March 13, 1999

Big Island detectives have asked the prosecutor’s office to review the evidence they have gathered in the case of child abuse victim Peter Boy Kema “to see where to go now,” said Capt. James Day, head of the Criminal Investigation Division.

“When they decide what can be done, we will do it,” Day said.

The case of Peter Boy, who has not been seen by relatives since February 1997, is being investigated as a missing person case, not as a homicide, said Day, whose office submitted the case findings this week. He would not elaborate on what police have found, but said “The case is being actively investigated.”

Anne Clarkin, coordinator for Missing Child Center-Hawaii, called the prosecutor’s review a positive sign.

“Given the fact that there is no body, it may be a difficult case, but it is unacceptable that children go missing in Hawaii and there are no repercussions,” she said.

Peter Boy’s parents — Peter Kema Sr. and Jaylin, of Hilo — have said little to police or the public about the case, but maintain they never harmed the child.

Peter Kema Sr. has told police he gave the child to an old family friend named Auntie Rose Makuakane during a trip to Oahu in August 1997. Police have not been able to prove the existence of Makuakane.

Peter Boy would be 7 years old now. But some relatives fear he is dead.

The boy’s three siblings, taken out of the Kema home and placed in foster custody, have provided a disturbing portrait of alleged abuse, according to confidential Family Court records obtained by The Advertiser.

They told a foster parent last fall that Peter Boy was starved, forced to sleep outside and driven around in the locked trunk of the family car. Sometimes, his sister said, Peter Boy was handcuffed to his bed.

Big Island Prosecutor Jay Kimura was unavailable for comment yesterday, but said in September that he was satisfied with the police investigation and did not feel an investigative grand jury was needed.

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