Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Families of the two men from the Amouli found dead at sea more than a week ago described them as hard working men who cared more about their families than anything else in this life.

The two victims were identified as Alofa Christian Togia of Aoa and Junior Toleafoa of Amouli. Both were married with children. Togia has four children while Toleafoa has one child.

ALOFA CHRISTIAN TOGIA

Togia’s wife, Frances June Saelua-Togia remembered her late husband as a loving man who cares for his family.

“He’s a man who would fight for his family. Very funny, caring, loving, friendly, strong-willed, very intelligent, skillful, family was everything to him (aside from his strong faith in God). He loves the ocean, nature, loves life. He's a wild child. A child at heart,” Saelua-Togia said.

She added that, “Alofa loved his family so much. He would do anything in the world to keep us together. He would be here today to tell you how much he loved LIFE so much so that it is so difficult how such an unfortunate event snatched his life away.”

The surviving spouse continued to say that her children were shocked when they heard the sad news. Her youngest son seems to know what happened to his Dad after he saw him at the LBJ Chapel but he’s coping and processing too, she said.

An Alofa family member said that the family still cannot believe that Alofa drowned while fishing.

“Our brother (Alofa) is a good fisherman and he knew the village and understands the best time to go fishing, they didn’t go out fishing that Monday night when the tide was not safe for them… they went out fishing knowing that it was low tide.”

Six days after Alofa Christian Togia’s body was found floating at sea in Amouli last Monday evening, Sept. 28th, his widow and four children paid a second visit last Sunday afternoon to where his body lay after the Amouli pulenu’u says he brought Togia to shore after he first found him in the ocean. (See Monday, Oct. 5th issue for story.) Togia’s wife, Frances June Saelua-Togia and their four children are seen in this photo tying a bouquet of red flowers to the tree that according to witnesses, her husband’s body lay under after it was brought ashore. [photo by AF]

After graduating from Samoana High School, Togia studied Pre-Med/Chemistry at University of Hawaii at Manoa; Medical Assisting at Kapi’olan Community College; Anthropology at UHWO.

Togia was a former Archaeological Field Assistant at the American Samoa Historic Preservation Office; a former Archaeological Technician at the American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA); a former Patient Service Representative at Kalihi Palama Health Center; former Archaeological Technician at National Park of American Samoa, and former Archaeological Monitor at ASPA.

JUNIOR TOLEAFOA

Toleafoa was described by his family as a hard working man who wanted to make people happy.

“He’s a very simple man who always made his family laugh with his funny jokes,” Toleafoa’s niece told Samoa News.

She said that their family was shocked when they received the news late that Monday evening about her uncle.

“We didn’t believe when we first heard the news and we’re still not satisfied with the fact that Junior is gone. We have a lot of unanswered questions especially the fact that my uncle is a avid fisherman who has been fishing for many years,” Toleafoa’s niece said.

Injuries on Toleafoa’s facial area and head make the family more curious about what may have happened — something bad — before the two men went fishing.

Toleafoa was employed at the Tool Shop in Malaloa.

THE INVESTIGATION

Families of the two victims told Samoa News that more than a week has passed since their loved ones lost their lives at sea and they are still in the dark with the police investigation.

According to members of both families, the police have never come to their homes to update them on their investigation nor to interview them despite the fact that they have many questions that need to be answered with regards to what happened.

While both families are waiting for the autopsy results to come out, questions are being asked as to why both victims sustained serious injuries to their heads and facial areas while there were no injuries or scratches on their bodies.

According to the surviving spouse, when Alofa’s body arrived at the hospital, his eyes were red inside and his face was all blue and had wounds. But nowhere from the neck down was any sign of injury. “I know because I was there to undress [him] and help police take pictures,” she said.

Samoa News received information that includes a description of Alofa’s injuries — a 1/2 inch abrasion to left side forehead- blood noted; abrasion left posterior ear- blood noted; and bilateral conjunction petechiae. (A petechiae is a small red or purple spot caused by bleeding into the skin).

Alofa’s wife had many unanswered questions she wanted to ask the person who was last seen with her husband — the Amouli pulenu’u, Lemalie Salu. She said that police need to investigate this matter properly and look for evidence that can help them with their investigation.

During an interview with the Salu, he told Samoa News that he found Alofa’s flashlight and it was damaged. He thought maybe the flashlight was damaged when Alofa was swept up by a strong current.

Togia’s wife wants police to confiscate evidence including the flashlight because it might prove something. “Why would you throw away the flashlight and other items belonging to my husband? It could be evidence to my husbands wounds,” Saelua-Togia said.

“I saw my husband’s wounds and there was fresh blood I saw on his head, ears and face when I was with him in chapel saying good bye,” Saelua-Togia recalled.

She said that she wants police to get a closer look at her husband’s wounds and compare them to the scratch marks on Salu’s chest.

Toleafoa’s family shared the same concerns about injuries they observed on Toleafoa’s head and face when his body was found at sea.

There is a live video on Facebook taken by a member of Toleafoa’s family confirming the family’s concerns about the condition of the body.

Families of both victims are asking DPS to reach out to them so that they can have a better understanding of what is going on with their investigation.

On Friday last week, which was four days after the incident, Samoa News asked the owner of the store located next to the area where the drinking session took place, if they could provide surveillance footage on the night of the incident.

But the owner stated that they couldn’t go back as far as 3 days. The owner searched for the recording from Monday, Sept. 28th, 2020 but couldn’t find any footage that had been saved.

Another witness told Samoa News that there was another man who was with the Pulenuu during the drinking session and at the time when the body of the first victim was discovered. The witness said that this second person might offer some helpful information about what exactly happened.

Funeral information for the victims is still unknown at this time. However, Saelua-Togia is requesting no faasamoa for her husband.