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Caseload always high for Missing Persons HPD offers free registration for kids
By Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin
In May 1959, a 9-year-old boy was credited with extinguishing a fire and saving a house from destruction in Kalihi.That boy has become a street-smart cop with instincts, tenacity and experience well suited for missing persons investigations.
Kalihi native Joseph Self Jr., who celebrates his 51st birthday in October and 32nd anniversary as a Honolulu police officer in December, has been involved in many high-profile searches since being assigned to the Missing Persons Detail in 1989.
"He's an icon in missing persons who's recognized all over the mainland as the guy to talk to in Hawaii," said Anne Clarkin, coordinator of the Missing Child Center in Hawaii.
"I have a lot of respect for Joe. His instincts are honed by years of experience and police training. The finished product is pretty amazing. At conferences on the mainland, they call him 'The Big Kahuna.' "
Knowing how to work the streets is Self's most valuable asset.
Three months ago, he located 2-year-old Krystal Mines after spending a night in Chinatown gathering information from street people about a homeless woman in whose care the child had been placed.
"I put no stops on (finding) children," Self said. "The majority of cases turn out good -- they're located and are not hurt."
But there's always a heartbreaker, like the December 1993 disappearance of 20-month-old Sheri Lynn Funk.
On Dec. 3, the girl's father, Navy Petty Officer Robert Funk, appealed for public assistance to locate his daughter. Three days later, Sheri Lynn's body was found locked in a duffel bag floating in Pearl Harbor.
Funk was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in June 1994, and sentenced to nine years in prison.
"You have emotions, and one of the worst feelings I've ever had was when I cut open that bag," Self said. "The first thing I did when I went home was hug my granddaughter."
Job filled with joy, pain
His most painful experience, however, came on July 21, 1995, when a Fire Department helicopter crashed on the fifth day of a search-and-rescue mission for missing hiker Wade Johnson above Sacred Falls, killing pilot Peter Crown and police officers Bryant Bayne and Tate Kahakai.
"You feel it's personal when you make the request for them to be there and something unforeseeable like that happens," Self said. "I knew Bryant and Tate pretty well. They'd been out with us on searches before and were always willing to help.
"They were family to me."
But Self can smile when he thinks about the successful searches, especially the Jan. 20, 1997, rescue of Gabriel Robinson, a teen-ager who fell down a 300-foot cliff below the Pali Lookout and survived six days without food.
Robinson's parents had reported him as a runaway.
Self called for a search of the Pali Lookout area after police Maj. Henry "Butch" Robinson, who is not related to the boy, received information that a friend had taken Gabriel there.
"We were very lucky to find him," Self said.
The Missing Persons Detail is made up of two officers -- Self and Philip Camero -- under the supervision of Sgt. Wallace Choy.
Self says each member handles about 15 cases a week and 60 a month.
"Missing persons cases are never closed until we find the person, one way or another," he said. "A case might not be active, but it stays open.
"The cases that come to us are reports made by officers. Most of the cases are self-closing -- the people just show up after a day or two of doing their own thing."To close a case, an officer has to actually see and talk to the person who was missing, Self said.
Self notes that it's not a crime for an adult to be missing, if no foul play is involved.
"We deal with a lot of mental patients, people with Alzheimer's and domestic problems where a spouse just wants to get away from an abusive situation," he said.
Tricks of the trade
Timing and information are key factors in any missing persons investigation.
"If there's foul play, time is a big factor because if it's not reported right away, we lose physical evidence," Self said.
"Each case has its own characteristics, but you can tell a lot from the demeanor of the reporting person. When they are open and direct, it gives you an idea of what state of mind a missing person is in. But a lot of them won't tell you everything, like whether the person has a drug or drinking problem."
Self says he learned much from working with former homicide detectives Andrew Glushenko, Rufus Kaukane and Vernon "Bully" Santos, and patrol officers Joe Fujita, Ray Kauhane and the late Walter Yamamoto during his career.
"What I learned from the old-timers was how to gain respect and present yourself to the public when you're working," he said.
Self gained his street experience as a footman in the "Waikiki jungle" and Chinatown, as well as from eight years of patrol duty in Kalihi.
With his contacts in the Kalihi community, Self provided valuable assistance to homicide detectives that led to arrests for the September 1989, gang-related shooting of Edilberto Asuncion at Farrington High School.
It earned him a special assignment with the homicide unit.
In 1989, Missing Persons was separated from the Juvenile Division's runaway detail and placed in Criminal Investigations with the homicide detail.
Self and Herbie Chun were the first officers assigned to the Missing Persons Detail, which was then headed by homicide Lt. Gary Dias and supervised by Sgt. Karen Huston.
"Back in 1989, we didn't have access to all the files," Self said. "But now we have the ability to look into the computer and pick up cases."
A life of public service
Self joined the Honolulu Police Department as a cadet six months after graduating from Farrington High School in 1968. He quickly earned a reputation as a policeman who never stops working.
"When I joined the department, I was taught to be a 24-hour cop and I believe in that because anything can happen on the streets," said Self, who was named Honolulu's Policeman of the Year in 1976 and 1979.
"I can be off duty, but I'll leave my radio on."
Yet his police record is not spotless.
"I've made mistakes and I've been disciplined, but I've paid my debt," Self said of a 1975 suspension for excessive force.
Despite his field knowledge and experience, Self will likely retire without ever being promoted.
"Yeah, I'd like to get promoted, but I'm not a book cop," he said. "I've taken the exam before and failed.
"I'm a street cop. If they graded me on instincts, maybe I'd be up for promotion."
Self, an avid golfer, is married to the former Josephine Akana and the couple have nine adult children, ages 19-30, and seven grandchildren.
"You know, my wife and children still have to call home when they travel at night to let us know they got to where they were going," he said.
"I've handled too many cases like Jiezhao Li, Lisa Au and Diane Suzuki, so I know things can happen."
Thousands of people are reported missing each year in Hawaii and the key to finding them starts with accurate information. Caseload always high
for Missing Persons staffBy Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin"The hardest part is dealing with the reporting person or family members who cannot give us information to point us in a direction," said Sgt. Wallace Choy, who supervises two full-time and two reserve officers with the Honolulu Police Department's Missing Persons Detail.
"People are hesitant to tell us personal and medical information about the missing person. If we know the person is a drug user, it gives us a starting point."
Police investigated 1,076 missing persons reports in 1998 and 1,041 in 1999, said Choy.
"And that doesn't include several hundred more each year that started out as something else and came to us," Choy said.
Anne Clarkin of the state Attorney General's office, the Missing Child Center-Hawaii coordinator, added that from January through July of this year, the center has worked 2,923 cases and closed 2,830 of them. Most of those cases involved runaways and custodial interference, she said.
Missing Persons, which is partnered with the Homicide Detail, is assigned all cases involving a suspicious disappearance.
The Juvenile Services Division handles runaways, while the Criminal Investigation Division's Family Violence Detail handles the custodial interference or family abduction cases.
Stranger abductions or kidnappings are assigned to general detail criminal investigators.
But Choy pointed out that the different units normally assist each other.
"Depending on the time of year, Missing Person gets up to 120 to 140 cases a month per man," Choy said. "For one reason or another, we get a lot of cases during the holiday season when some people get very depressed and suicidal."
There's a good working relationship between police and Missing Child Center-Hawaii, said Clarkin.
"We share information and resources and are full working partners," Clarkin said. "It's very important to be able to determine if a child is a runaway or attempting to commit suicide."
Choy, 42, and his two full-time investigators -- Officers Joe Self and Philip Camero -- have a total of 66 years of HPD experience.
Self, 50, has spent 11 of his 31 years at HPD with Missing Persons while Camero, a Lanai native who joined the department 19 years ago, is in his fifth year with the detail.
The two reserve officers are retired homicide detective Stephen Dung and attorney Brian Sugimoto.
"We're able to talk things through with each other and that's a big help," Camero said. "The most challenging cases are the ones where foul play might be involved and you don't have a body, so you've got to work harder to find evidence.
"I think it's important that we never take any cases for granted."
Camero said the rescue of Danish hikers Anitta Winther and Marianne Konnerup last August was the most rewarding case he's worked on.
Winther and Konnerup spent eight days on a cliff in the rugged Koolau Mountains in Kahana Valley before they were found by Hawaiian Trail and Mountain Club volunteers who assisted the Fire Department, state conservation officers and police in the search.
"All we started with was that the two girls left and may have gone hiking or to the North Shore," Camero said. "Once we put out a news release, we received over 100 leads.
"We had reports of them on Kauai, at a garage sale in Hawaii Kai and hopping a fence at Sacred Falls. We checked out all the leads. It was a good feeling when they came out alive. The rewarding part was the teamwork between the agencies."
Choy would like to upgrade the technology available to Missing Persons.
"Joe lives in Kalihi, Phil in Hawaii Kai and I'm in Mililani so when we get a call and go to a scene, we have to come all the way back to the station to put out a press release," Choy said.
"If we had a transportable laptop and color scanner available, we could do the release from the site. It would save us a lot of time."
Police are expecting to register several thousand children for the "Keiki ID" program Aug. 12 at the first annual Mango Festival for Missing Kids benefit at Kapiolani Park. HPD offers free registration for kids
The free registration involves filling out an information form and allowing police to take a photograph of a child for a packet that remains with the family.
The packet is given to police if a child is reported missing.
"It gives us a solid starting point," said police Sgt. Wallace Choy of the Missing Persons Detail.
Parents or guardians can register their children from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the 12-hour festival, which starts at 8 a.m.
There'll be arts, crafts, games and food booths with all proceeds going to the Missing Child Center-Hawaii Trust, and entertainment by Three Plus, Roots, Odessey, B.E.T., Typical Hawaiians and magician Alan Arita, a police captain.
HPD's homicide, custodial interference, juvenile runaway and special services officers will have exhibits on display.