Question: Whatever happened to the case of John Parsons, the Australian visitor who went hiking on the Waimalu Ditch Trail in 2008 and was never seen again? I recall a story in the newspaper that researchers found John Parson’s ID, a skull fragment and other bones but never heard whether the remains were confirmed to be his? Are there any new developments?
Answer: An Australian laboratory ultimately identified the skeletal remains as that of John Parsons.
Parsons, a 77-year-old builder from Bendigo, Australia, went for a hike on Sept. 4, 2008 on the Waimalu Ditch Trail above Pearl City and was never seen alive again.
Fire rescue personnel searched for five days, covering more than 12 miles, and family members flew to Honolulu to join the search.
Chief Investigator Pam Cadiente of the Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office said that in March 2009 the first set of Parsons’ remains was discovered.
Various individuals, including hikers and pig hunters, were involved in the search and additional discovery of remains that continued through the fall of 2009, Cadiente said.
The military’s Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, experts at recovering remains, was also involved, Cadiente said.
What they recovered was a skull fragment and various parts of the skull and other skeletal remains.
In the spring of 2009, pig hunters found Parsons’ pension card, a pair of dentures and a human leg bone, according to Meryl Robertson, Parsons’ daughter.
Robertson said the pension card and dentures were found about 2.5 miles from the trailhead, while a hunting dog carried the leg bone from an unknown location.
Police conducted DNA tests on the bone, but the results were inconclusive and further tests reportedly could have taken up to a year.
In September 2009, 15 of Parsons’ family members, including children and grandchildren, returned to search the trail to follow up on the clues that had been found.
The family took back a bone sample to Australia for further testing.
In October 2009, the last set of remains was found, Cadiente said.
It was a laboratory in Australia, using DNA testing, that positively identified the remains as that of Parsons, Cadiente said.
Police spokeswoman Michelle Yu said foul play is not suspected.
The Medical Examiner’s Office was unable to determine the manner and cause of death from the skeletal remains.
However, the bones provided the DNA by which Parsons was positively identified.
"I wish every jurisdiction could go back for every unsolved case," Cadiente said.
Parsons’ family retrieved his remains, which were taken back to Australia.
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This update was written by Leila Fujimori. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened To…” by writing Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.
