The FBI said 100 people on its list of people missing from the Maui wildfires have confirmed they are safe – after several expressed confusion over why they were even listed.
Officials on Thursday released the names of 388 people who are “still missing,” two weeks after the fire that killed at least 115 people. The list has now been shortened after many came forward.
But new concerns emerged on Saturday when police said the names released were just a “subset” and that hundreds more were missing whose names were not released. Further details on the actual number of people who may still be missing are not yet known.
A review of published names found several of them were tracked down by relatives or posted online shortly after the fire to confirm they were safe. In a heartbreaking case, the death of a 14-year-old boy whose name has surfaced has already been confirmed by his family.
While confirmation that many are still alive offers a glimmer of hope, there was confusion and frustration among some of those on the list. Some said officers could have learned from basic checks that they were being held accountable.
MalamaKai Watson, 40, was amazed to be on the new, official list. She called the FBI to say she was safe, but couldn’t see any changes online Friday. “The focus has to be on the people who have yet to be found,” she said
The name of 14-year-old Keyiro Fuentes was also on the FBI list. Tragically, the boy’s death was confirmed by his family last week.
An aerial view of Lahaina shows the extent of the destruction caused by the wildfires in Hawaii
Officials have repeatedly warned that the current death toll of 115 could rise significantly as more remains are recovered and identified.
Despite the FBI’s confirmation that 100 had come forward, the online lists did not appear to have been updated.
MalamaKai Watson, 40, was amazed to be on the new, official list. She called the FBI to say she was safe, but couldn’t see any changes online Friday.
She wasn’t in Lahaina during the fires, she was on the other side of the island. After her cell phone and internet service went down, she realized when she first appeared on a basic Facebook missing people list. But after she was able to get in touch with her loved ones, she was quickly listed as found.
“Now it’s annoying,” she said. “There are people there who are definitely missing.” “The focus has to be on the people who have yet to be found.”
The name of 14-year-old Keyiro Fuentes was also on the FBI list. Tragically, the boy’s death was confirmed by his family last week.
Keyiro’s family held a memorial service for him on Sunday on the occasion of his 15th birthday.
His mother, Luz Vargas, previously shared in heartbreaking detail how she found her son’s remains while searching the burned grounds of their former home in Lahaina. Keyiro did not immediately appear on the official list of the deceased as his remains had not been processed by the authorities.
“We are very grateful to the people who have contacted us by phone or email,” Steven Merrill, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Honolulu, said in a news conference.
The FBI compiled the list of 388 names, which is significantly fewer than the previous estimate of 1,100 missing. The number has been reduced after omitting duplicates
“By taking someone off a list, we can allocate more resources to those who are still on the list.”
Heidi Mazur, from Lahaina, said she was frustrated to be on the missing people’s list, even though she was active on Facebook and started an online fundraiser after the fire.
“They’ll find me in New York in a minute if I don’t pay my license plates or taxes, but they can’t seem to locate me in a disaster here in Lahaina,” she said.
Another woman reported missing, Christine Delora Collins, was confirmed safe earlier this week following a Facebook appeal. Christine’s sister, Pamela, had asked anyone who had seen her sister to get in touch.
Pamela told Friday afternoon that Christine is safe in Kihei, another area of Maui.
Arturo Gonzalez Hernandez ended up on the list despite moving three years ago from Lahaina, the historic coastal community destroyed in the fire, and called the FBI on Friday to provide his name and date of birth.
An inaccurate list could cause unnecessary stress, he said.
“Some people are still struggling with the impact of so many people dying,” said Gonzalez, who now lives on the coast near Kapalua.
“Her dogs were her world,” Cruz said. “I knew she wouldn’t have left her dogs behind.”
According to online posts, several other people appear to have been found on the list as well.
Some are also marked as “found” on an unofficial list of thousands of people reported missing after the fire.
The list was created by Ellie Erickson, who helps run a Facebook page for relatives looking for loved ones.
Authorities were initially reluctant to release the names because it meant some families would have learned about their deceased loved ones through public disclosure. Pictured: Crosses honoring wildfire victims are placed along the Lahaina Bypass in Lahaina, Hawaii
Tony Takafua (left), seven, the youngest known victim of the disaster, who died along with his mother Salote Takafua (right) and two other relatives
Erickson said Thursday night that her team contacted the FBI to “double check and work to clear more of these names.”
The FBI’s list of 388 names is significantly shorter than expected after previous estimates put 1,100 people still missing. The number was reduced after duplicates were omitted, officials said.
On Friday, Merrill said there was a “larger,” unpublished list. “We care about every single person on this list and we will not rest until we know how each of these people on this list is doing,” he said.
The confirmed death toll from fires that devastated the historic coastal community of Lahaina stands at 115, a number the county said is expected to rise.
Many on the missing persons list share the same surname, a grim indication that entire families or groups of relatives remain missing and may have perished.
The list was released along with the identities of several other victims whose remains have been recovered since the fires on Tuesday, August 8. They include Tony Takafua, seven, the youngest known victim of the disaster, who died along with his mother and two other relatives.
Authorities were initially reluctant to release the names because it meant some families would have learned of the deaths of their loved ones through public disclosure.
Police Commissioner John Pelletier said: “We also know that once those names come out, it can and will cause pain to the people whose loved ones appear on the list.”
“It’s no easy task, but we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to make this investigation as complete and thorough as possible.”
The search for bodies across Lahaina has extended to the ocean, where dive teams this week scoured the waters for remains
A general view shows the aftermath of a devastating wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, Tuesday, August 22, 2023
The search for bodies across Lahaina has extended to the ocean, where dive teams this week scoured the waters for remains.
Many fled to the water as fires swept across the historic city, destroying more than 2,000 buildings. It is feared that some of them drowned.
Names on the missing persons list were considered validated when officers had a person’s first and last name and a verified contact for the person who reported them missing, officials said.
Another 1,732 people reported missing were found safely as of Thursday afternoon, officials said.
Officials on Wednesday said there were still 1,000 to 1,100 names on the FBI’s preliminary, unconfirmed missing persons list, but DNA data had been collected from only 104 families, a far lower number than in previous major disasters across the country .
Pelletier said Tuesday his team struggled to put together a solid list. In some cases, people gave only partial names, in other cases, names may have been duplicated.
The developments come after Maui County on Thursday sued Hawaiian Electric Co., claiming the utility negligently failed to shut off power despite exceptionally high winds and dry conditions.
Witness testimony and video indicated sparks from power lines started fires as utility poles snapped in winds driven by a passing hurricane.
Hawaii Electric said in a statement it was “very disappointed that Maui County has chosen this contentious path while the investigation is ongoing.”