Police seek James Robertson, last seen in Waikōloa about seven weeks before appeal

About seven weeks separate James Robertson’s last reported sighting from the police appeal asking the public to find him. The 55-year-old Waikōloa man was last seen on or about September 5, 2026. Hawaiʻi Island police issued their request for help on October 25, with his whereabouts still unresolved. ³

Police say Robertson may have traveled to Oʻahu, but they have not confirmed that journey. Waikōloa, on Hawaiʻi Island, remains the last place the appeal identifies him as having been seen. The possible destination is a lead, not an established location. ³

Anyone with information about Robertson’s whereabouts is asked to contact Officer Kelena Kealoha through the department’s non-emergency line, 808-935-3311, or by email at [email protected]. People who prefer to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 808-961-8300; police say all information submitted through Crime Stoppers is kept confidential. ³

Police describe Robertson as Black, bald and brown-eyed. The release identifies him as being from the Waikōloa area and lists the case as report number 26-078376. Those identification details accompany the department’s request for information from the community. ³

The September sighting and October appeal should not be collapsed into a single date. September 5 is approximate: the department’s wording is “on or about.” October 25 is the date of the public request. It is not an established date for when Robertson was first reported missing. ³

The release says he “was reported missing,” but does not disclose when that report was filed. The roughly seven-week interval therefore describes the time between the last reported sighting and the appeal—not a verified period before anyone notified police. It does not, by itself, establish a delay in reporting or explain the timing of the public request. ³

The year of the last sighting is explicit in the original police release: 2026. KITV also reports September 5, 2026, while Big Island Now gives the approximate date as September 5 without specifying a year. The primary police account supplies that detail; the two news reports do not establish competing timelines. ^{3 2 1}

For someone who remembers seeing Robertson, the distinction matters. Information tied to a particular date and place could help clarify the period after the approximate Waikōloa sighting. But the public account currently provides no verified later sighting to bridge that gap, whether on Hawaiʻi Island or Oʻahu. ³

The Oʻahu reference broadens the geography of the appeal without settling where Robertson went. Police do not identify a location on that island, a travel date or a confirmed arrival. Their wording leaves open whether the trip happened at all. It should not be read as an announcement that he has been found elsewhere. ³

The appeal also leaves the circumstances of his disappearance largely unexplained. It does not identify a medical condition, classify him as endangered, allege a crime or explain why contact with him was lost. Those omissions are limits on what can be reported, not grounds for assuming either danger or safety. ³

The release lists the Hawaiʻi Police Department’s South Kohala Patrol and Sergeant Tyler Prokopec. Kealoha is the designated recipient of information about Robertson’s whereabouts, with the department’s non-emergency number and her official email provided as the direct contact routes. ³

When the department’s public media-release and missing-person listings were checked on October 26, at approximately 14:14 UTC, Robertson’s appeal remained listed. No Robertson-specific notice announcing that he had been located, or canceling the appeal, was found there. That is a dated check of the public record, not direct confirmation of his real-time whereabouts. ^{4 5}

The public request therefore remained unresolved at that check. The essential missing information is still where Robertson is and whether he is safe; the possible Oʻahu journey answers neither question.