Missing car owner
wanted in theft case

A flight school believes its accountant
forged checks worth $100,000

The man whose 2005 Mercedes-Benz was found off the cliffs of Makapuu on Tuesday morning is under investigation for allegedly stealing more than $100,000 from a business where he worked as an accountant, according to Honolulu police sources.

Kenneth Peters Anyone with information about his whereabouts or with any information about the case is asked to call missing-persons investigator Phil Camero at 529-3394, or CrimeStoppers at 955-8300 or by dialing *CRIME on a cellular phone.

Kenneth James Peters Jr., 31, was being investigated for allegedly stealing money from Flight School Hawaii, sources said.

Officials for the school confirmed Peters' employment but would not say how long he had worked there or release any information about the investigation.

Police sources said the case involved Peters allegedly forging several checks for more than $100,000 over several months. The Police Department's white-collar crime unit investigated and had forwarded the case to the city prosecutor's office when Peters' car was found abandoned.

Honolulu police would not comment officially about any ongoing investigations involving Peters, but confirmed that he is still being treated as a missing person and not a fugitive.

"We're looking at all possibilities. There is a possibility that he may have left the island," said police spokesman Capt. Frank Fujii. "(But) at this point in time he is not wanted for anything.

"We're continuing to look for him, and we're asking for the public's help if they have seen from him or heard from him or if they've seen his vehicle between Monday and the next morning on Tuesday."

According to Peters' co-workers at JTD International Inc. in Halawa, he was seen leaving work on Monday between 7:30 and 7:40 p.m. At about 6:45 a.m. Tuesday, a motorist spotted Peters' silver Mercedes on the side of a cliff overlooking Makapuu Beach Park.

The car was believed to have been heading in the Hawaii Kai direction along Kalanianaole Highway when it crashed over a concrete barrier and dropped 70 feet into the brush. Peters' car keys were in the ignition, and a police bloodhound discovered a pair of shoes possibly belonging to him across the street on the mauka side of Makapuu Lookout, just up the road from where his car was abandoned.

According to the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center, Peters has a conviction for second-degree theft stemming from a 1993 case involving Liberty House. In 1994 he was sentenced to six months' confinement, 200 hours of community service and five years' probation.

According to Peters' aunt, he is originally from the Big Island, and most of his family lives in Laupahoehoe.

Flight School Hawaii officials confirmed that Peters has a private pilot's license. He is also in remission from cancer, according to his family and friends.

Peters is 5 foot 9 inches tall, weighs about 165 pounds, has brown hair and brown eyes, and was last seen wearing a gray dress shirt and black slacks and driving the four-door silver Mercedes Benz, which has the license plate OH2BAD.