The father of an 18-year-old McKinley High School graduate who was found dead Monday in a Kalihi alleyway made a public plea yesterday for information that leads to the arrest of his daughter's killer.

"Please help me," Steven Rodrigues said at a news conference yesterday at Honolulu Police Department headquarters. Tears ran down his face as he added, "My daughter was a beautiful girl. She didn't deserve this."

The nude body of Iris Rodrigues-Kaikana was found about 8 a.m. Monday in a pedestrian alley between Winant Street and Haka Drive. The alley is across from Farrington High School and adjacent to a public housing project — Kamehameha Homes — where Rodrigues-Kaikana lived with her uncle and was last seen.

Authorities have said the teen was strangled.

CrimeStoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information on the death. State Rep. John Mizuno, D-30th, (Kamehameha Heights, Kalihi Valley, Fort Shafter), a friend of the family, also has put up $500. Mizuno urged anyone who knows what happened to call police or CrimeStoppers. And he stressed that their identities would not be revealed.

"We know people know about this incident," Mizuno said yesterday.

Friends and relatives of Rodrigues-Kaikana agreed, saying that people appear afraid to come forward.

Darren Weaver, Rodrigues-Kaikana's cousin, said there are suspicions about who may be involved in the killing, but that "nobody wants to say anything." Weaver would not say what his own suspicions are about the homicide.

"We're going to let the detectives do their job. Our family is grieving right now," Weaver said.

Rodrigues-Kaikana, who worked at the Fort Street McDonald's, was last seen about 10 p.m. Sunday.

Relatives said she was hanging out with friends in a unit at Kamehameha Homes.

She was found the following morning face-down in the alleyway.

Residents who live near the alley reported hearing screams on Sunday night, but no one called police.

Near where Rodrigues-Kaikana's body was found, friends, relatives and even strangers have erected a growing memorial to the 18-year-old, who was described as hard-working, diligent and smart.

Some teens who knew Rodrigues-Kaikana gathered at the memorial yesterday afternoon to leave flowers and lei. There also were balloons, candles, small plush toys and signs with messages to Rodrigues-Kaikana.

One sign said, "You will never be forgotten." Another read, "Missing you so much."

The teen's friends at the memorial said everyone who knew her was shocked to learn she had been killed.

"She was a big sister to me," one of her friends said.

Rodrigues-Kaikana's father said the teen had dreams of becoming a police officer or a prosecutor. She was planning to start college soon. She also went to church regularly.

At the news conference yesterday, Rodrigues held up the Law Enforcement Explorer shirt his daughter used to wear. The program is for youth interested in law enforcement jobs, and Rodrigues said his daughter was in it for four years. And he added that she wanted to go into a job where she could help others.

"Everybody who knows my daughter knows she's loving," Rodrigues said.

Darren Weaver added the teen was a "go-getter."

"My young cousin," he said, "she had a future."