Singer Found Dead in Hawaii: Police Investigating the Death of Darren Benitez

The mysterious death of a musician in Hawaii has police searching for answers. Per ABC affiliate KITV, singer Darren Benitez (real name Clifford Benitez) was found dead in his Honolulu apartment on Thursday. No details on the state of Benitez's remains were disclosed in the KITV report, but authorities said an autopsy was conducted. Cause of death and manner of death have not been made public.

While all that is unclear, the circumstances we do know around Benitez's passing have the public concerned. The singer's friends told police they last heard from him on Aug. 8. A neighbor claimed they saw several people coming and going from Benitez's residence that same night. That unnamed neighbor also heard the vocalist's car leaving. Benitez's car was somehow involved in a crash later that night, but the parties inside fled the scene.

Benitez, whose song "Nani Wale Ka Lau Oliva" has more than 1 million streams on Spotify, was scheduled to play a concert on Friday and was in the process of recording new material. 

The death of the singer, who was known for this falsetto vocal style, has made headlines in major publications, including The Daily Beast, The Sun, Sportskeeda and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. As the police investigation continues, Benitez's friends and family wait for answers and remember the talented artist. Friend and radio personality Shannon Scott told KITV that Benietz's music "touched so many people." Others saw the vocalist/guitarist, who released three albums including 2007's Dear Mama, as a mentor.

"I kind of tailored my playing style from Darren, that's how much he means to me, that's the impact he had on me," Maunalua guitarist Richard Gideon told the Star-Advertiser. "He shared a slack key number with me when I was like 12 or 13 years (old). Darren showed me a slack key tuning, and somehow I learned the whole song in that one sitting with him. That's one of my fondest memories. He definitely inspired me from that."

No funeral or memorial plans have been shared with media at the time of this writing.