Cold Cases in Hawaii
ColdCaseIndex documents 5 cases in Hawaii, dated 1982 to 1997. 3 are recorded as unsolved. The earliest is Lisa Au (1982) and the most recent is Peter Boy Kema (1997).
- Unsolved 3 (60%)
- Partly resolved 1 (20%)
- Solved or convicted 1 (20%)
Homicide clearance in Hawaii, 1965 to 2024
A homicide is "cleared" when police make an arrest or close it by exceptional means, so an uncleared case is not always an unsolved one. Source: Murder Accountability Project analysis of FBI Uniform Crime Report data, as published by Project: Cold Case. These are statewide totals and are separate from the ColdCaseIndex entries listed below.
By type
All Hawaii cases
Peter Boy Kema
Peter Kema Jr., known as Peter Boy, was 6 when he was last seen alive on Hawaii Island in mid-1997; his parents did not report him missing until months later.
Dana Ireland
Dana Ireland, 23, was abducted, raped and fatally beaten on the Big Island of Hawaii on Christmas Eve 1991. Three men were wrongfully convicted and later exonerated; in 2024 DNA identified a new suspect who died before arrest.
Diane Suzuki
Diane Suzuki, a 19-year-old University of Hawaii student, disappeared on July 6, 1985 from the Rosalie Woodson Dance Academy in Aiea, where she taught part-time. Her purse, keys and car were left behind.
The Honolulu Strangler
An unidentified serial killer sexually assaulted and strangled five women in Honolulu between 1985 and 1986, binding their hands behind their backs and dumping their bodies in remote areas.
Lisa Au
Lisa Au, a 19-year-old Kailua hairdresser, disappeared on Oahu in January 1982; her abandoned car was found the next day and her body ten days later in a ravine off Tantalus Drive.