Google engineer arrested after wife goes missing at beachfront resort, Hawaii cops say

Hawaii police said a Washington man faces second-degree murder charges after his wife went missing.

Sonam Saxena, 43, of Bellevue wasarrested Wednesday after a body of a woman was found in the same area where his wife, Smriti Saxena, 43, was last seen and reported missing, Hawaii police said in a statement.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death, according to the new release.

Smriti was first reported missing on Tuesday night, police said in the release.

Saxena, who works as a Google project manager, told West Hawaii Today that he last saw his wife on Tuesday at Anaehoomalu Bay. Saxena told the news outlet that he returned to their resort to get her inhaler.

“She was feeling weak and she didn’t want to walk all the way back because it’s almost a 20-minute walk back from that beach to our room,” Saxena said. “So, I said, ‘hey, you know what? You stay here, you have your phone with you and I’ll just go to the room grab your inhaler and pump and come back.’

Saxena said that she was missing when he returned and he went back to the hotel to see if she was in their room, according to West Hawaii Today. Saxena said he called the police once he saw that she wasn’t there.

Police have asked anyone who was in the south area of Anaehoomalu Bay on Tuesday night to contact Detective Keith Simeona at (808) 326-4646 x281, email Keith.Simeona@hawaiicounty.gov, or call the non-emergency number at (808) 935-3311, according to the release.

This story was originally published February 20, 2020 at 12:21 PM with the headline "Google engineer arrested after wife goes missing at beachfront resort, Hawaii cops say."