Maui County on Friday evening released an updated list of 385 people unaccounted for since the Maui wildfires, nearly the exact number released a week earlier, and a day after Gov. Josh Green had announced that the number of missing was expected to fall to around 50.
In a news release, the Maui Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation said 245 people on the list of 388 made public the previous week were located and removed. However, a nearly equal number of new names was added.
On Thursday, Green separately told CNN, The Associated Press and his social media followers that he expected a sharp drop in the number of missing to be announced Friday.
But the county posted the updated list from MPD and the FBI Friday night and said that “there is little change to the number of unaccounted for individuals following the Lahaina Wildfires Disaster.”
The first MPD-FBI list including “credible reports” of unaccounted-for people was released Aug. 24 and had 388 names, three more than the list updated Friday.
Although many of them were quickly removed from the list after being found safe, other missing people were added to the list as more reports were filed, leaving the total at 385 on Friday, the county explained.
The county’s news release said 122 people from the Aug. 24 list remained accounted for, but the total list of verified missing was 385 because of the new names added since last week.
The county said its most current list includes Maui police missing-person reports, “reports from the American Red Cross, reports from the shelters, as well as individuals who called in to report unaccounted for but did not file a police report.”
After Maui County released the updated list, the governor told The Associated Press that the numbers of fatalities and missing are often in flux in mass casualty events until investigations are completed.
“Exact numbers are going to take time, perhaps a long time, to become finalized,” Green said in a statement provided through a spokesperson. He said there are fewer than 50 “active missing person cases.”
It was unclear whether the governor was strictly referring to missing-person reports filed with the Maui police, which are only a subset of the much larger MPD-FBI unaccounted-for list.
Friday’s list followed the same criteria as the Aug. 24 list. Names were included only if authorities had the first and last name of the person who was unaccounted for, as well as a verified contact number for whoever reported the person as unaccounted for. People on this list may or may not have an official missing persons report filed with the MPD.
Authorities have said at least 115 people died in the blaze that swept through Lahaina, the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in more than a century. So far, the names of 50 people have been publicly released, and five others have been identified but their identities withheld because next of kin haven’t been reached. The rest have yet to be identified.
In its news release with the updated list, the county said, “The names are being provided to the public to help identify anyone who can be accounted for.”
The county said that “the validated list includes names deemed credible as long as the following criteria were provided: the first name of the person who is unaccounted for; the last name of the person who is unaccounted for; a verified contact number for the person who reported the individual as unaccounted for.”
MPD asks for the public’s help in providing information on anyone who is reported unaccounted for and whose name is on this list but can be accounted for.
The updated list can be found at staradvertiser.com. It was initially posted at www.mauinuistrong.info/unaccountedfor, but it was taken down later and was still not posted on that website as of late Friday night.
On the list, those names from the MPD missing-person reports are marked with an asterisk.
An “(M)” after a name “indicates and individual (who) is known to be a minor,” according to the list released by the FBI and MPD. Only one name, Justin Oliver Recolizado, was listed as a minor on the list released Friday.
Anyone with information about the names on the list should call the FBI at 888-814-7693 or go to www.fbi.gov/MauiFires, or contact MPD at 808-244-6400 or email unaccounted@mpd.net to file a missing-person report.
“If you are an immediate family member (parent, sibling, or child) of an individual you believe is still unaccounted for, please visit the Family Assistance Center in the Monarchy Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency in Kaanapali to provide a DNA sample to assist with the identification process,” the county said. “If you live outside of Maui, please contact the FBI at (888) 814-7693 or go to www.fbi.gov/MauiFires.”
Earlier Friday, Maui police identified Lahaina resident Tim Nakamoto, 69, as among the 115 confirmed victims of the Aug. 8 Lahaina wildfire. Of the 115 known fatalities, 50 have been identified and their families notified, while five have been identified but their families have not been located or notified.
Also on Friday, the White House said it will seek an additional $4 billion to address natural disasters as part of its supplemental funding request, bringing the total to $16 billion.
The Biden administration had initially requested $12 billion in extra funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s disaster relief fund. But a spokesperson in the Office of Management and Budget, Shelby Wagenseller, said fires on Maui and in Louisiana, as well as flooding in Vermont, and Hurricane Idalia striking Florida and other Southeastern states, mean that $16 billion will be needed.
In a joint statement Friday, Hawaii’s congressional delegation applauded Biden’s budget move.
“The president said he would do whatever it takes to help to Maui, and this is a down payment on that commitment,” the statement said. “The recovery will take significant resources, and this new request from the president will help us pass a strong disaster supplemental appropriations bill in the coming weeks.”
U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie K. Hirono and U.S. Reps. Ed Case and Jill Tokuda had urged the additional funding. All four, along with Gov. Josh Green and Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, stood with the president when Biden toured Lahaina on Aug. 21.
During the visit, Biden pledged that the federal government will do “whatever it takes, as long as it takes” to rebuild Lahaina.
The request to increase funding for disaster relief to $16 billion could go before Congress in the coming weeks.
Today, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy plans to tour Lahaina.
McCarthy’s office announced that he will be joined on Maui by a bipartisan delegation made up of Democrats Tokuda and Case and Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz, and Republican Reps. David Joyce of Ohio and Russ Fulcher of Idaho.
Lahaina Wildfires Unaccount… by Honolulu Star-Advertiser
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
