Maui officials are asking the public for help identifying the dead and finding those reported missing in the Lahaina fire: Maui Now

Maui District Attorney Andrew Martin, who heads the Family Assistance Center, argued that people with family members missing after the Lahaina fire should provide DNA samples to help find their loved ones. PC: Cammy Clark (8.21.23)

As search and rescue teams continue to painstakingly search through the rubble and ashes of the Lahaina fire for human remains, DNA specialists are working to identify the dead and the FBI in Honolulu is searching for the “missing people.”

All three efforts – to bring good news or to bring closure to people’s families – were disheartening.

As of Tuesday, two weeks after the fast-spreading fire burned much of Lahaina, the death toll stood at 115. The number of identified remains is 43. And the number of “missing people” is between 1,000 and 1,100, according to officials .

During a press conference Tuesday, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier was blunt: “Please understand. Once the search is complete, I cannot guarantee, nor can anyone claim, that we have found everyone. We will do our best and do everything to achieve this.”

He noted that many people did not recover on September 11th. More than 20 years later, that number is 1,106.

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“We don’t have the kind of devastation with the towers that you saw there. “We have an entire city that is destroyed,” Pelletier said.

Search efforts have now moved into the more difficult phase of multi-story apartment buildings where the structures are not intact and where some floors are on top of each other.

Pelletier brought to the press conference a map with black dots showing the areas searched. He said it would not end until all areas damaged by the fire were searched.

The black dots on the map show the locations searched for human remains following the devastating fire on August 8, 2023 in Lahaina. PC: Cammy Clark (8.21.23)

“We will do it right. We won’t do it quickly. We will not be in a hurry,” said the boss. “We have a chance. And when that’s all said and done, let’s face it, realistically, we’ll get a set of confirmed results [dead] and we will have a number of guesses [dead].”

To determine the exact number of people who lost their lives in this tragedy – already the deadliest fire in the United States in more than a century – and to identify any remains, officials reached out to people’s families and friends Help probably deceased or missing.

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DNA samples are needed to identify the dead. Accurate and detailed information is required to locate the missing persons.

The remains found are identified primarily using rapid DNA analysis conducted on Maui.

Julie French, senior vice president of ANDE Rapid DNA, said 104 families provided DNA. This is a small amount compared to other disasters, she said.

Maui District Attorney Andrew Martin, fire coordinator for the Family Assistance Center, urged families of missing persons to come to the center at the Hyatt Regency in Lahaina to provide a DNA sample.

He said people should not be afraid to provide a DNA sample because it would only be used for identification purposes and would not be shared with law enforcement or immigration authorities.

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The Maui Police Department asked the FBI for help in the search for “missing persons,” which once included 2,500 names—compiled from multiple lists from various agencies and organizations, including the Maui Police Department, the American Red Cross, shelters, and crowdsourced Maui Fires People locator.

Even though they found 1,400 people on the list, Steven Merrill, FBI Special Agent in Charge, there are still more than 1,000 people not found.

The number is higher than the 850 recently reported by Maui Mayor Richard Bissen. Merrill said the number will continue to fluctuate for the foreseeable future.

Why is the FBI, considered one of the best agencies in the world at finding people, having trouble further narrowing the list?

Merrill said there was a lack of information to work with.

“These lists come from various sources and some of the information is highly unclear,” he said.

For example, some people only provided a first or last name, but not both.

For this reason, the FBI asks that anyone who filed a missing person report following the fire should ensure that they provide the most current and accurate information, including the missing person’s date of birth. If this person was found, it would be important to inform the FBI.

The other disappointment, Merrill said, is that many people who initially reported missing people don’t call FBI agents back for more information.

Pelletier said only 85 people have officially filed missing person reports with police in connection with the fire.

And Merrill said there were no known children on the list of more than 1,000 missing people. He said this was due to the stated date of birth.

However, this does not mean that there are no children, said Pelletier, adding that he assumes that there will be children among the deceased.

Part of the problem now stems from the confusion in the days after the fire, as cell phones and internet failed, making it impossible for some people to show family and friends that they were safe – and that friends and family were the people who they were worried about and couldn’t get in touch with.

People took to social media and were frustrated that officials didn’t provide an immediate, centralized location where they could find out if their friends and family were OK or report a person missing.

That’s why, the morning after the fire, Kīhei resident Ellie Erickson took matters into her own hands and founded Maui Fires People Locator. Erickson said her list is run by about 20 volunteers, all of whom have a “vested interest in supporting the community.”

It contains 6,121 names, most added in the early chaotic days, but now the “unlocated” number stands at 692.

Pelletier said at this point that the FBI’s official list of “missing persons” will not be made public for privacy reasons. However, if more help is needed to track people down, this could be made public in the future.

Erickson said she was contacted by the FBI, Maui County officials and the American Red Cross about her list.

In an email Tuesday, she said, “We are working diligently and diligently with all necessary agencies and organizations as we all share the overarching goal of reuniting as many missing persons with their loved ones as possible.”

Anyone interested in filing an official report about someone still missing following the wildfire disaster is asked to contact the Maui Police Department [email protected].

If you have reported a person missing and have since made contact with that person(s), you are urged to contact the FBI at 808-566-4300 [email protected]so that they can be removed from the list of people still missing.

The county’s Family Assistance Center works with families and individuals to collect DNA samples to aid in the identification process. If you are the immediate family member of a person reported missing, please go to the Family Assistance Center (Hyatt Regency’s Monarchy Ballroom, 200 Nohea Kai Dr. in Ka’anapali) between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily to submit a DNA sample.

If you live outside of Maui, including on any of the neighboring islands or the mainland United States, please contact the FBI at 808-566-4300 or [email protected] to coordinate the submission of a DNA sample.

Maui Now freelance reporter Abby Owens contributed to this report.