On July 17, 2026, the suspect was positively identified as Batarti Gabbard. Gabbard was arrested and charged with Custodial Interference in the Second Degree.

On July 12, 2026, Honolulu police opened an investigation after receiving a report of a stranger danger incident that occurred at a Waikīkī hotel pool area.

At about 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 12, 2026, an unknown man allegedly approached several children, including a 9-year-old boy, and offered them gum and money to accompany him to his hotel room. He also asked the children for their names and wrote them in a notebook. The children refused, and the man walked away.