Maui releases names of 388 missing after deadly wildfire

Paula Newton speaks with Hawaii Governor Josh Green on the horrific wildfires on Maui that have killed at least 115 people.

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Maui County released the names of 388 people still missing Thursday more than two weeks after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, and officials asked anyone who knows a person on the list to be safe to contact authorities.

The FBI compiled the list of names. The number of confirmed dead after fires on Maui that destroyed the historic seaside community of Lahaina stands at 115, a number the county said is expected to rise.

"We also know that once those names come out, it can and will cause pain for folks whose loved ones are listed," Police Chief John Pelletier said in a statement. "This is not an easy thing to do, but we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make this investigation as complete and thorough as possible."

A missing person flyer for Joseph "Lomsey" Lara is posted on the door of a business in a shopping mall in Lahaina, Hawaii, Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. Wildfires devastated parts of the Hawaiian island of Maui earlier this month.

Names on the list were deemed validated if officials had a person's first and last name and a verified contact for the person who reported them missing, officials said.

An additional 1,732 people who had been reported missing have been found safe as of Thursday afternoon, officials said.

On Wednesday, officials said 1,000 to 1,100 names remained on the FBI's tentative, unconfirmed list of people unaccounted for, but DNA had been collected from only 104 families, a figure far lower than in previous major disasters around the country.

Hawaii officials had expressed concern that by releasing a list of the missing, they would also be identifying some people who have died. Pelletier said Tuesday that his team faced difficulties in compiling a solid list. In some cases, people provided only partial names, and in other cases names might be duplicated.

Maui County sued Hawaiian Electric Co. on Thursday, saying the utility negligently failed to shut off power despite exceptionally high winds and dry conditions. Witness accounts and video indicated that sparks from power lines ignited fires as utility poles snapped in the winds, which were driven by a passing hurricane.

Hawaii Electric said in a statement it is "very disappointed that Maui County chose this litigious path while the investigation is still unfolding."

This photo provided by County of Maui shows fire and smoke filling the sky from wildfires on the intersection at Hokiokio Place and Lahaina Bypass in Maui, Hawaii on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. (Zeke Kalua/County of Maui via AP)

People watch as smoke and flames fill the air from raging wildfires on Front Street in downtown Lahaina, Maui on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023. (Alan Dickar via AP)

The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP)

Wildfire wreckage is seen Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Wildfire wreckage is seen Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities is left on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii, following a stubborn blaze. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Summer Gerlingpicks up her piggy bank found in the rubble of her home following the wildfire Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Wildfire wreckage is shown Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A burnt coconut tree is seen, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Myrna Ah Hee reacts as she waits in front of an evacuation center at the War Memorial Gymnasium, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Wailuku, Hawaii. The Ah Hees were there because they were looking for her husband's brother. Their own home in Lahaina was spared, but the homes of many of their relatives were destroyed by wildfires. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

People gather at the Kahului Airport while waiting for flights Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, in Kahului, Hawaii. Several thousand Hawaii residents raced to escape homes on Maui as the Lahaina fire swept across the island, killing multiple people and burning parts of a centuries-old town. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

An owl sits in a burnt tree, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Wildfire wreckage is shown Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Members of a search-and-rescue team walk along a street, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii, following heavy damage caused by wildfire. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A man reacts as he sits on the Lahaina historic banyan tree damaged by a wildfire on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

In this photo released by the County of Maui, Mayor Richard Bissen and other officials view the fire damaged Banyan Court in Lahaina, Hawaii, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. (County of Maui via AP)

Burnt boats sit in waters off of Lahaina, Hawaii, on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Wildfire devastation is seen outside the city Lahaina, Hawaii, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A banyan tree rises among the Wildfire wreckage, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. For 150 years, the colossal tree shaded community events, including art fairs. It shaded townsfolk and tourists alike from the Hawaiian sun, befitting for a place once called "Lele," the Hawaiian word for "relentless sun." Like the town itself, its very survival is now in question, its limbs scorched by a devastating fire that has wiped away generations of history. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Women hug after digging through rubble of a home destroyed by a wildfire on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A member of the search and rescue team walks with her cadaver dog near Front Street on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii, following heavy damage caused by wildfires. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A man walks through wildfire wreckage Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

People walk along Main Street past wildfire damage on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A boy rides along Main Street past wildfire damage on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Wildfire wreckage is shown Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A burnt statue sits amid the rubble of a home, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A man and dog ride along Main Street past wildfire damage, Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A woman digs through rubble of a home destroyed by a wildfire on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Melted beer bottles are shown in the back of a burnt out truck following the wildfires Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A group of volunteers who sailed from Maalaea Bay, Maui, form an assembly line on Kaanapali Beach on Saturday Aug. 12, 2023, to unload donations from a boat. Maui residents have come together to donate water, food and other essential supplies to people on the western side of the island after a deadly fire destroyed hundreds of homes and left scores of people homeless. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Thomas Leonard lies on an air mattress at an evacuation center at the War Memorial Gymnasium after his Lahaina apartment burned down, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Wailuku, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

JP Mayoga, right, a chef at the Westin Maui, Kaanapali, and his wife, Makalea Ahhee, hug on their balcony at the hotel and resort, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023, near Lahaina, Hawaii. About 200 employees are living there with their families. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Sydney Carney walks through her home, which was destroyed by a wildfire, Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Wildfire wreckage is seen Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. The search of the wildfire wreckage on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities as firefighters battled the deadliest blaze in the U.S. in recent years. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Destroyed homes and cars are shown, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Wildfire wreckage is shown Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

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Paula Newton speaks with Hawaii Governor Josh Green on the horrific wildfires on Maui that have killed at least 115 people.