Report fuels escalated search for missing man

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

Police have intensified their search for missing 80-year-old Masayuki Kubo, flooding the downtown area with fliers and talking with area regulars after a security guard spotted a man resembling Kubo at the Chinatown Cultural Plaza Shopping Center on Saturday morning.

Masayuki Kubo, 80, walked away from home June 23.

A security guard who works at the Plaza told police he spotted a man on the property fitting Kubo's description Saturday at 1 a.m., said officer Phil Camero of the Honolulu Police Department's Missing Persons Detail.

The guard said the man "looked a little confused" and was seen wandering away on Maunakea Street toward the Hotel Street area, Camero said.

Police searched the area Saturday night and later Sunday morning. They also canvassed the downtown area Tuesday night and talked with homeless people who may have seen Kubo, who was wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and tennis shoes, Camero said.

"As each day passes by, we get more concerned because of his health, age and the condition he faces," Camero said. "He had $10 on him and a bus pass, but his wife said he didn't know how to use the bus pass."

Camero said police have contacted the bus company to be on the lookout for Kubo. Police have no evidence of foul play and have classified the case as a missing-persons case, Camero said.

Camero said police have received reports of people seeing a man resembling Kubo in the Nimitz area, Waikiki, Ala Moana and Kaka'ako, with most of those sightings unsubstantiated.

"The challenge is a lot of elderly people look like him," Camero said.

Camero said Kubo knows his identity, but he might be "confused and scared" and that people should "delicately approach him."

Earlier, Kubo's wife, Jessie, offered a $1,000 reward for anyone who finds her missing husband.

Anyone with information on Masayuki Kubo is asked to call 911.