Hawaii officials are concerned not enough Maui residents are handing over their DNA samples after wildfires

Hawaii officials are pleading with Maui residents who have missing family members to give the government their DNA samples to aid the identification of human remains discovered in the ashes on the island.

With more than 1,000 people still considered unaccounted for or missing after devastating wildfires destroyed Lahaina, the Family Assistance Center has collected only 104 DNA samples from families with missing relatives, the Associated Press reported.

Maui Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Martin, who is running the center, expressed concern that more Maui residents have not handed over their DNA.

"That's our concern, that’s why I’m here today, that’s why I’m asking for this help," he said, the AP reported. "What we want to do — all we want to do — is help people locate and identify their unaccounted-for loved ones."

Officials promise that any DNA samples collected will be used only for the purpose of identifying remains. They vow the samples will not be entered into law enforcement databases.

Tragically, not every person believed to be missing will be identified. That's because, according to the AP which spoke to fire experts, it is "possible some bodies were cremated by the intense heat, potentially leaving no bones left to identify through DNA tests." More than 1,000 people who perished in 9/11, for example, never had their remains recovered.

The exact number of missing people is not known. Officials say that is because authorities do not have complete information on those missing persons and because individuals who initially reported missing people are not returning calls from authorities.

There are no children on the list of missing people, according to Maui Now, but officials believe that children will be among those found in the coming days and weeks.

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