Police: Missing 7-year-old boy found dead in swimming pool
MILILANI, Oahu (AP) — A 7-year-old boy who went missing from his Mililani home on Christmas Eve was found dead in a swimming pool the next day, authorities said.
Police on Monday morning recovered the body of Paul “Kevin” Rozier from a pool at an unoccupied house, which was a short distance away from his family’s home.
Authorities said no foul play is suspected and an autopsy will be conducted.
Police and CrimeStoppers posted alerts after the child was reported missing at about 5 p.m. Sunday. Authorities and neighbors searched the area for the child, and police brought in dogs to aid the effort. The search ended at midnight and resumed the next morning.
The boy’s father, Paul Rozier, said his son was known to wander, a symptom in some cases of autism.
“The entire island has just shown us so much love and so much consideration,” Paul Rozier told KITV-TV. “I mean we had people who were totally unknown to us who were up all night on Christmas Eve looking for my baby.”
GinaAnn Apana said that the pool and other areas of the property where the child was found were locked. Apana manages the property that Hanalani Schools purchased earlier this year.
“I’m just totally shocked. I don’t know how he got into the property,” Apana said. “If you walk on the sidewalk, you can’t tell there’s a pool. You would have to walk into the carport.”
Authorities free entangled humpback whale
HONOLULU (AP) — Authorities freed an adult humpback whale off the coast of Maui after it was found entangled in heavy gauge line.
The crew aboard a whale-watching tour boat reported the distressed whale to authorities on Christmas Day, and a team of experts responded.
Personnel from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Humpback Whale Sanctuary found the whale off Maui’s northwest coast, near Lahaina. The whale was trailing about 400 feet of line from its mouth, authorities said.
The team attached a buoy to keep track of the animal. Members tried to slow it down and keep it near the surface so they could remove the line, authorities said. They untangled the whale and recovered the line a few hours later.
Scientists will measure and examine the line to determine where it came from with the hope of reducing the threat to whales in the future, authorities said.
On the same day, a carcass of a humpback whale was discovered about 3 miles off the northern coast of Oahu.
Crews working with state authorities and the Coast Guard towed the carcass about 10 miles away from shore, said David Schofield, a program coordinator with NOAA.
Another bank announces bonuses, higher wages
HONOLULU (AP) — Another bank in Hawaii has announced plans to give employees bonuses and raise its minimum wage, marking the fourth bank in the state to do so.
The Central Pacific Bank on Sunday announced it would give $1,000 holiday bonuses to its entire workforce, excluding executives on its managing committee.
The state’s fourth largest bank says it will raise its minimum wage to $15.25 per hour starting on Monday. Officials say the higher wage would affect about 126 of its approximately 850 employees.
First Hawaiian Bank, Bank of Hawaii and American Savings Bank previously announced they would give employee bonuses of at least $1,000 and raise minimum wages to at least $15 per hour.