Gail Yoshida and Maile, her 2-year-old mixed dachshund-terrier, were inseparable. They would often walk together from their Pearl City home to Pearl City High School, Waiau Park and along the Pearl Harbor Bike Path, said Yoshida's sister, Sharon Tamaru.

The family believes that Maile stayed with Yoshida, 64, until her owner died, sometime after they disappeared while on a walk May 3. Despite numerous searches, Yoshida and Maile could not be found.

The dog reappeared on May 13. Maile was clean but had lost some weight, Tamaru said.

Her nephews took the dog back to the trail where they found her to try to get her to find Yoshida, but the dog would only go in a short distance and then come out, Tamaru said.

"So we think she must have known," she said.

Maile's reappearance prompted police to renew their search, and Yoshida's remains were found that same day in a ravine off Waimano Trail. It was two days after her birthday.

She was not positively identified until Thursday, through fingerprints, Tamaru said.

The Medical Examiner's Office has deferred identifying the cause of Yoshida's death, and a final determination could take up to two months. Honolulu police have said they do not believe foul play was involved.

Tamaru remembers her younger sister's generosity and thoughtfulness. "She fought my battles when we were growing up," Tamaru said. "She was a good and generous person."

Yoshida was hardy and in good health, so her death while on one of her regular walks leaves her family with many unanswered questions, Tamaru said.

"They said she was at a place where it's unimaginable anybody would hike there," she said. "There was a steep drop there, but there were no injuries (on her body), so she must have just walked and being as hardy as she was, she just made the attempt to keep on going."

Tamaru said she thinks her sister had only been on the trail near where she was found two times, but she was headstrong.

"She's a determined person, so ... she would have just gone on and on," she said.

When Yoshida cooked for people, whether her children's sports potluck or family dinners, she always made extra so there would be leftovers to take home.

Yoshida graduated from Kalani High School in 1963. She was retired from Tanioka's Seafood & Catering. She leaves behind a husband, two sons and a daughter.