East Kutai Kidnapper Who Killed 7-Year-Old Boy Demanded Rp200 Million Ransom

The East Kalimantan Regional Police (Polda Kaltim) have disclosed the complete chronology of a deprivation of liberty case that resulted in the death of a seven-year-old boy, identified by the initials MRP, from East Kutai Regency (Kutim). The perpetrator, a man with the initials MY (32), has been arrested, with the provisional motive being economic hardship, and he had demanded a ransom of Rp200 million from the victim’s family. This was revealed by East Kalimantan Police Chief, Inspector General Endar Priantoro, during a press conference at the East Kalimantan Police Headquarters on Thursday (4/6). Prior to detailing the case, the police chief expressed his deepest condolences to the family of the victim. The case began with a missing person report filed by the victim’s parents on Monday, 1 June 2026, in the Tator Hamlet area of Singa Gembara Village, North Sangatta District. Following the report, a joint team immediately conducted an investigation by gathering witness statements and analysing CCTV footage around the scene, which led them to identify the perpetrator as a 32-year-old online motorcycle taxi driver. After an intensive investigation, the suspect was apprehended on Tuesday evening at around 8:30 PM local time in the Jalan Sultan Hasanuddin area of West Balikpapan. The victim was not with the suspect at the time of arrest; however, during interrogation, the suspect provided information on the victim’s location. The suspect initially claimed to have left the victim in the Taman Venus area, Bukit Pelangi, Sangatta, but a search of the site proved fruitless. The joint team expanded the search grid and ultimately found the victim deceased on Wednesday (3/6) around 11:30 AM local time. The body was discovered lying face down in a water-filled ditch behind the Al Farouq Grand Mosque complex in Bukit Pelangi, North Sangatta District. The remains were immediately evacuated to Kudungga Sangatta Regional General Hospital for a forensic autopsy, which found signs of violence on the body and concluded the cause of death was asphyxiation due to water entering the respiratory tract. Police seized multiple items of evidence from the suspect, including two motorcycles used to transport the victim, a red helmet, a Maxim jacket, the ransom demand note, and clothing belonging to both the victim and the perpetrator. The Police Chief explained that the provisional motives were economic factors and sexual desire. During questioning, the suspect confessed to inviting the victim to go fishing under a pretext. After taking control of the child, he sent threats to the family demanding Rp200 million, claiming he needed the money because he had bank debts. The ransom demand was delivered via a threatening message written on a piece of cardboard and sent to the family’s home using an online motorcycle taxi service. The perpetrator is being charged under multiple articles related to deprivation of liberty, sexual violence against a child, and murder, and faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Investigators are continuing to probe the entire sequence of events to complete the case file. East Kutai Police Chief AKBP Fauzan Arianto commended the officers involved in solving the case and stressed that the legal process would be firm and maximal.