Man Reported Girlfriend Missing, Then Was Found Dead by Suicide — and Police Think He Killed Her

Police believe Matthew A. Poole killed his girlfriend Ashley M. Kuregian before reporting her missing and dying by suicide in Kea’au, Hawaii

A man who reported his girlfriend missing in Hawaii was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, said authorities.

Police investigating the disappearance of Ashley M. Kuregian, 38, executed a search warrant at a home in Kea’au, Hawaii on May 23, according to a press release from the Hawaii Police Department. There, officers said they announced themselves and heard a “loud pop” inside the home, which resembled a gunshot.

Once inside, officers found a man — later identified as Kuregian’s boyfriend, Matthew A. Poole — dead of a gunshot wound, police said. A firearm was also found. A subsequent autopsy confirmed he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, per the release.

Two days earlier, on May 21, Poole had reported Kuregian missing after she hadn’t been seen for approximately a week, police said.

During a search of Poole’s home in the evening of May 23, police found information that led them to search for Kuregian in the Orchidland Estates Subdivision. Around 7 p.m., authorities found a body “in advanced stages of decomposition,” per the release. The remains were found on a vacant undeveloped property in Kea’au and were later identified as Kuregian, police said.

A medical examiner determined Kuregian died of a single gunshot wound to the head and her manner of death was ruled as a homicide, according to the release. Police say they are now investigating the missing persons case as a murder-suicide.

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On a GoFundMe campaign created in the wake of her death, Kuregian was remembered as a mother to an 11-year-old daughter named Delilah.

"Our sweet, beautiful Ashley (Birdie) Kuregian was tragically taken from this world by the hand of another,” fundraiser organizer Michelle McDaniel wrote.

As of June 4, the fundraiser has garnered more than $10,000 in donations that McDaniel said will go towards funeral expenses and a college fund for Kuregian’s daughter.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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