Nearly two months after a Southwest Airlines flight attendant was found dead during a layover in Hawaii, officials have revealed her cause of death, though her grieving family continues to question what happened.
Jenny Lupton, 50, a longtime flight attendant and mother from Moore, Oklahoma, was found dead outside the Hilton Hawaiian Village hotel in Waikiki on August 20.
On Thursday, October 15, the Honolulu Department of the Medical Examiner confirmed that Lupton died from multiple injuries and officially ruled her death a suicide.
However, the Honolulu Police Department said its investigation remains ongoing, leaving questions about the circumstances surrounding her final hours.
Lupton had traveled to Hawaii for work and planned to spend several additional days on the island before returning home.
According to her family, she had been enjoying her visit shortly before her death, spending time with fellow flight attendants and keeping in touch with relatives.
Her sister, Tresa Lupton, previously told Oklahoma television station KWTV that Jenny had gone dancing with a colleague and gotten a new tattoo.
The sisters had also exchanged messages shortly before the tragedy.
Those final communications have remained particularly difficult for her family to reconcile with what happened next.
Relatives previously said they had no reason to believe Jenny intended to harm herself and expressed concerns about the circumstances of her death.
Her nephew, Sam Lupton, told Hawaii News Now that the family believed there were unanswered questions requiring further investigation.
Following her death, Honolulu police opened an unattended death investigation and assigned detectives from the department’s Homicide Detail to examine the case.
In an August statement, police explained that investigators were interviewing witnesses, reviewing surveillance footage and examining evidence.
The department emphasized that the investigation would take time and asked the public to avoid spreading unverified information.
Although the medical examiner has now determined the official cause and manner of death, police have not announced that their separate investigation has concluded.
Lupton’s passing brought an unexpected end to a nearly three-decade career in aviation.
She had worked as a flight attendant for 29 years, including approximately 26 years with Southwest Airlines.
Her niece, Hannah Lupton, previously described her aunt as someone who genuinely loved traveling and connecting with people from different backgrounds.
For Jenny, flying was more than a paycheck. It was a way of life that allowed her to build friendships, experience new places and help passengers during important moments in their lives.
Hannah said her aunt understood that people traveled for many reasons, including vacations, family emergencies and funerals, and took pride in helping them along the way.
Jenny was also a devoted mother to her teenage son, whom relatives described as the center of her world.
Her sudden death deeply affected her Oklahoma family, who struggled to understand how someone they remembered as energetic and full of life could be gone so unexpectedly.
In an earlier interview with Oklahoma television station KFOR, Tresa described the disbelief she felt after learning her sister had died.
“I still can’t believe it. It doesn’t seem real,” she said.
Southwest Airlines also expressed condolences following the loss of its longtime employee.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of our colleague,” the airline said in a statement.
The company added that it had offered support to Lupton’s family and coworkers and was cooperating with local authorities.
The medical examiner’s ruling provides an official determination about Jenny’s death, but it does not establish what she was thinking or feeling before the incident.
For her loved ones, the loss remains devastating, and the ongoing police investigation may help clarify the circumstances surrounding her final hours.
I think this needs to be looked into more probably not what they say.