Maui police seek families of four unclaimed bodies
The Maui Police Department is seeking help from the public in contacting the family members of four unclaimed bodies at its forensic facility.
All of the deceased are male, and their dates of death range from August 2023 to January 2025.
One of the deceased, Rex Cole, 64, perished in the Lahaina wildfires.
Cole is listed among the victims recovered from Lahaina in MPD’s preliminary after-action report. He was found at Wharf Cinema Center Shops, according to the report’s map.
In a Star-Advertiser memoriam of those killed in the Maui wildfires, he is described by homeless advocates as “a kind, friendly guy who loved to sit under the trees by Lahaina Harbor or the Baldwin House Museum.”
If the bodies remain unclaimed for a reasonable amount of time, MPD said, they will be cremated.
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The unclaimed bodies are:
>> Rex Cole, 64, date of death Aug. 12, 2023
>> Michael Piros, 73, date of death Nov. 22, 2024
>> Howard Kelley, 83, date of death Jan. 28, 2025
>> Hiroshi Watanabe, 69, date of death Jan. 29, 2025
Those with information can call MPD at 808-463-3833.
