Advocates hope list of missing kids on state website could unearth clues in new cases ― and old ones
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The state Department of Human Services is trying to bring more attention to the efforts of the Missing Child Center ― and they’re using technology to do it.
DHS has a tab on their website that links directly to a list dedicated to missing and endangered kids.
Find the new list of missing and endangered kids in Hawaii by clicking here.
There are multiple pages of those taken in custody battles or trafficked on the streets. Some are feared dead.
Isabella Kalua is included in the list. The 6-year old was reported missing a year ago. Since then, her foster parents, Isaac and Lehua Kalua, have been charged with her murder.
Her body was never found.
The site is regularly updated, with names and pictures of those recently reported missing.
Amanda Leonard, of the Missing Child Center Hawaii, is happy for the added push “to bring as much awareness as possible to the currently active missing children’s cases as well as the long-term missing persons cases.”
Also include on the site: Jie Zhao Li. The 12-year old was last seen in 1988 selling benefit chili tickets in Nuuanu. A link on the DHS missing child site includes an age progression picture of Li, who would be close to 50 today.
“Our best source of information is our community,” said Randall Rosenberg, an attorney who represents family members of abused and murdered kids.
He represents loved ones of Peter Boy Kema.
The Big Island boy was killed by his parents in 1997 after being tortured for months.
Other kids on the list were taken in custody battles and are now adults who may not have known they were reported missing. “Finding somebody who might be in their 30s who disappeared for 25 years is still a big deal,” said Rosenberg, who pointed out that those left behind often want answers.
The Missing Child Center link from DHS is not new, but a spokesperson for the agency said they are hoping “to drive more people to take a look” in case they have the information that can solve a mystery for a family.
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