08-05-2025, 05:37 AM
https://www.intouchweekly.com/posts/insi...ig-island/
(text extracted from the article by AI)
The Big Island of Hawaii is known for its untamed beauty and peaceful atmosphere. However, over the past two years, fear has grown in the community due to several mysterious disappearances. After reviewing public police reports and records for the local police department, In Touch confirmed that one to two people have gone missing each month — a total of 39 people — in the last two years, with the majority of the missing persons being men. Their families are calling it an “epidemic.” According to the police department, they only have 22 active and open missing persons cases from that time frame, as they stop classifying a case as active once leads run out. In Touch exclusively spoke to three of the missing persons’ families, as well as Hawaii police captain Rio Amon-Wilkins, to learn more.
Kelly Gravitt, a 34-year-old combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient, disappeared on the Big Island in 2023. “Kelly is my son. He joined the army at 20 years old, and he was blown up in Afghanistan in 2010,” Kelly’s father, Geff Gravitt, tells In Touch Investigates’ Kristin Thorne. “After that, his mom, my wife, passed away. But Kelly and I thought we could, we’d moved away to kind of heal. So he went over there first, you know, he moved over there, kind of feeling it out.” After Kelly didn’t call Geff on his birthday on May 19, he became worried about his son, who wasn’t answering any of his family’s texts. “Right after that happened, I flew out to the Big Island,” Geff continues.
Geff 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. “It just seems like this problem is growing,” Geff said. “Or maybe, I’m just more aware of it now.” He adds, “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.”
Then, there’s 76-year-old William Bishop, Sr., who moved to the island to retire and spend time with his grandchildren. He disappeared from his own yard in January 2023. “I have a nephew on the island … that was there at the time playing basketball. He ended up going inside for roughly an hour for a break, and when he came out, my dad was gone,” says William’s son Jay W. “A few hours later, we have a brother on the island as well, [and] when he got home from work, he kind of was curious what happened with dad, and tried calling his phone. And heard his phone in his room.” Jay says that his brother discovered that William’s phone and wallet were both in his room, as well as a pouch of personal belongings that he typically carried with him when he left the house. However, William and his car were gone.
“So we really never got any answers from that until probably close to two and a half to three weeks later, a person of interest turned in his car at the police department,” Jay continues, explaining that the woman took a polygraph test and was let go by the police. However, he says he found it “unusual” that she was not charged for having a missing person’s car. The case was suspended with no further leads after that.
Another case involves a man who vanished, leaving his belongings behind. “At that point, they asked me if I wanted to do a missing persons report. So they let me do it over the phone. We were trying to get video cameras. You know, people had searched along there, along the coast, where he was or where his belongings were found. A couple days later, I found out that someone found his dog, Ohia, and he never went anywhere without his dog and his phone. And then at that point, it just kind of went like, there was nothing there. He was just gone,” says Heather, a family member of the missing man.
Meanwhile, the families In Touch spoke with say they hope that more can be done to find all the missing people of the Big Island. “There needs to be a joint task force with the Hawaii Police Department, the FBI, Homeland Security, U.S. Marshals and the DEA, all working together on different tasks,” Geff says. “So there needs to be a joint task force and stuff, and somebody needs to care. This is so hard for me and gives me so much anxiety and so much depression, and the only reason I’m sitting here today talking to you is, I don’t want one more family to have to experience what all of our families have had to go through.”
Below is a list of the people missing from Hawaii’s Big Island over the past two years, according to the Hawaii Police Department. To see their pictures and read more about their cases, click on their names. If you know anything about their disappearances or where they may be, contact the Hawaii Police Department at 808-935-3311.
Amon-Wilkins says that 12 of the 22 active missing persons cases are “water-related.” And while there’s no definitive proof that these people disappeared in the water, he explains that the police get assistance from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Coast Guard. “We’ll also contact the fire department to bring their helicopter to do a shoreline search and water search. So, I mean, it’s a lot of resources definitely go into those cases,” he says.
As for other cases, Amon-Wilkins says “it can be very difficult finding people” due to the island having many “remote areas.” He adds that the police department takes these cases “very seriously.” “We want nothing more than to obviously locate the person alive, but if something happened to them, you know, we want to get to the bottom of it. And if there is foul play involved, you know, make sure that the case gets to the prosecutor’s office,” Amon-Wilkins concludes.
(text extracted from the article by AI)
The Big Island of Hawaii is known for its untamed beauty and peaceful atmosphere. However, over the past two years, fear has grown in the community due to several mysterious disappearances. After reviewing public police reports and records for the local police department, In Touch confirmed that one to two people have gone missing each month — a total of 39 people — in the last two years, with the majority of the missing persons being men. Their families are calling it an “epidemic.” According to the police department, they only have 22 active and open missing persons cases from that time frame, as they stop classifying a case as active once leads run out. In Touch exclusively spoke to three of the missing persons’ families, as well as Hawaii police captain Rio Amon-Wilkins, to learn more.
Kelly Gravitt, a 34-year-old combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient, disappeared on the Big Island in 2023. “Kelly is my son. He joined the army at 20 years old, and he was blown up in Afghanistan in 2010,” Kelly’s father, Geff Gravitt, tells In Touch Investigates’ Kristin Thorne. “After that, his mom, my wife, passed away. But Kelly and I thought we could, we’d moved away to kind of heal. So he went over there first, you know, he moved over there, kind of feeling it out.” After Kelly didn’t call Geff on his birthday on May 19, he became worried about his son, who wasn’t answering any of his family’s texts. “Right after that happened, I flew out to the Big Island,” Geff continues.
Geff 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. “It just seems like this problem is growing,” Geff said. “Or maybe, I’m just more aware of it now.” He adds, “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.”
Then, there’s 76-year-old William Bishop, Sr., who moved to the island to retire and spend time with his grandchildren. He disappeared from his own yard in January 2023. “I have a nephew on the island … that was there at the time playing basketball. He ended up going inside for roughly an hour for a break, and when he came out, my dad was gone,” says William’s son Jay W. “A few hours later, we have a brother on the island as well, [and] when he got home from work, he kind of was curious what happened with dad, and tried calling his phone. And heard his phone in his room.” Jay says that his brother discovered that William’s phone and wallet were both in his room, as well as a pouch of personal belongings that he typically carried with him when he left the house. However, William and his car were gone.
“So we really never got any answers from that until probably close to two and a half to three weeks later, a person of interest turned in his car at the police department,” Jay continues, explaining that the woman took a polygraph test and was let go by the police. However, he says he found it “unusual” that she was not charged for having a missing person’s car. The case was suspended with no further leads after that.
Another case involves a man who vanished, leaving his belongings behind. “At that point, they asked me if I wanted to do a missing persons report. So they let me do it over the phone. We were trying to get video cameras. You know, people had searched along there, along the coast, where he was or where his belongings were found. A couple days later, I found out that someone found his dog, Ohia, and he never went anywhere without his dog and his phone. And then at that point, it just kind of went like, there was nothing there. He was just gone,” says Heather, a family member of the missing man.
Meanwhile, the families In Touch spoke with say they hope that more can be done to find all the missing people of the Big Island. “There needs to be a joint task force with the Hawaii Police Department, the FBI, Homeland Security, U.S. Marshals and the DEA, all working together on different tasks,” Geff says. “So there needs to be a joint task force and stuff, and somebody needs to care. This is so hard for me and gives me so much anxiety and so much depression, and the only reason I’m sitting here today talking to you is, I don’t want one more family to have to experience what all of our families have had to go through.”
Below is a list of the people missing from Hawaii’s Big Island over the past two years, according to the Hawaii Police Department. To see their pictures and read more about their cases, click on their names. If you know anything about their disappearances or where they may be, contact the Hawaii Police Department at 808-935-3311.
- Kawika Makahanaloa. Age 25. Disappeared 4/12/25. Last seen in Hawaiian Acres.
- Jared Willeford. Age 42. Disappeared 4/27/25. Last seen in Kailua-Kona.
- Thomas Delima Jr. Age 43. Disappeared 4/27/25. Last seen in Keauhou.
- Gregory Glaser. Age 56. Disappeared 4/12/25. Last seen in Hawaiian Acres.
- Justin Kawika Ferreira. Age 34. Disappeared 10/21/23. Last seen in Kea‘au.
- Jarryd Lee Kalanihuli Ah Quin. Age 38. Disappeared 10/5/19. Last seen in Pāhoa.
- Joseph David Smithey. Age 55. Disappeared 5/2021. Last seen in Mountain View.
- Jennifer Michelle Showen. Age 43. Disappeared 7/2022. Last seen in Pāhoa.
- Larry Lacanaria. Age 35. Disappeared 2024. Last seen in Mountain View.
- Rick Andrade. Age 37. Disappeared 2024. Last seen in Kurtistown.
- Dashay Souza-Nascimento. Age 18. Disappeared 2024. Last seen in Hilo.
Amon-Wilkins says that 12 of the 22 active missing persons cases are “water-related.” And while there’s no definitive proof that these people disappeared in the water, he explains that the police get assistance from the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Coast Guard. “We’ll also contact the fire department to bring their helicopter to do a shoreline search and water search. So, I mean, it’s a lot of resources definitely go into those cases,” he says.
As for other cases, Amon-Wilkins says “it can be very difficult finding people” due to the island having many “remote areas.” He adds that the police department takes these cases “very seriously.” “We want nothing more than to obviously locate the person alive, but if something happened to them, you know, we want to get to the bottom of it. And if there is foul play involved, you know, make sure that the case gets to the prosecutor’s office,” Amon-Wilkins concludes.
