By JOHN BURNETT
Tribune-Herald staff writer
Police have identified a badly decomposed body found Jan. 18 off Stainback Highway in Hilo as that of 38-year-old Shane Yoshi Kalani Kobayashi of Pahoa.
According to a written Police Department statement, Kobayashi was identified through dental records.
Investigators believe foul play is involved and detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding Kobayashi’s death. They are also awaiting additional pathology and toxicology findings to determine the exact cause of death.
Police are also working with an anthropologist from the Joint POW Accounting Command/Central Identification Laboratory from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Oahu to perform additional examinations.
Police issued a bulletin on Wednesday stating that Kobayashi was missing and had last been seen at his home on Dec. 11.
Kobayashi missed dates in Hilo Circuit Court on Nov. 29 and Dec. 11 for hearings on a motion to revoke his probation over positive drug tests. According to court records, he has 23 criminal convictions, including felony convictions for sexual assault, promoting a dangerous drug, terroristic threatening, escape and bail jumping. He’s also been convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse.
Kobayashi’s body was found off the “ATV Trail Park” by officers conducting a search in the area for 44-year-old Dante Peter Gilman. Gilman was initially reported as missing, but police charged two cousins from Kurtistown, 30-year-old Claude Keone Krause and 19-year-old Kawena K. Krause with murdering Gilman. Police say a home surveillance video from Gilman’s Road 10 residence shows Claude Krause shooting Gilman with a rifle and Kawena Krause then choking him until Gilman’s body goes lifeless. The homicide allegedly occurred in late December.
Kobayashi’s body is one of two found off Stainback Highway in the past week. Police said Wednesday that another body was found Tuesday off the “Tree Planting Road” following an anonymous tip at about 5:18 a.m.
That body was also badly decomposed, police said. An autopsy is scheduled for today to determine the cause of death of the second body.
Lt. Greg Esteban of the Hilo Criminal Investigations Section said on Wednesday that he didn’t know if either body was Gilman’s and the search for his body continues.
Police ask that anyone with information contact Detective Todd Pataray at 961-2382 or tpataray@co.hawaii.hi.us. Those who prefer anonymity may call Crime Stoppers at 961-8300 and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
