Hawaii officials urge families of people missing after deadly fires to give DNA samples

By AUDREY McAVOY, GENE JOHNSON and JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
Associated Press

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Authorities in Hawaii are pleading with relatives of those missing after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century to come forward and give DNA samples. Officials said Tuesday that the low number provided so far threatens to hinder efforts to identify any remains discovered in the ashes. Some 1,000 to 1,100 names remain on a tentative, unconfirmed list of people unaccounted for after wildfires destroyed the historic seaside community of Lahaina on Maui. But authorities say that so far, DNA samples have been collected from from just 104 families. That’s lower than what has been seen in other disasters. It’s not immediately clear why. Authorities have said there are 115 confirmed deaths from the fire.