Missing man's family asks for help
By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Family members joined Honolulu police last night in asking for help finding a 28-year-old Kane'ohe man who has been missing since Friday.
Yorck Kenneth Woita, a carpenter, was last seen driving a yellow 2000 Nissan XTerra in Kailua and arguing with another man seated in the vehicle near Kailua Shopping Center. Less than four hours later, police found the abandoned SUV burning on a back road in Waimanalo.
Yorck Woita's mother said she called her son's cell phone through the weekend just to hear his recorded voice.
Beverly Lum, Woita's mother, described her son as respectful and close to his family, not someone who would run off for days without calling. She said he doesn't drink and she saw no sign of trouble. He is a 1993 graduate of Castle High School.
"We're a very tight family," she said. "He's really a local boy; he goes fishing all the time when he can."
Homicide Lt. Bill Kato said police are investigating the suspicious circumstances of the disappearance, which remains classified as a missing-person case. "We're concerned about his disappearance, and we're asking if anybody has any information on his whereabouts or if they may have seen anything in the Kailua-Waimanalo area on Friday evening, if they could call," Kato said.
Lum said her son had rented a hotel room in Waikiki with friends, then drove to the Windward side in his stepbrother's SUV, saying he would meet the friends later. He never returned.
Kato said police believe the SUV was set on fire. He said investigators are still trying to identify the man arguing with Woita, but declined to provide a description yesterday.
Woita is 6 feet 2, weighs 160 pounds and has brown hair and hazel eyes. The license number of the X-Terra was JBJ 067. On Friday, he was wearing a blue short-sleeve shirt, possibly with white sleeves, blue jeans and a pair of white Converse "Star" tennis shoes. He wore a 20-inch gold chain and a TAG Heuer watch.
Lum said she has found herself calling her son's cell phone through the weekend just to hear his recorded voice. "He called me on Friday," she said. "We talked for a little while; he seemed OK."
Yorck's younger sister, Tracy Woita, 26, said he had just signed up for classes at Hawai'i Pacific University. Lum said he was studying German and business.
Lum said her children were born in Germany but had lived in Hawai'i since they were ages 3 and 1. Lum said her son is close to her, his sister and his father, her ex-husband, who is also named Yorck Woita.
Lum asked anyone who may have seen anything to "be compassionate and have mercy and please call." And she hopes that her son will hear her plea. "He knows that we love him," she said.
Police ask anyone with information to call 529-3394 or Crime Stoppers at 955-8300 or *CRIME on a cellular telephone.
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
