Peter Boy case chronology

May 8, 1991: Social workers with the state Department of Human Services received a report that Peter Boy’s two older half siblings had been abused. The children were taken from the home and placed in the care of Jaylin Kema’s parents, Yolanda and James Acol of Kona.

June 1991: In keeping with the state’s policy to reunite families, the children were placed back with their parents under the supervision of social workers.

Aug. 12, 1991: Social workers received another report, this time that Peter Boy, then 3 months old, had suffered a spiral fracture of his left leg. There also was evidence of older fractures. The children again were taken away.

March 10, 1993: Peter Boy’s youngest sister, Devalynn, was born.

July 1994: Social workers returned Peter Boy to his parents, and a month later allowed visitations with the two older children. The goal still was the reunification of the family.

June 1995: The older children were returned to the Kemas by order of Family Court Judge Ben Gaddis.

Oct. 31, 1995: The state officially closed the case.

Dec. 14, 1996: Some family members last see Peter Boy at the funeral of a relative.

April 4, 1997: Social workers received a call from a therapist saying that a 15-year-old relative of the Kemas had alleged that Peter Boy had been abused and his arm had been broken.

June 18, 1997: A visit was made to the Kema home, but there appeared to be no belongings in the house. The next day, the social worker found out that the family had moved to Puhili Street in the Ka¬mana area.

June 25, 1997: A social worker visited the Kemas and asked Peter Kema Sr. to bring the family to Department of Human Services offices the next day. That appointment and another were canceled by the Kemas.

July 7, 1997: The family arrived at the department’s offices with three of the children. Peter Boy was not among them. His mother said he was on a vacation with relatives.

Aug. 16, 1997: Jaylin Kema said in January of this year that she last saw Peter Boy on this date, when her husband took the boy to O‘ahu and "didn’t bring the child back."

Aug. 19, 1997: A social worker again visited the Kema home. There were two cars in the garage, and the sound of a running clothes dryer could be heard, but no one came to the door when she knocked. When she tried to call, no one answered the phone, so she left a message.

Oct. 1, 1997: Yolanda Acol, Jaylin Kema’s mother, said she again called CPS voicing concern about Peter Boy.

Oct. 2, 1997: The two older Kema children were interviewed by social workers about Peter Boy’s whereabouts.

Dec. 23, 1997: Jaylin Kema reported to a state social services worker that Peter Boy moved out of the home in June.

Dec. 26, 1997: James Acol contacted the social worker and told of his concern for his grandson, saying the last time he saw Peter Boy, the child had a black eye and a sprained arm.

Dec. 29, 1997: Social workers called a private school on the suggestion of a family member that the boy might possibly be attending the school. Peter Boy was not registered there.

Jan. 8, 1998: Police said this was the date when they first received a report from CPS that Peter Boy had disappeared. Officers accompanied a social worker to the Kema home; no one answered the door.

Jan. 9, 1998: Police and a social worker returned to the Kema home and persuaded Jaylin Kema to file a missing-person report.

Jan. 21, 1998: Police interviewed Jaylin Kema, who said she had learned only the day before that her husband had handed their son "to a lady in ‘A‘ala Park" and had given up all rights to him. Peter Kema Sr. refused to be interviewed.

Early February 1998: Police released information on Peter Boy’s case and asked the public for help in finding him.

March 18, 1998: CPS filed a petition to have Peter Boy put into foster care when found and for family supervision to monitor his siblings.

April 17, 1998: Family Judge Ben Gaddis released case details at the request of The Advertiser, citing grave concern for Peter Boy’s safety.

April 21, 1998: Child Protective Services filed a petition in Family Court to remove the remaining three children from the Kema home. They were taken into protective custody on April 22 and placed in foster care.

April 24, 1998: Big Island police detectives took Peter Kema Sr. to ‘A‘ala Park to retrace his son’s last known steps.

April 26, 1998: Speaking publically for the first time since her son’s disappearance, Jaylin Kema told The Advertiser that she believed the woman who allegedly took charge of her son did exist and asked for the public’s help to find him.

April 27, 1998: Peter Kema Sr. denied that he killed his 6-year-old son and renewed a plea for the public’s help in finding the boy.

April 28, 1998: The Advertiser reports that Big Island police asked the Hawai‘i County Prosecutor’s Office to explore what legal options, if any, were open to them, should they choose to make a case against Peter Kema Sr.

April 28, 1998: Gov. Ben Cayetano declined to say whether he was satisfied with state officials’ handling of the Peter Kema case. But he said: "When everything is said and done, then someone else, I think, needs to come in and take a look" at whether authorities could have done better.

May 11, 1998: The Advertiser reported that Peter Kema Sr. and his wife, Jaylin, who filed the missing-person report on their son, refused to talk to police without their attorneys present. Meanwhile, no evidence emerged to confirm the existence of Auntie Rose Makuakane.

Summer 1998: Police continued to follow up on leads in the case, but there was little to go on. The Kemas’ refusal to talk slowed the investigation.

October 1998: Investigators from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reviewed details of the Kema case and concluded that the police have conducted a good investigation.

October 1998: A confidential report filed in Family Court quoted Peter Boy’s siblings as saying that the boy was starved, forced to sleep outside and driven around in a locked car trunk. Peter Kema Sr.’s attorney declined to discuss the allegations.

Jan. 26, 1999: State Auditor Marion Higa harshly criticized the state Department of Human Services for its handling of child abuse and neglect cases.

February 1999: Family Court awarded permanent custody of Peter Boy’s half siblings, Allan and Chauntelle, to their biological father, William Collier. The court also ordered Jaylin and Peter Kema to stay away - no contact, no telephone calls, no chance meetings, no photographs.

March 1999: Big Island detectives turned over several thousand pages of reports on the Kema case to the prosecutor’s office, asking that prosecutors review the evidence gathered so far.

April 1999: Peter Boy’s half siblings talked about their brother’s - and their own - treatment at the hands of the Kemas. They said that they were sometimes hit, but that Peter Boy bore the brunt of his parents’ wrath.

August 1999: The Missing Child Center-Hawai‘i distributed bumper stickers asking the question: "So where’s Peter?’ In a few weeks, almost all 5,000 stickers were distributed.

March 2000: State House lawmakers passed a resolution asking the U.S. Department of Justice and the state Attorney General’s Office to investigate the way Big Island police have handled Peter Boy’s case. The youngest Kema child, Devalynn, is adopted by her maternal grandparents.

April 13, 2000: The Advertiser reported that Big Island authorities expect to present evidence to a grand jury within the next several months on the 1997 disappearance of Peter Kema Jr.