the Bureau has also conducted aircraft and seafaring vessel inquiries.

But despite those efforts, Park said...

Park: There is no conclusion to where these girls might’ve ended up.

Our hope’s we find these girls alive somewhere.

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Oprihory: Faloma and Maleina’s disappearance has had a profound impact on their family.

Park: Imagine your loved one. Your child has gone missing and there's no sense of their whereabouts. You're not sure if they're alive. You're not sure if they're being fed. There's a lot of unanswered questions.

Oprihory: The incident has also jolted their local community and compromised their sense of safety.

Park: When we spoke to the school staff, they were utterly shocked. They were sad, hurt, and angry. They described these two little girls as wonderful, pleasant, always smiling. They were always smiling and happy girls. And to be snatched away on their way to school carrying their backpacks? It's unheard of. They left a big hole in a lot of people's hearts, left a lot of questions unanswered, left fear, left hurt, and anger. People wanted to find out what happened to these girls.

They want to bring these girls back.

Oprihory: Special Agent Rick Bauer—who’s currently leading this investigation for FBI Honolulu—adds:

FBI Special Agent Rick Bauer: Saipan is known to be a very safe community.

It's where kids can walk to the baseball field or the soccer pitch barefoot with their friends, and parents don't worry abou t that. ...They can run the beaches, and no one's looking over their shoulder or very concerned. And it's a very loving community, and that is why it was so detrimental when this occurred, because that safety was snatched from the community.

When Maleina and Faloma were taken, that stopped.

And that's just another reason to drive us and the law enforcement—and the community—to get answers.

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Oprihory: The FBI is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information that leads to the whereabouts of Maleina and Faloma Luhk.

If you know anything about what may have happened to the girls or where they might be located, we encourage you to contact the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI (or 1-800-225-5324) or by visiting tips.fbi.gov.

You can share information with us anonymously, and no tip is too small to potentially make a difference.

Park: ...we believe there are people out there that know something. No matter how big or how little it may be, it could be something that law enforcement can use in solving this mystery.

Oprihory: And, Park explained, the breakthrough clue in this case might even be found across an ocean. This is because in the 1970s and 1980s, a large number of Micronesians migrated to the continental United States, primarily to the Pacific Northwest.

Park: And then they branched out to several other locations—Boise, Idaho, parts of Texas. So, there's always been a strong community.

Oprihory: These strong community bonds inspire members of this diaspora to regularly travel back to Saipan for annual events. Likewise, Saipan residents frequently travel to the continental United States to visit friends and loved ones who’ve relocated there.

Park: So, there's always a well-connected Micronesian “coconut wire,” as we call it, because everybody tells everybody, everybody knows little stories here and there, so news travels fast.

We want to reach out to those Micronesians that might have been here during that time or heard something. We want to see if they want to come forward, help us, help the family, bring closure, or give us some evidence that we can use.

Oprihory: We also encourage anyone who may have spoken with law enforcement about the case in the past, but who has new information about Maleina and Faloma’s disappearance or whereabouts, to reach out to us.

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Oprihory: At the time of their disappearance, 9-year-old Maleina stood about 4’ tall, weighed about 65 pounds, and had a birthmark on her left cheek. She has brown hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing a white blouse and blue jeans. Her birthday is February 13.

Ten-year-old Faloma stood about 5’1 tall and weighed about 90 pounds. Like her little sister, she has brown hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a light green shirt with a butterfly design and blue jeans. Her birthday is February 9.

For more information, including pictures of the girls, visit fbi.gov/missing.

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Oprihory: This has been another production of Inside the FBI.

You can follow us on your favorite podcast player, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. You can also listen to our show via the myFBI Dashboard App. Visit fbi.gov/dashboardapp to learn more.

And you can subscribe to email alerts about new episodes at fbi.gov/podcasts.

I’m Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory from the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs. Thanks for listening.

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