Family want to bring long-lost 'Auntie Ethel' home

An elderly homeless woman found on the streets in Honolulu last year is believed to be New Zealander Ethel Helmbright. Photo / Supplied

A lack of documentation is slowing down identification of the elderly homeless woman found on the streets in Honolulu and who is believed to be New Zealander Ethel Helmbright.

She is understood to have been living in bushes for over 10 years in the Hawaiian capital but was taken to its Queen Medical Centre when she fell ill last August. She suffers some degree of dementia and is unable to remember who she is.

A photo released to media last week brought forward Bay of Plenty family members who had no doubt the woman was their long-lost "Auntie Ethel".

They are impatient to bring her home but are stymied by a lack of documentation supporting her identification.

Niece Colleen Helmbright told NZPA today that family members has searched for supporting paperwork but had not had any luck.

In the meantime, the state public guardian appointed in Honolulu to act for Ethel has told the family that DNA testing and possibly fingerprint testing would be needed to confirm her identity.

Ms Helmbright said she planned to speak to Ethel's guardian later today and hoped to know more about the process then.

She had not spoken to Ethel yet, but had not asked to.

"I don't know if that's possible with her dementia."

There were various family members on stand-by to fly to Hawaii but they had agreed to wait until Ethel's identity was confirmed before they left.

"We're just trying to settle down and think rationally and not go there emotionally charged," Ms Helmbright said.

"We can't just go and steal her."

The waiting was tough, she said.

"It's hard to focus on anything else, really."

Ethel Helmbright, aged about 80, is believe to be the last of a once-treasured line of kuia, the granddaughter of a chief who signed the Treaty of Waitangi and the customary holder of a big piece of Tuhoe land in Bay of Plenty.

- NZPA