Man released; probe continues into deaths of his wife, daughter

REXBURG, Idaho – A retired engineer who apparently partially lived for months, and possibly longer, with the bodies of his dead wife and daughter has been released from jail after spending six weeks as a material witness.

Kenichi David Kaneko, 64, posted bond Tuesday after Magistrate Colin Luke reduced the amount from $500,000 to $55,000.

Kaneko, who retired late this spring after years at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, faces a pretrial hearing Sept. 2 on a misdemeanor charge of obstructing police for failing to report the deaths of his wife Lorraine, 58, and daughter Laura, 33.

Kaneko, who has pleaded innocent to that charge that carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $1,000 fine, was taken into custody the same evening that the women’s bodies were found June 19 in the family’s trailer home.

Madison County Sheriff Roy Klinger has said from the beginning that Kaneko is not a suspect in the deaths.