Remains might be
of copper thief

Police find the bones of a man
who died several years ago
in Waikele

Skeletal remains found in Waikele might be that of a homeless man who was attempting to steal copper wire from Hawaiian Electric Co. several years ago, according to police.

The body was found Monday at the foot of a utility pole near Pakele and Kukula streets near Waikele Elementary School. Police said the victim was wearing a pair of dark shorts and had an unidentified tool next to him, thought to be either a pair of pliers or wire cutters.

Homicide investigators said they have had two to three anonymous calls in the last couple of years about an unidentified man who electrocuted himself while trying to steal copper wire. However, police were unable to locate a body because each time someone called, the anonymous caller or callers failed to provide a specific location.

"The first time they just said Waikele, so we sent a chopper to the area but couldn't see anything," Homicide Lt. Bill Kato said. "Then, last year, we got a call from a guy who said he found some bones, and we were supposed to meet him in Waipahu and he was going to take us to the body, but he never showed up.

"Then, the other day, we got a call, and someone actually took us to the body. ... But there's no way to know if this guy got electrocuted or what else he was doing up there."

Kato said the story of the electrocuted man circulated among the homeless people living in the area. A group of homeless men had discussed stealing copper wire and selling it, but when some of them actually went up to get it, one got electrocuted, Kato said.

Whether this is the same individual or whether that story is true is hard to determine without evidence, Kato said.

"We don't have any reports of anyone in that general area missing, and no one has ever called us and made a missing-persons report," he said. "Nothing that matches this scenario that's been presented to us."

HECO officials said they had heard the same stories but could not confirm whether they were true.

"There was a time in the early to mid-'90s when people were doing that, but I guess they got smarter," said Jose Dizon, HECO spokesman. "I don't know what the price of copper is, but it's not worth your life."

Missing-persons investigator Phil Camero said the body does not match any outstanding missing-persons cases police have in their files.

"Sometimes if a person has no family or friends ... or has cut themselves off from their family or friends, a report may not be made because no one knows they're missing," he said.

The Honolulu Medical Examiner's Office has deferred the victim's cause of death until test results come back from the Army's Central Identification Laboratory at Hickam Air Force Base.