People listed as unaccounted for after the Aug. 8 Maui wildfires that killed at least 115 will have their classification changed to deceased through a legal process if they are not found or their remains are left unidentified.

Maui police continue to encourage anyone who knows of an unaccounted- for person to file a missing-­person report. Anyone can file those reports, but they must leave a first and last name and contact information.

They cannot be made anonymously or online, but MPD has staff that speak the majority of languages found in Hawaii available to speak with anyone for whom Eng­lish is a second language.

MPD investigators are assigned to each missing-­person report but if no report is made, police do not look for the unaccounted-for person.

Detectives assigned to missing-person cases traditionally ask where the person was last seen and then check hospitals, jails, employers and any scenario that may have left a person alive but unable to contact loved ones.

Officers will exhaust all of those options to see potential places where the individual could be, officials said.

As of Sunday, MPD has 41 active missing-person cases stemming from the Lahaina fire, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation and MPD list of names of unaccounted-for people stands at 385.

The bulk of the county’s efforts are currently focused on identifying all of the 115 sets of remains that are in the morgue.

“MPD is reaching out to experts in the field that have gone through this before, including jurisdictions in New York from 9/11, as well as the Camp fire in California to ensure that we are not only doing what the legal process entails but also making sure that we are consistent with best practices,” said Maui Police Chief John Pelletier in a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “In addition, we are making sure we are as respectful and considerate to those who have lost loved ones as possible.”

Maui County officials collected six more DNA samples from family members of victims and unaccounted-for people who attended a meeting by invitation at the Hyatt Regency’s Family Reunification Center in Kaanapali on Tuesday night.

DNA samples, fingerprints, medical device implants, dental implants, unique pieces of jewelry people may have been wearing Aug. 8 and any other specific identifying information are needed to put names to the remains in the Maui morgue.

The center was stood up by the Maui County Department of the Prosecuting Attorney, which is trained to help manage mass fatality incidents.

Prosecuting Attorney Andrew H. Martin told the Star-Advertiser in an interview Tuesday that experts who helped with identification of remains following the Camp fire in California are in Lahaina aiding the county’s efforts.

The legal process for changing the classification of missing people is outlined by the state probate code, HRS 560 1-107.

There are three ways that a person can be declared as deceased: if an identification is made by the county medical examiner and a death certificate is issued; a judge determines by “by clear and convincing evidence,” either direct or circumstantial, that the person is deceased; and if a person is reported missing for a period of five years with no contact or information about their possible whereabouts a judge can determine them deceased.

“Absent (a positive ID), families would have to go through a court process to get that done. We don’t want families to have to go through that,” said Martin. “We’re not reinventing the wheel here; we’re using experts who have done this before.”

That’s why it’s so important that the victim identification process be done thoroughly and carefully, he said.

Since the wildfires that destroyed the 5.5-square-mile heart of Lahaina town, killing at least 115, Maui police have been inundated by requests for information about missing people from loved ones, the community and the international news media.

County, state and federal officials have not said how many verified unaccounted-for reports have been filed via the FBI form at forms.fbi.gov/mauifires Opens in a new tab.

Separately Tuesday, Maui police announced that a 97-year-old Lahaina woman was among the 115 confirmed fatalities from the Aug. 8 wildfire. Louise Abihai is the 55th victim to be publicly identified after notification of next of kin.

Her name was among the list of 385 “unaccounted for” people released Friday by the Maui Police Department and the FBI. She was also one of 41 people who had a formal missing-person report filed on their behalf with MPD.

Abihai was a tenant at the 35-unit Hale Mahaolu Eono independent-living apartment complex on Lahaina­luna Road. At least four other Hale Mahaolu Eono residents have been identified as fire fatalities.

Maui police said 60 victims have been positively identified, but the identities of five have not been made public because their families have not been located or notified.