Peter Boy’s alleged
adoption said to be
‘highly unusual’

One of the most troubling claims in the suspicious eight-year disappearance of Peter Kema Jr. is that his father claimed he gave "Peter Boy" to a woman whose existence was never proved.

While granting custody of children to others is a legal and common practice in Hawaii and across the nation, it is "highly unusual" for the caregivers' existence to be in question, a missing-child expert said yesterday.

Peter Kema Sr. told authorities he had taken his then-6-year-old son from the Big Island to Oahu while searching for a job in August 1997, and said he put Peter Boy in the care of a family friend there, "Auntie Rose Makuakane." Police say they have found no trace of her existence, and Kema says he has not seen the boy since then.

"This makes it very unusual when you say you give your child to Auntie Rose and you don't know who or where Auntie Rose is," said Ron Jones, of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. "That is highly unusual. Matter of fact, that's the first one I had like that."

This year, there has been a renewed effort to solve the mystery of the long-missing child from Hilo, which has become the most publicized missing child case in state history.

The state took the unprecedented action on Tuesday of releasing roughly 2,000 pages of confidential documents under a new directive by the state Human Services Department to help solve the Peter Boy case and to open Hawaii's child protective system to public review.

Jones, the case manager who has handled the Kema case for several years, said the practice of children being given to other close friends or relatives has been "going on forever everywhere."

"Especially back in the day, it wouldn't be anything for aunts, uncles or your grandmother to raise you," said Jones, a former homicide detective.

There are many reasons why parents voluntarily give up custody of their children, including having financial difficulties, seeking a more stable living environment and better providers or being incarcerated, he said.

Peter Boy was not reported missing until Jan. 9, 1998, several months after the reported job-hunting trip to Oahu. Peter Boy's mother, Jaylin, agreed to file the missing-person report only after a social worker and a police officer went to her home and questioned her son's whereabouts.

Peter Kema Sr. told authorities he gave Peter Boy away under the traditional Hawaiian caregiving system known as hanai, according to a 1998 psychological evaluation that was among the documents released Tuesday.

"He maintains that he utilized the hanai system to give Peter Jr. to a family friend," psychologist Steven Choy wrote in the report. "He reported that he was having difficulty caring for Peter and providing him with the necessary clothing, shelter and food."

State Rep. Dennis Arakaki, who has sought release of the Peter Boy files for nearly eight years, once considered introducing a bill making it illegal to give away a child. But he decided against it for several reasons, including the possible interference with the hanai system.

"There's a cultural thing," he said. "In some cases it's better for a child to be placed in the care of someone else."

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