Naman Shrestha
A&E’s ‘Tell Me How I Died: Locked Away’ dives deep into the horrific case of David Kaneko, a husband and father who was found staying with the mummified bodies of his wife, Lorraine, and daughter, Laura, for several years. When the Kanekos cut themselves off from the lives of their loved ones, Lorraine’s relatives’ suspicions led to the authorities conducting welfare checks, during which they made the unsettling discovery. The episode features in-depth interviews with the loved ones of the victims, providing a detailed account of the entire case and the lives of David Kaneko and his family.
David Kaneko and His Family Maintained Distance From Others
Born to Edythe Haruko Tanaka Kaneko and Noboru “Noble” Kaneko on November 21, 1939, in Salina, Utah, Kenichi “David” Kaneko earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Biology from Brigham Young University. Pivoting to an entirely different career path, he got into the US Air Force and served for many years. Around 1970, he found the love of his life in the form of Loraine Sakota and soon tied the knot with her in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple. After settling down in the Rexburg area, they welcomed a daughter into the world and named her Laura Kaneko.
Later, David bagged a stable job at the Naval Reactors Facility (NRF) in 1976, where he reportedly taught Navy students Chemistry and Radiological Controls. More than a couple of decades into the marriage, David and his family slowly distanced themselves from the community and the LDS Church in 1994. By then, he had become a controlling figure in the life of his daughter, Laura, not allowing her to follow her passion and dreams. Eventually, in 1997, Lorraine’s family grew worried about her and her daughter due to their reclusive behavior and requested the police for a welfare check. They requested another welfare check after four years, in 2001. Both times, the two women claimed that their lifestyle was their choice, and there was no cause for concern.
A Welfare Check Revealed Mummified Bodies of Lorraine and Laura in His House
When nearly a decade had passed since they saw Lorraine and Laura Kaneko, their relatives asked the authorities to conduct another welfare check in 2004. On June 19, 2004, the police obtained a search warrant and entered the mobile home of the Kanekos near Rexburg when David was at work. Lorraine’s brothers hoped that they would agree to cooperate with a psychologist for a mental evaluation. However, when the officers entered the house, they were greeted with a strong chemical smell and a chaotic clutter. Upon opening the door to a room, an overwhelming odor took over, and they found extremely decomposed bodies of 58-year-old Lorraine and 33-year-old Laura beneath the blankets of a bed, lying side by side, surrounded by hundreds of containers of air fresheners and fans.
The investigators noticed that Laura’s body was almost at the skeleton stage, while Lorraine’s body seemed to be less decomposed in comparison. Soon, it was determined that the former had died of dehydration and starvation in May or June of 2001. On the other hand, David’s wife, Lorraine, also suffered the same fate as she reportedly died of starvation around February 2003. Upon searching for evidence, the detectives found several journals that revealed the reason for their starvation. It turned out that David’s wife and daughter had been following a plan that required a restricted diet and complete isolation from the world, thinking that it was a divine revelation.
David Kaneko Died of Cancer in 2016
Following the discovery of the mummified bodies of Laura and Lorraine Kaneko, the police charged David Kaneko with two counts of abandoning a vulnerable adult, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and desertion and nonsupport of a spouse. During his January 2007 trial, it was proven that the two women had been suffering from a chronic mental illness at the time of their deaths, making it difficult for them to take care of themselves. In his defense, David claimed that the reason he did not stop his wife and daughter from following the plan was to respect their faith. He further claimed that he did not notify the police after their deaths because he believed that it was also a part of the big picture.
Eventually, he took the guilty plea in and got sentenced to a minimum of four years and a maximum of ten years in prison, in addition to a six-month mental health rider program. After getting the much-needed psychological help, he regretted what he did and addressed the court, “I miss my family. I miss my wife and daughter. I’m sorry for what happened and the tragic ending it had.”After completing the six-month program, he was released on a five-year probation. Once the probation period ended, he requested his convictions to be cleared due to his poor health status. He continued living in the same mobile home near Rexburg for the coming years before he succumbed to cancer at MorningStar Care Facility in Idaho Falls on June 3, 2016, at the age of 76.
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