Peter Kema--Abduction--9/11/1997 HI
Peter J. Kema Peter was 6 yrs old when he was abducted from Honolulu Hawaii on September 11, 1997. Peter's photo is shown age-progressed to 12 years. The child was last known to be in the company of an adult female in Honolulu, Hawaii in September 1997. Peter's picture and age progression, along with more information, can be seen at http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewChildDetail&caseNum=844672&orgPrefix=NCMC&seqNum=1&caseLang=en_US&searchLang=en_US

Kema case history : » State wary of proving abuse http://starbulletin.com/2005/06/01/news/story1.html » Mother alleges abuse http://starbulletin.com/2005/06/01/news/story1.html#jump » Abuse reports, delays fill documents http://starbulletin.com/2005/06/01/news/story2.html » Sister says she saw boy dead http://starbulletin.com/2005/06/01/news/story3.html » Family tree http://starbulletin.com/2005/06/01/news/story3.html#jump Here is a timeline of the life of Peter "Peter Boy" Kema Jr. » May 1, 1991: Peter Kema Jr., also known as "Peter Boy" is born. » May 8, 1991: State opens a case file on the Kema family after abuse of two older children, Peter's stepbrother and stepsister, is reported. Children are placed with maternal grandparents, James and Yolanda Acol. » May 14, 1991: A DHS caseworker's report to family court indicates that the stepbrother, 4, told a DHS worker that Peter Sr. hit him on the arms, legs and "okole" with both of his hands and a broom and that he "spanks" him, his sister and Jaylin, the children's mother. Jaylin and Peter Sr. deny hurting the children. » June 26, 1991: Older children returned to Peter Sr. and Jaylin. » July 8, 1991: A DHS social worker in the Hilo office asks the court to reconsider whether the infant Peter Jr. is at risk in the home. » Aug. 11, 1991: Peter Boy Kema is admitted to Hilo Hospital. X-rays show multiple new and healing fractures in his shoulder, elbow, ribs and knee. All children are removed from the home. The older children are placed with their maternal grandparents. Peter Boy spends part of the time in foster care and part of the time with his maternal grandparents. » August 14, 1991: Edith Kawai Radl, guardian ad litem, recommends that DHS seriously consider "terminating parental rights as a viable option, sooner rather than later" because of Jaylin and Peter Sr.'s noncompliance with their service plan. » Oct. 31, 1991: Psychologist John Wingert's psychological evaluation says: "Jaylin and Peter both come across as extremely needy and emotionally immature persons who are evasive of responsibility and who displace the source of difficulties onto others. They appeared to be so wrapped up in their own adjustment problems and unhappiness to the point that this compromises their ability to be empathic and understanding of the children's needs and neither of them comes across as particularly child oriented." His assessment says both parents are at risk for abusing their children. » Nov. 15, 1991: Custody of children transferred from a Hilo foster home to Acol (maternal) grandparents in Kona. DHS notes that over the past three months the grandparents, who lived 100 miles away, visited the children in their Hilo foster home more than the parents, who lived 5 miles away. » July 7, 1994: Peter Boy's foster parents write a letter pleading with state officials not to return the boy to his parents. » July 22, 1994: Peter Boy's foster parents write an impassioned plea expressing their concern about the decision to return Peter Boy to his parents. » July 25, 1994: Peter Boy returned to parents. » June 11, 1995: Permanent custody of the other children returned to the Kemas. » Aug. 17, 1995: Attorney for Peter Boy's grandparents writes a letter to social workers about their concerns that Peter Sr. and Jaylin Kema are not abiding by an agreement to allow visitation with the children they took care of for three years. » October 1995: State officials close case. » December 1996: Last time maternal grandparents see Peter Boy, at family funeral. Grandfather later says the boy had a black eye and injured arm. » Feb. 23, 1997: Peter Sr. completes probation for 1990 burglary. » April 4, 1997: A 15-year-old cousin reports that Peter Boy may have suffered a broken arm and that he was forced to eat puppy feces. » June 1997: CPS opens investigation. » June 1997: Peter Boy last seen alive by siblings. » June 1997: Grandparents try to report Peter Boy missing, but police say parents know where he is. » June 17, 1997: Police receive CPS report, investigation is under way. Police say report doesn't mention Peter Boy is missing. » July 7, 1997: Peter Sr. and Jaylin meet social workers without Peter Boy; Jaylin says he is with relatives. » Aug. 1997: Peter Sr. says he left Peter Boy with Auntie Rose Makuakane at Aala Park in Honolulu. » Jan. 9, 1998: Jaylin makes missing person report under urging by social worker and police. » Feb. 5, 1998: Police issue missing person press release and photo of Peter Boy. » April 15, 1998: A case analysis concludes "there is a disconcerting possibility that Peter Jr. is dead." » April 22, 1998: Peter Boy's older stepsister and stepbrother, Chauntelle and Allan, along with his younger sister, Devalynn, taken from Kemas and put in foster care. Chauntelle and Allan's father, William Collier, gets permanent custody of the two in 1999. The Acols gain custody of Devalynn in 2000. » April 23, 1998: An unidentified worker reports of the Kema children, "I did bring up Peter boy's name; they all showed fear. I feel they do know something about him." The worker requested a complete psychiatric exam for all children and sex abuse exam for one of them. » April 24, 1998: Big Island police take Peter Sr. to Aala Park to retrace steps of alleged handing of Peter Boy to Auntie Rose. » April 27, 1998: In a press conference with parents, Peter Sr. says, "I did not kill my son." » April 30, 1998: A DHS report notes that Peter Boy's parents "did not describe him to be missing until conclusion by CPS that the parents were withholding the child and information about him." » Aug. 15 and Aug. 16, 1998: A U.S. Department of Justice child interviews Peter Boy's siblings and finds that "the children witnessed violent events that created a level of fear that they did not feel safe to disclose while they were in contact with both their biological mother and their step/biological father." » Dec. 17, 1998: DHS report says that the children, now removed from the Kema home, described sexual abuse at an undisclosed time, by Peter Sr. and Jaylin and another man. » March 1999: Police submit case to prosecutor for review. »Jan. 31- Feb. 2, 2001: Detectives and U.S. Army personnel who help identify the remains of missing military personnel dig up the back yard of residence in Keaau, where Peter Kema Sr. lived, but find no evidence. » April 30, 2005: Lillian Koller, head of the Department of Human Services, releases 23 pages of Peter Boy documents. » May 31, 2005: About 2,000 pages of previously secret documents in the Peter Boy case are made public. » June 1, 2005: Big Island prosecutors review the Peter Boy case, something they have done periodically since 1999. Information online Peter "Peter Boy" Kema Jr. documents: www.hawaii.gov/dhs Hawaii State Clearinghouse on Missing Children: aloha.hgea.org/hsc/hsc.html National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: www.missingkids.com Honolulu Star Bulletin

Peter Boy's mom not 'bad guy,' lawyer says The Big Island attorney who represents the mother of Peter Boy Kema said nothing in the missing child's recently opened confidential case implicates his client in any crime. Harry Eliason said the child's mother, Jaylin Kema, is a victim of "guilt by association." "There is no allegation that my client did anything wrong," Eliason said last week. "Somehow or another, it's implied that mom did something. There is not one piece of evidence to indicate mom did anything harmful to that child." Jaylin Kema was troubled by the state Department of Human Services' recent release of 2,000 pages of records involving Peter Boy because it reopened old wounds, Eliason said. But the disclosure that her youngest child told a psychologist that she saw Peter Boy's dead body was both disturbing and a surprise, Eliason said. "I will tell you that it is not something Jaylin knew," Eliason said. "This is something that the investigators knew. It wasn't something she knew until she read it in the newspaper." Peter Boy disappeared in the spring or summer of 1997. He would have turned 6 that May. Neither Big Island police nor prosecutors have identified anyone by name as a suspect in the case, which was reclassified from a missing person case to a murder investigation in 2000. The child's father, Peter Kema Sr., has maintained that he gave the boy away to a family friend in August 1997 during a trip to O'ahu. But police have never been able to prove that the family friend exists. "The evidence would indicate it is the father," Eliason said. "The authorities are trying to prove that and they haven't been able to do that because if they could, they would have indicted him a long time ago." Peter Kema Sr., 34, is believed to be on the Big Island, but could not be reached for comment for this story. This spring, Kema's landlord at the time in Hilo said his tenant was working as a handyman and did not want to discuss the case. The Kemas have had court appointed attorneys since 2000, the same year that police reclassified the case and turned it over to the Big Island prosecutor. Eliason said Peter Kema Sr. is represented by the Big Island public defender's office. When asked for comment, Big Island Deputy Public Defender Michael Ebesugawa did not comment. Eliason said Jaylin Kema was given a court-appointed attorney after police told her she had become "a target of the investigation," but he stressed that there was no active case and that no arrests have been made. The couple separated earlier this year and 35-year-old Jaylin Kema has a restraining order against her husband through January 2008. In court papers, she said her husband had been abusive, smashing ukuleles against her with such force that he once broke a tooth. On another occasion, he chased her with a machete, according to court records. She also believes he has access to a shotgun or a handgun, and because of that Eliason would not say where Jaylin is living or what she is doing, if anything. But she is an unhappy woman, he said. The Family Court years ago terminated the couple's parental rights to their three other children, a fact that weighs heavily on Jaylin Kema, Eliason said. "She wants her children back and they have all been taken away from her," Eliason said. "And there is not one speck of evidence she did anything to harm them. Jaylin is really, really depressed." Eliason said his client has answered every question that authorities have asked about her son's case. And she'll answer additional questions as long as authorities submit them in writing first, he said. Her actions have been "commendable," Eliason said. "One thing we know for sure is Jaylin has told everyone everything she knows about the case," Eliason said. "And she has been interviewed many, many times." The 2,000 pages of confidential documents were released by human services director Lillian Koller with the hope that they might place pressure on those responsible for Peter Boy's disappearance. But the publicly stated reason for opening the files was to shake something loose. "I would hope it would maybe cause some reckless conduct by the perpetrators so that they could be detected," Koller said. "Or they might come forth and start explaining things eight years later inconsistently because they don't even remember what it was they said before." Eliason said the documents make his client "look like the bad guy." "The perception of the parents is mom and dad are both responsible," Eliason said. "All we are suggesting is this: That is an assumption that is really not true. If you read the documents, Jaylin is not a suspect." Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012 Honolulu Advertiser

Where's Peter Boy? May 3, 2006 02:50 AM EDT KHNL) - Peter Boy Kema would turn 15 years old Monday (5/1). He's been missing from the Big Island since 1997 when his dad claims he gave him to a woman named Auntie Rose Makuakane. Six years ago Big Island police wrapped up their investigation and referred the case to prosecutors. KHNL News 8 has learned Hawaii police named Jaylin and Peter Kema, Peter Boy's parents as the prime suspects. Nothing has changed since then. Peter Boy's grandparents continue to demand justice in this case. Home video of Peter Boy shows happier times. At just three years old he sings, "You are my sunshine you make me happy when skies are gray. " Today, Peter Boy would be 15 years old. Grandmother Yolanda Acol says, "We just celebrate his birthday by lighting a candle." Grandparents James and Yolanda Acol haven't forgotten the bright-eyed boy, an early victim of child abuse. James Acol says he talks to Peter Boy everyday, "Still do my walk in the morning and talk to him in my own special way." When he was just three months old, Peter Boy suffered fractured ribs and legs. He was raised by his grandparents and foster parents. But later, a court order returned him to his biological parents, Jaylin and Peter Kema Senior. Peter Boy disappeared months later. In at taped interview in 1998, Peter Kema told Beth Hillyer, "I'd like the public to know trying to look for my son very hard for us we can't find him so please anyone with information call police." But James Acol doubts Kema's story, "My honest feeling is that something terrible did happen to Peter." Last year the State Department of Human Services released two thousand pages of confidential Kema records including interviews with Peter Boy's siblings. The Acols say they are heartbroken by abuse detailed by his brother and sister. "How can a dad do that to his own son making him stay in bathroom make him sleep outside with no blanket." Acol believes the siblings may hold the answer to what happened, "They seen him put him in the trunk dead or alive we don't know but some kids did see put him in car in a box." They want the case to go to trial. "According to police they did their share. They turned everything over to the Prosecutor's office and that's where it's been ever since. I don't know what's happening prosecutor office." Hawaii County prosecutor Mike Kagami says, "We are still investigating and we meet on the case monthly. we only get one chance to try a murder case." "Just be patient. Just be patient, but how long," Yolanda Acol wonders. http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=4845754

Posted on: Thursday, August 30, 2007 Hawaii officials post sister's tale of Peter Boy By Mike Gordon Advertiser Staff Writer Peter J. Kema Jr. in a family photo, and in an age-progression, below, to what he might look like at age 14 from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Web site. In a written statement given to Hawai'i child welfare authorities in January — and in her own words yesterday — Peter Boy Kema's younger sister said that he appeared unconscious the last time she saw him and that his mother was trying to revive him with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. "Mom was pounding on Peter Boy's chest trying to make him breathe," Devalynn Acol told The Advertiser yesterday in a telephone interview. "Mom looked scared. She was crying." Devalynn's written statement, which was posted on the Department of Human Services' Web site yesterday along with statements from her siblings, was the latest attempt to determine what happened to the missing boy. He has not been seen since sometime in April or May 1997. All references to the identity of each surviving sibling are blacked out in the statements, but The Advertiser was able to contact them independently. All three are living in Kona. Human Services Director Lillian Koller said she solicited the statements because the case has gone unsolved for too many years. "I wanted to determine what the current recollection was of these witnesses," Koller said. "I wanted to see, today, not 10 years ago, what do they still remember or can recall. I thought that would be pertinent to how reliable any testimony they may provide would be." Devalynn is now 14 and Koller called her credibility "undeniable." Devalynn wrote that after watching her mother rush into the home with Peter Boy in her arms, through a half-shut door she saw her mother put her lips to the boy's. She was shooed away by her parents when she asked what was wrong with him, she wrote. "She did witness something," Koller said. "She was young, tender years, but saw what she saw and now, more mature, can recount it with great specificity and in her own hand." ACCOUNT NOT NEW Devalynn's account of what happened was not entirely new to authorities, including Koller. Some of it was included in a public release of state documents in 2005 and her statements triggered a debate over their legal worth. Devalynn was 5 years old when she gave her first account to a psychologist — an age that Big Island prosecutors have said would make a murder conviction nearly impossible to obtain. Devalynn's story has always ended the same way: Peter Boy is naked and motionless in a box. Peter Boy disappeared sometime in the spring or early summer of 1997 amid suspicious circumstances. He would have turned 6 that May. His father, Peter Sr., claimed to have given him away to an old family friend whose existence has never been confirmed. It was not until January 1998, however, that his mother, Jaylin Kema, filed a missing-person's report with Big Island police. NO ARRESTS, CHARGES No one has ever been arrested or charges filed in connection with the case. Big Island detectives in Hilo would not discuss the case yesterday, and the county prosecutor did not return calls seeking comment. Similarly, Peter Kema's attorney, Steven Strauss, did not return calls, and Jaylin Kema's attorney, Harry Eliason, declined to address the letter because he had not seen it. "The investigation has ended, as far as we know, a long time ago," Eliason said. "I think we are re-mining the same old mine. I think this information presumably is old information." Steven J. Choy, the psychologist who interviewed the children and their parents in 1998, yesterday said Devalynn's statements are as credible today as they were when he first heard them and relayed the details to authorities. "It doesn't sound like embellishment at all," Choy said of the girl's recent statements. "It doesn't sound like fantasy at all. And the box is still a memory." Choy, a clinical psychologist with the Kapiolani Child Protection Center, said that memories will haunt Peter Boy's siblings until there is some resolution. "Memories stay with people for years and years," he said. "It keeps these memories haunting these kids for a lifetime. Closure is important." Peter Boy's siblings, especially the older two, feel that need. Both said they felt guilty at not doing more to learn what happened on the day the boy vanished. "The one time we should have been nosy we weren't," said Chauntelle Acol, now 18. "That kills me. We could have seen something or provided more information. Once we heard that shout from my mom, screaming 'Babe,' that should have been our first clue to do something." In their letters to the Human Services officials, Chauntelle and her brother, Allan, described shocking treatment that has become a familiar staple of the Peter Boy saga. His father allegedly beat him bloody with a spoon, shot at him with a BB gun and left the boy locked in the trunk of the car when the family went to the beach. Neither of the older siblings witnessed what Devalynn saw, Chauntelle said. But she said a few hours later, Peter Sr. came outside alone. "His eyes were bloodshot," she said. "He looked really distraught. Kind of in a daze." Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com. http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Aug/30/ln/hawaii708300355.html