Police and social workers with the state's Child Protective Services have been unable to determine Peter Boy's fate since April 1997. His plight was first widely reported in the Advertiser in April 1998. Since the beginning of the case, many have questioned the actions of his parents, Peter and Jaylin Kema of Hilo. The two have denied any wrongdoing. Detectives have been unable to confirm anything Peter Boy's parents told them about the boy's disappearance, including a frequently repeated account that he was given to an O ' ahu woman named Auntie Rose Makuakane at ' A ' ala Park in August 1997.
Police have no evidence that any such person exists.
What they do have evidence of are the abuses heaped upon Peter Boy before his disappearance. They are chronicled in Family Court documents. From fractures to starvation to being driven around while locked in the trunk of the family car, the small boy's life was horrific. No arrests have been made, and the case always has been classified as a missing persons investigation. But last week, Hawai ' i County Police Chief Wayne Carvalho said the department has considered upgrading it to a homicide investigation.