There currently are 25 open missing person investigations involving Big Island residents who vanished between 2021 and 2023, according to the Hawaii Police Department.
HPD reported that nine people remain missing from 2021, nine from 2022, and so far in 2023, seven people remain missing.
“I think there’s some people that don’t want to be found. There’s some people that end up leaving the island, some of them are just missing for several days or a week or so, and then they’re located,” said Capt. Rio Amon-Wilkins, noting that cases can be challenging the longer time goes on. “A lot of times, they’re reported to police when they haven’t been heard from or seen in quite some time.”
At least 12 of the 25 missing people were last seen in the East Hawaii region, mainly in Puna, Pahoa, Keaau and Hilo.
“There’s a lot of remote areas in Puna,” Amon-Wilkins said. “For some of the people that go off the radar or end up getting reported missing, sometimes we just aren’t able to locate them and contact them for quite some time.”
Based on the ages of those missing provided by police, a majority were in their 30s and 40s at the time of disappearance.
“For that many people, excluding tourists, to go missing is crazy,” said Geff Gravitt, whose son, Kelly, has been missing since May 12.
Kelly Gravitt is a Purple Heart recipient who was last seen at the Black Lava Vape shop in Pahoa, wearing a paisley and rainbow backpack and gray pants.
“I’ve had other mothers reach out to me with missing sons, daughters reach out to me with missing mothers,” Geff Gravitt said. “I got good advice from someone else who had a missing person who is going through this. She said this isn’t a race, it’s a marathon, and that marathons are long, painful, grueling, and that’s the way it is, and she’s right. It’s been that way for me, and it’s been just over a couple months.”
Gravitt is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to his son’s safe return or the conviction of anyone responsible for his disappearance.
HPD on Thursday also renewed its request for public assistance in locating Gravitt, but Amon-Wilkins told the Tribune-Herald police do not have any viable leads in the case right now.
Geff Gravitt said there are several rumors regarding his son’s disappearance. He also said he has received videos, audio recordings and text messages that indicate a possible connection to Cinderland, a self-described “eco-village” roughly 20 miles southeast of Hilo.
“My son was out in Cinderland until December 2022, and that place is just a circus of schizophrenia,” Gravitt said. “These people are just trying to find a place to belong and be a part of something bigger than themselves.”
Geff Gravitt said he has been working with HPD and shared the pieces of information with detectives, but Amon-Wilkins stated they did not provide anything substantial.
“We’ve had some cases where that was one of the areas where we went to follow up on possible leads,” Amon-Wilkins said of Cinderland. “But I don’t think there’s anything I can say, any connection between Cinderland and these missing persons.”
Several families also mentioned the possibility of the FBI getting involved in certain missing persons cases.
“They haven’t shared what the bigger picture is, and that’s okay, because I’m thinking they don’t want to jeopardize it,” said Jay Bishop, whose father, William Bishop, has been missing since January. “But that might be where the FBI would actually show interest in getting involved.”
Amon-Wilkins said in his experience, HPD has not had the FBI assist them on missing persons cases.
“We have reached out to them in certain instances,” he said. “But, generally, it hasn’t met whatever their criteria is.”
As a state, Hawaii ranked eighth in the nation in 2019 for having the most missing people per capita, according to a report by VivintSource, citing 7.5 missing people per 100,000 residents.
According to the National Missing and Identified Persons System, or NAMUS, there are 235 missing persons cases statewide as of July 2023.
“It just seems like this problem is growing,” Gravitt said. “Or maybe, I’m just more aware of it now.”
For Hawaii County, people who still remain missing, along with the age at which they vanished — when provided — are listed below.
In 2021: Donald Dodge (61), Joshua Toney (26), Tracey Maureen Warren (35), Charles Bruce Graves (69), Michael T. Kitagawachi, Joseph Robarge, Chantelle D’attilio, Joseph David Smithey (54), Mahali De Rasayana (62).
In 2022: Keoni Glenn Kong, Gavin Lee Stansell, Keith Kamaliimakahinuhinu Snelson Tengan Everett (45), Omar Sherman, Jennifer Michelle Showen (41), Landon William Fairbanks (42), Gary Silva-Evangelista (34), Nathaniel Domingo Andres (23), Paul A. Hernandez (51).
In 2023: Mark Knittle (63), William Romeo Bishop (76), William Everette Brownfield, Kris Seizen Yamauchi (65), Jasmine Lily Swartz (35), Kelly Gravitt (34), Mary M. Kaniho (34).
Email Grant Phillips at gphillips@hawaiitribune-herald.com.