It might be possible to access the County Clerk and Recorder online. I'll sniff around some more.
“According to the parcel records; a sale occurred on Apr. 21, 1995, and another sale (previously) occurred on Dec. 15, 1992. Unfortunately, names are absent from the digital files, and any previous owners are not included in the digital files. Were a local Hawaiian Freeper drafted for duty; they could root around in the files physically and verify most if not all of the previous owners. As you stated in your post; a title search would nail it down conclusively. The parcel ownership question in 1961, is an essential piece of missing data.
It might be possible to access the County Clerk and Recorder online. I’ll sniff around some more.”
Just a ping to some Hawaiian Freepers. Maybe they might help us get to the truth! :)