HAWAII COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT
HILO CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION SECTION
DETECTIVE THOMAS C. WALTJEN
PHONE: 961-2378
JULY 30, 1999
MEDIA RELEASE
Police have identified the remains of a woman found in December 1998 as those of Kristine Petersen.
Several scattered bones were found at the bottom of a 30- to 40-foot abandoned pit at the old Grover Quarry off Leilani Street in Hilo. What appeared to be a sleeping bag was found with the remains, and other items indicating a campsite were found on the crest of a ridge above the pit.
Hilo Criminal Investigation Section detectives say that so far they have found no evidence of foul play in the woman’s death.
Petersen, then 38, was last seen in Hilo on June 20, 1991, when police picked her up and held her for psychiatric examination.
A forensic anthropologist with the University of Hawaii at Manoa said the woman had died about five years earlier.
Detectives were finally able to confirm the identity of Petersen through California dental records after searching for missing persons matching the description given by the anthropologist.
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