2 more Lahaina victims identified; Death toll still at 115
ASSOCIATED PRESS / AUG. 18
Search and rescue team members work in a residential area devastated by a wildfire in Lahaina.
ASSOCIATED PRESS / Aug. 14
A tub rests in the middle of a wildfire-destroyed home in Kula, Maui, earlier this month. The state Attorney General’s office today urged property owners in Lahaina and Kula to report any unsolicited offers to purchase an interest in that property.
COURTESY PHOTO
Hawaii Attorney General Anne E. Lopez
UPDATE: 5:05 p.m.
Maui County officials and Maui Police Department today confirmed the identities of two more individuals killed in the Lahaina fire. The confirmed death toll remains at 115.
The two victims are Eugene Recolizado, 50, and Mark Kaminsky, 59, both of Lahaina.
“MPD and assisting partners have been working tirelessly to ensure that proper protocols are followed while notifying the families of the victims involved. Our priority is to handle this situation with the utmost sensitivity and respect for those who are grieving,” officials said in a statement.
As of today, 45 individuals have been identified and their families have been notified, while 6 other individuals have been identified but their families have yet to be located or notified.
EARLIER COVERAGE
The state Attorney General’s office is asking property owners in Lahaina and Kula to report any unsolicited offers to purchase an interest in their property.
Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said today that owners of property in the ZIP codes of 96761, 96767, and 96790 should report offers that were “not asked for or requested” to her office.
Gov. Josh Green’s sixth emergency proclamation after the Maui wildfires “declares that it is a crime for any person to intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly make an unsolicited offer to an owner of real property located in the areas encompassed by U.S. Postal ZIP codes 96761, 96767, and 96790 on the island of Maui to purchase or otherwise acquire any interest in that real property,” according to a news release.
Anyone found guilty of the crime may be imprisoned for up to a year, fined up to $5,000, or both, officials said.
“Preying on people who suffered the most from the tragedy on Maui is despicable,” Lopez said in the release. “The Department of the Attorney General will investigate all such criminal activity and hold perpetrators accountable.”
Any owners of property in those areas who receive an unsolicited and unwanted offers should not provide the caller with any personal information, the Attorney General’soffice said, adding, ”You are urged to immediately hang up the phone and call 911 or report the incident via email to the Department of the Attorney General at hawaiiag@hawaii.gov.”
