Kidnapper in East Kutai Lured Victim with Fishing Trip Before Murder

The kidnapping of a seven-year-old boy, identified by the initials MRP, in East Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan, was carried out by a perpetrator who lured the victim with an offer to go fishing while the child was playing with friends. This was disclosed by East Kalimantan Police Chief Inspector General Endar Priantoro during a press briefing on Thursday (4/6) at the East Kalimantan Regional Police headquarters. The sequence of events began on Monday, 1 June 2026, at around 7:00 p.m. local time, when the victim’s mother went to dispose of rubbish and asked the child to return home. The child refused and wished to continue playing with friends. After cooking, the mother searched for her son around the house but could not find him. She questioned the child’s playmates, who stated that the victim had left with a man riding a white Honda Scoopy motorcycle, wearing a red helmet and a jacket bearing the logo of an online motorcycle taxi firm. The family conducted their own search for the man, but upon failing to locate the child, reported the incident to the police. At around 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday, 2 June, the victim’s mother lodged a report concerning the suspected criminal deprivation of liberty at the East Kutai Resort Police. Officers subsequently processed the crime scene, interviewed witnesses, and examined CCTV recordings. The footage allowed police to identify the perpetrator as an online motorcycle taxi driver. Based on the CCTV investigation, a joint team from the East Kalimantan Police Criminal Investigation Directorate and East Kutai Resort Police arrested the suspect at around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday. He was found hiding at his friend’s girlfriend’s house on Jalan Sultan Hasanuddin, Kampung Baru Tengah Ward, West Balikpapan District, Balikpapan City. During initial interrogation, the suspect admitted the child was not with him but claimed the victim had been released near Venus Park, within the government office complex on Jalan Bukit Pelangi, Teluknaga, Sangatta District. A search of that location proved unsuccessful, prompting a wider sweep. The victim was eventually found on Wednesday, 3 June 2026, at approximately 11:30 a.m. The child was discovered deceased, floating at the edge of a small river behind the Al Farouq Grand Mosque in Bukit Pelangi, Sangatta District. The body was evacuated to Kudungga Sangatta Regional Public Hospital for an autopsy. The remains have since been returned to the family’s funeral home for burial. Police stated the perpetrator, identified as 32-year-old MY, worked as an entrepreneur and online motorcycle taxi driver residing in Bengalon, East Kutai. His modus operandi involved kidnapping the child by inviting him to go fishing. The suspect subsequently delivered a written ransom demand on a piece of cardboard to the victim’s family via an online motorcycle taxi service. However, the victim had already been murdered before the ransom could be paid. According to the police chief, the forensic autopsy concluded that the cause of death was asphyxia due to water entering the respiratory tract, with the time of death estimated to be two to three days prior to the examination. This indicated the suspect choked the victim until he lost consciousness before dropping him into the water. Evidence seized includes a white Honda Scoopy motorcycle, an online taxi driver jacket, a helmet, the cardboard containing the handwritten ransom demand addressed to the victim’s mother, and other related items. The suspect faces multiple charges, including premeditated murder, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, as well as deprivation of liberty and child protection violations. Police are continuing to investigate the possibility of other criminal acts. The provisional motive is economic, as the suspect reportedly had bank debts. He was previously aware that the victim’s parents had money because he had interacted with the victim’s father when providing an online motorcycle taxi ride to the family’s home. The father had mentioned to the suspect that he was handling a sum of money. Investigators are awaiting the results of forensic medical examinations to determine whether sexual assault or other violence occurred, noting the sensitivity of the matter and the need to respect the deceased victim.