Didn’t kill boy,
dad insists
Kema's attorney says the father
By Rod Thompson
left the child at Aala Park
with a friend of 15 years
Star-BulletinHILO -- Peter Kema Sr., whose son "Peter Boy" has been missing since the middle of last year, has flatly denied killing the child, according to Kema's attorney, Steven Strauss.
Police have said the case is classified as a missing person, and Kema is not a murder suspect.
Child Protective Services received a new report of the boy suffering a broken arm in April 1997.
State workers were unable to find the child then.
Police said they received a missing person report from the agency in January.
Police said Kema told them that he went to Oahu to look for work in August, taking Peter Boy with him, and left the boy with "Aunty Rose Makuakane" when he returned to Hilo.
Neither the boy nor the woman has been located.
"He did not kill his son," Strauss said.
Kema said he has known Aunty Rose for about 15 years, seeing her sporadically after living with her in childhood, Strauss said. When Kema went to Oahu to look for work, he took his son with him because they intended to stay there, Strauss said.
Kema has worked as a painter but told Strauss he was prepared to do any other type of work. As the days went by and Kema couldn't find work, his money ran out and he didn't have enough to pay for a return plane ticket for his son.
At that point, he left him with Aunty Rose at Aala Park, Strauss said.
Strauss said the boy was comfortable around a variety of people and accepted staying with Aunty Rose.
Kema gradually became more concerned about what had happened to to the boy after Christmas, Strauss said. His concern increased when Child Protective Services contacted the family trying to find out what happened.
Agency workers recently removed the couple's other three children from the family.
While accompanying police to Oahu recently to retrace his steps and to try to find Aunty Rose, police and Kema found several people who had seen a woman who was similar in description, Strauss said. However, police asked Kema not to discuss the details, the attorney said.
