The number of people missing on Maui has risen by 250 to 1,100 two weeks after deadly fires ravaged the island and killed more than 115 people.
The fires were the deadliest to ravage the United States in a century, and search and rescue efforts have been slow.
Few of the dead have been publicly identified and emergency responders have searched the destruction to locate the missing. There are fears that the death toll will continue to rise as missing persons are found.
The tourist town of Lahaina, home to 12,000 people, has been all but erased from the map, and thousands of missing people have appeared on lists from various organizations, including police, Red Cross and emergency shelters.
As of Tuesday, the FBI had counted 1,100 missing persons and is now working to compile and verify the data with a list to be released later this week, Special Agent Steven Merrill told reporters Tuesday.
“We cross-reference all of the lists to determine who is actually still missing,” Merrill said.
On the Hawaiian island of Maui, the number of people missing from the Lahaina firestorm has risen to 1,100 two weeks after deadly wildfires devastated the island, authorities said Tuesday
The FBI has set up its own hotline — (808) 566-4300 — and has urged families of the missing to contact them.
“We really need the public’s help,” Merrill said, particularly to obtain additional information to verify the details of some of the missing.
Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said authorities are refining the data and hope to release a verified missing persons list “in the next few days.”
FBI agents have also collected DNA samples from the families of the missing who are unable to travel to Maui.
Identifying the defaced bodies found in the ashes of Lahaina is an arduous task.
The DNA of the families of the missing “is a crucial step in identifying” the victims, said Julie French, vice president of ANDE, the company responsible for these operations.
“Nearly three-quarters of the remains tested for DNA to date have returned searchable DNA results,” she said.
The fires were the deadliest in the United States in a century, killing at least 115 people according to the latest preliminary death toll
A general view shows the aftermath of a devastating wildfire in Lahaina on Tuesday
FBI agents have also collected DNA samples from the families of missing people who are unable to travel to Maui, wherever in the world they are
The tourist town of Lahaina, home to 12,000 people, has been all but erased from the map, and thousands of missing people have appeared on lists from various organizations, including police, Red Cross and emergency shelters
As of Tuesday, the FBI had 1,100 missing persons, up from 850 and counting
The FBI is currently working to compile the data and verify it against a list to be released later this week
But without relatives’ DNA to compare that data to, the process is futile.
So far, only 104 DNA samples have been collected from family members of the missing or dead, and authorities have been keen to allay any suspicions about the process.
“The DNA profiles are not being held by the FBI or the police,” Maui County District Attorney Andrew Martin said.
“The only purpose for which it is used is to help identify missing persons.”
President Joe Biden and his wife Jill arrived on Maui Monday to tour areas devastated by the wildfires.
Amid growing criticism of a perceived lack of federal support, Biden’s visit has always been controversial, and the president’s motorcade was met with boos and jeers, some waving the middle finger and waving Trump 2024 flags.
Biden did little to endear himself to the traumatized islanders, delivering a rambling speech in which he referenced the deaths of his wife and young daughter in 1972 and later an anecdote about a 2004 kitchen fire in told his home in Delaware.
Upon meeting one of the rescuers, Biden then made a clumsy joke about the need for safety shoes, telling the worker, “Hot floor!”
Ethan Meyers (right) carries crosses to commemorate victims of the wildfires
The FBI has set up its own telephone hotline and has urged families of the missing to contact them
Identifying the defaced bodies found in the ashes of Lahaina is an arduous task
The DNA of the families of the missing “is a crucial step in identifying” the victims, said Julie French, vice president of ANDE, the company responsible for these operations
So far, only 104 DNA samples have been collected from family members of the missing or dead, and authorities have been keen to allay any suspicions about the process
President Joe Biden and his wife Jill arrived on Maui Monday to tour areas devastated by the wildfires
His appearance at the memorial gave the critics a further boost.
There were 115 confirmed deaths as of Monday, according to the Maui Police Department. So far, only 27 of the 115 victims have been identified.
All single-story residential properties in the disaster area have been searched, and teams are moving to search multi-story residential and commercial properties, Maui County officials said in an update late Monday.
Rescue workers have set up distribution points to offer food, water and supplies to those affected by the wildfires. Internet and power supplies continue to be restored in the affected areas.