"America's Most Wanted" lobbies House leadership

John Walsh, the famed crime fighter/host of the FOX television series America's Most Wanted, came to the State Capitol today to meet with House leaders on a proposed identity theft bill for next session. The series is shooting in Hawaii this week, prepping a show that will air November 10th. The show will be all about Hawaii cases, including a case of identity theft and the alleged murder of Walsh's personal friend, former Kauai resident John Elwin. Elwin's body was found in an unmarked grave in the Philippines in 2006. According to Andrew Pereira's KHON news story last night:

This past September Henry Calucag, also known as Hank Jacinto, was sentenced in Honolulu Circuit Court to a mandatory minimum of 80 months in jail for stealing Elwin's land on Kauai and forging a notarized document Elwin had signed. Walsh is highlighting Elwin's case and meeting with local prosecutors to secure a murder indictment against the man he calls a cold blooded, serial killer. Walsh hopes his Hawaii broadcast will also produce leads about two other men who vanished after Calucag befriended them as he did Elwin. Arthur Young disappeared in 1990 while Douglas Ho disappeared in 2004. Like Elwin both men were never heard from again after traveling with the Calucag to the Philippines.

Rep. James Kunane Tokioka has been involved in helping on the case and prepared a draft bill for the 2008 session to strengthen Hawaii's identity theft law. Walsh asked the lawmakers to work together to pass the bill next year.

Photo: John Walsh talks with Reps James Tokioka, Ken Ito, Speaker Calvin Say, Kirk Caldwell and Ryan Yamane