HILO, Hawai'i — Big Island police yesterday arrested a 23-year-old Hawaiian Beaches man on suspicion of murder in the death of a woman in the Pana'ewa rain forest area outside Hilo.

Police Lt. Randall Medeiros said family members reported the 20-year-old woman missing Wednesday, and police began interviewing people about the woman's whereabouts.

Detectives contacted the Hawaiian Beaches man, who police said knew the woman. The man voluntarily came to the police station, Medeiros said. After interviewing him, police arrested him on suspicion of violating a restraining order.

Medeiros declined to say whether the restraining order had been issued in connection with the woman who was slain, and said it was "premature" to describe the relationship between the two.

A statement issued yesterday by the police said the woman's death "was reported to have occurred Wednesday afternoon."

Detectives found the woman's body, and the man was arrested just before 4 p.m. yesterday.

The woman has not yet been positively identified, and police were withholding her name. An autopsy was scheduled for today.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.