Two weeks after a wildfire killed at least 115 people and destroyed Lahaina, no official list of the names and number of people missing is publicly available.
The Maui Police Department and agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation are working to a create comprehensive accounting by merging traditional investigative efforts with a community-sourced Google document called the Maui Fires People Locator.
Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said Sunday night that there are an estimated 850 people unaccounted for — down from estimates of about 1,000.
“We are both saddened and relieved about these numbers as we continue the recovery process,” he said. “The number of identified will rise, and the number of missing may decrease.”
Among the missing, determining who died or who may have left Lahaina when communications were down and power was out is taking the work of hundreds of police, FBI agents and search and rescue crews working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Although the Maui police updated the number of deaths Monday, the latest information was that 85% of the rubble had been searched as of Sunday.
More than 1,000 federal personnel are on the ground on Maui helping residents, including nearly 450 search-and-rescue team members and 40 dogs trained to identify remains, according to FEMA.
The unofficial Google document and Facebook page is the only public accounting of who is still missing and not in touch with loved ones after the firestorm leveled the 5-square-mile center of Lahaina town.
As of 5:30 p.m. Monday, 737 people were listed on the Maui Fires People Locator under a red tab that read, “Not Found.”
The FBI deferred comment about the list to Maui police, the lead agency. MPD did not respond to Honolulu Star- Advertiser questions about the list.
County officials also did not respond to Star- Advertiser questions about a timetable for creating and releasing the names of the missing, their ages and whether they were residents or visitors.
“The names of, and any information related to, the missing individuals will not be published or be made publicly available at this time. Information on the number of confirmed fatalities are released daily,” read a text to the Star-Advertiser from the JIC’s duty phone. “Once the next of kin has been contacted, the names of the deceased individuals that have been identified will be released by Maui Police Department. Please see MPD’s press releases for the most current and accurate information.”
MPD is updating the names of deceased people by about 6 p.m. daily.
MPD announced Monday that Lahaina residents Douglas Gloege, 59, and Juan Deleon 45, were identified and their next of kin notified.
Neither name appeared on the Maui Fires People Locator under the “Not Found” or blue “Lives Lost” tab.
According to Maui police, 115 have been killed, 13 victims identified and their families notified. Twenty-two other victims have been identified, but their families have not been found or notified.
“There is still an active search effort underway so it will take some time to reach a final number of missing individuals,” read a statement to the Star-Advertiser from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency’s Joint Information Center.
The Maui Fires People Locator is maintained by “individual citizens and is not made by the American Red Cross or any county, state, or federal agency,” reads a disclaimer at the top of the document.
“The information provided is not verified and by using this information, you are using it at your own risk. This info is from a crowdsourced compilation of data and because the data relies on people submitting information, there is bound to be human error. Do not rely solely on this information,” reads the disclaimer.
The group’s Facebook page counts more than 3,800 members and is run by seven administrators and moderators.
The American Red Cross generates its own list — separate from law enforcement — of people who are unaccounted for through requests made to its call center and information gathered by its field teams, spokesperson Daniel Parra told The Associated Press.
The organization has also entered into a data-sharing agreement with federal, state and local government agencies to help with reunifications.
So far, the American Red Cross has successfully completed roughly 2,400 requests seeking reunification or welfare updates, out of the more than 3,000 it has received, Parra told the AP.
A completed request means the organization was able to locate a missing person or verify someone’s status in a medical facility, for example, among other things.
In response to an inquiry from the Star-Advertiser, the Honolulu Department of the Medical Examiner confirmed Thursday that Lahaina resident Kirk Carter, 44, had died Aug. 15 at Straub Medical Center’s Burn Unit in Honolulu and that his family had been notified of his death.
He was one of nine fire victims admitted to the unit.
Carter’s name has yet to be released by MPD, adding to speculation officials have been slowly rolling out the death toll and victims’ names.
Honolulu Department of the Medical Examiner Supervising Investigator Theresa Reynolds said Monday that her agency followed its protocols in releasing Carter’s name. The medical examiner routinely releases the names of those killed in traffic crashes, homicides and other circumstances after certain criteria are met, she said, including formal identification and family notification.
After Carter’s name appeared in media reports, the Honolulu medical examiner was asked by the Maui Police Department not to release the names of anyone else who dies as a result of the Lahaina wildfire — even if they die on Oahu within the Honolulu agency’s jurisdiction, and even after their families are notified.
“I don’t know why they aren’t releasing the names. I can’t speak on that, especially for Kirk Carter. I have no clue why he was not added to the list,” Reynolds said.
In response to Anderson’s statement, Maui police spokesperson Alana K. Pico said that “victim identity will be released once victim has been identified and family has been notified.”
Gov. Josh Green and Bissen have faced repeated questioning about the number of children who died in the wildfire.
While acknowledging that children undoubtedly are among the victims, they have not said how many of the remains recovered so far were children, and all of those officially identified have been adults.
“I wish I knew the answer to that,” Bissen said when asked Saturday how many children are among the missing and dead.
Reynolds said that earlier this year, after family complaints, the Honolulu medical examiner was told by the city corporation counsel not to release the names of children since they are minors under parental jurisdiction.
In such cases, she said, there would be nothing to prevent the release of a young victim’s gender and age, if not their name.
Police and FBI agents are working to verify information from the Maui Fires People Locator and merge it with information about Lahaina’s population on Aug. 8.
Among the data used to assess the area’s population at the time of the fire are mailing addresses, mobile phone location data, hotel reservations, business payroll information, utility connections, financial transactions and other data created by the people in Lahaina.
Not having an official list of the missing and the dead two weeks after a major disaster like the Lahaina fire is not “uncommon,” said Dr. Robert Mann, a board-certified forensic anthropologist and faculty member in the Anatomy, Biochemistry and Physiology Department at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii.
In compiling that list while recovering remains, police and FBI agents have to consider an array of factors including the size of the scene, how temperature and moisture affected the scene, and whether there is something to compare DNA evidence against.
Searchers are looking at who lived in the area, whether they were home at the time of the fire, whether they went shopping, took a trip and other possibilities, he said.
“Time is not always our friend. With time and temperatures, remains can degrade more and more with time. Time is important, but we really want to do is be as thorough as we can be,” said Mann, a former founding director of the U.S. Department of Defense’s Forensic Science Academy. “Every case is difficult.”
Having something from the unaccounted — dental records, fingerprints, X-ray records or a DNA sample — is critical to accounting for and identifying victims.
“We’ve got such large teams out there (in Lahaina), such diverse, quality experts that are really bringing to bear anything I can think of,” said Mann. “They are being brought forth for the unaccounted for in the Maui wildfires. I truly believe that.”
HELP WITH MISSING
>> The FBI’s Honolulu Division is helping collect DNA samples from family members to assist MPD’s efforts to identify victims of the Lahaina wildfire. Immediate family members — parents, siblings and children — of those still missing may go to the Hyatt Regency Kaanapali daily between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. to provide DNA samples.
>> Those on other islands or the mainland should call the FBI at 808-566-4300 or email HN-COMMAND-POST@ic.fbi.gov and provide contact information so that further instructions can be provided.
