Neighbor Island briefs
Advertiser Staff and News Services
BIG ISLAND
Fugitive sought in Big Island crimes
HILO, Hawai'i — Big Island police yesterday were searching for a fugitive wanted for an assortment of crimes, including escape.
Kimo Wendell King is wanted on drug charges.
Kimo Wendell King, 40, is wanted on two felony drug charges, six traffic offenses, including reckless driving and drunken driving, and escape. His bail has been set at $13,000.
Police did not provide details surrounding the charges.
King also is known as Wendell Kimo King, Kimo Kahele and Kimo K. King and frequents the Pana'ewa Houselots area east of Hilo, police said. He is 5 feet, 11 inches tall, weighs 220 pounds and has brown hair and eyes.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts should call the police nonemergency number at (808) 935-3311, or Crime Stoppers at (808) 961-8300 in Hilo or (808) 329-8181 in Kona.
Body discovered in burned shack
The burned body of an unidentified person was found in a shack destroyed by fire yesterday morning in the Ocean View area of the Big Island.
Firefighters were called at 11:10 a.m. to a fire at the corner of Jasmine and Maikai streets in the Ranchos subdivision. When they arrived, firefighters found a 12-by-14-foot structure on fire.
The blaze was brought under control at 11:30 and extinguished at 11:41. When firefighters entered the structure, they found the charred remains, police said.
Police last night said the body was burned so badly that it was difficult to determine whether the remains were that of a man or a woman. The body was taken to Kona Hospital, where an autopsy will be done to determine the cause of death and to identify the victim.
An investigator said the fire likely was caused by an unattended stove. Damage to the structure was estimated at $1,000. The structure stood on a three-acre parcel, and fire officials said about a half-acre of brush also was burned.
KAUA'I
Emergency gear's return requested
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — The Kaua'i Fire Department is seeking help in the return of emergency gear stolen from the Lydgate Park lifeguard station.
A series of thefts from the facility has resulted in the loss of a medical kit, oxygen tanks, a specialized breathing mask, radios and other gear valued at $6,780. The thefts have left lifeguards without the emergency equipment they need, said police Sgt. Roy Asher.
Anyone with information should call Asher at (808) 241-6797 or Crimestoppers at (808) 241-6787.
Weather buoy to be replaced
Buoy One, the deep-ocean weather buoy that warns of incoming big surf from the northwest, will be out of commission for about six hours today while it is replaced.
The 19-foot, boat-shaped buoy moored to the ocean floor beyond Nihoa island, about 190 miles west of Kaua'i, transmits to a satellite information on wave activity, surface air pressure, water and air temperature and other data.
The buoy is to be replaced by an identical unit today by the Coast Guard cutter Walnut.
