As names are added and removed from the unaccounted for list, Maui police and FBI continue to enlist the public’s help identifying fire victims

Some 385 people remain unaccounted for after August’s deadly wildlife that destroyed most of Lahaina and killed at least 115 people, according to the Maui Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The two agencies released an updated list of the missing on Friday evening.

The initial list of people who are still unaccounted for was issued on Aug. 24 and totaled 388 people. Since then, some names were removed as family members or friends came forward saying they or their loved ones had survived the country’s worst inferno in over a century.

After the initial list was made public, 245 of those people were marked safe.

But even as hundreds of names were removed, others were added, according to a Maui County news release.

The list of missing people has been a moving target, not unexpected in a human catastrophe of the proportion that has impacted Maui. In the fire’s initial aftermath, more than 3,000 people were unaccounted for and feared dead.

The current list of 385 unaccounted for consists of people on the Maui Police Department’s missing person’s log, reports from the American Red Cross and shelters, and information from members of the public who called in to report people missing but did not file a police report.

The Maui Police Department asks the public to come forward with information on anyone who is unaccounted for or whose name is on the current list but whose whereabouts are unknown. The list is at: www.mauinuistrong.info/unaccountedfor.

Contact Maui Police Department at (808) 244-6400 or email unaccounted@mpd.net to file a missing person’s report.

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier delivered a video statement Thursday evening on the release of 388 names of people unaccounted for since the Aug. 8 wildfires on Maui. (Maui County/Screenshot/2023)
Maui Police Chief John Pelletier. (Maui County/Screenshot/2023)

The FBI asks anyone with information related to names on the list to call the FBI at (888) 814-7693 or go to www.fbi.gov/MauiFires.

Immediate family members of individuals who remain unaccounted for are asked to visit the Family Assistance Center in the Monarchy Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency in Ka’anapali to provide a DNA sample to assist with the identification process.

For residents outside of Maui, contact the FBI at (888) 814-7693 or go to www.fbi.gov/MauiFires.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by grants from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.

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