Maui police are boasting Coroner’s Office honors after reportedly mishandling the remains of fire victims

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A Facebook post has outraged some fire survivors after the Maui Police Department shared a picture of an award recognizing its Coroner’s Office for exceptional work following the Lahaina disaster.

The post came just days after HNN Investigates aired an interview with the department’s former morgue contractor, who said the recovery process was so mismanaged that the ashes families received may not have been their loved ones.

On Oct. 3, before the interview aired, HNN Investigates asked MPD whether it was following protocols to respectfully and accurately recover the remains of people who died in the Lahaina fire. Chief John Pelletier refused to answer our questions.

Then, six days after the story aired, MPD announced on Facebook that its Coroner’s Office had been honored with the 2024 Medicolegal Office of the Year Award for excellence in the death investigation following last year’s devastating fire. It is an office whose existence HNN Investigates cannot confirm – although MPD asked directly.

According to the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners website, the award was presented months ago.

In the Oct. 14 Facebook post, MPD wrote, “Please join us in congratulating them on this remarkable achievement!”

It’s a message that didn’t sit well with some fire survivors like Rick Nava. He spoke to us from a construction site as crews worked to rebuild the home he lost in the fire last year.

“When I saw that, I thought, really? This is from our leadership, do you? NO! You don’t do that,” he said. “It’s childish.”

“This is part of their public relations campaign against the news media and the truth,” Stanford Hill added. “Why don’t they just answer your questions? Your questions are our questions.”

Seven of Hill’s friends died when flames engulfed Hale Mahaolu Eono, a retirement community on Lahainaluna Road.

HNN investigates

He says many of the officers’ statements about who was found where are incorrect.

“I think it would be in bad taste to publish the picture of this award,” Hill said.

HNN Investigates asked MPD why it decided to release an image of the award. We have not received any response.

“When you’re in that position, you have to be ready to take the bullet that comes at you. They didn’t do that. They hid behind their trophy case,” Nava said.

Camron Hurt, program manager for Common Cause Hawaii, told HNN Investigates he found the post “classless” and said, “I would expect more from people who claim to protect and serve. “Because at this point you are protecting and serving only yourself. Not the community.”

Former MPD morgue contractor Greyson Abarra said that in the days after the Lahaina fire, officers and officer recruits were ordered to collect the victim’s remains despite not having the appropriate training.

Abarra says as soon as he discovered that proper procedures were not being followed, he immediately gave MPD leadership a copy of the Maui County Mass Mortality Response Plan as well as a field operations guide that explained step by step what needed to be done.

When asked how MPD responded, Abarra responded, “I don’t think the issue was understood.”

Now, Hurt is joining members of the community in calling on the Maui Police Commission to take action.

“They can start by bringing in the police chief and having him answer their questions. As do the questions and concerns of the public. I think that’s critically important at this point,” Hurt said.

Nava said, “You may not like the question being asked. But you know what? People have the right to know how these things are handled.”

“We have to take responsibility,” Hill added.

The Maui Police Commission has canceled its regular October meeting. We asked her why – but our question was not answered.

HNN Investigates also reached out to the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners, the organization that presented MPD with its award, for comment on the new information. We also asked whether MPD could keep the award.

We are waiting for an answer.

Meanwhile, the leader of Common Cause Hawaii shared this message: “We have a broad call for action. We want to see a statewide community mobilization in the next Maui Police Commission.”

Hurt continued: “We encourage everyone to come in person. Maui still needs us. So let’s help raise that voice.”

The Police Commission’s next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, November 20th at 10 a.m. at the Maui Service Center on Alaihi Street. Click here for more details.

In a statement received after HNN’s broadcast deadline, MPD spokeswoman Alana Pico wrote:

“Thank you for acknowledging the award from the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners. They presented this award based on the efforts of the forensic team, which consisted of our medical examiners, and the work they did during the August 2023 wildfires. Additionally, at the Top Cop Hawaii event last week, the Law Enforcement and Security Coalition of Hawaii proudly presented our forensic team with the Judge C. Nils Tavares Award for their exceptional efforts in identifying the victims of the Maui Fire.

It is important to understand that discussing and continuing to discuss the events that occurred 14 months ago can cause tremendous pain to our affected community and those who have lost loved ones. We want to be very careful when these wounds are reopened.

As for your questions, all of the information you are seeking has been carefully documented in the after-action reports from the Hawaii Attorney General and the MPD. The GPS coordinates are graphically presented in our after-action report and the coordinates were published in the Attorney General’s report. In terms of protocols, we leveraged the best practices of our federal partners who worked with us, particularly FEMA’s USAR teams (note that these teams worked on recovery after 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and are the leading experts). We were also privileged to have the Department of Defense DOD team assisting in the recovery of prisoners of war and missing persons. This is the highest possible threshold and this is the practice that has been used. We utilized all available personnel, including police officers and other first responders working at the academy at the time, all of whom did an excellent job.

The initial actions that day and the days following a rescue that unfortunately quickly turned into a recovery are a painful and traumatic situation for all involved, and we have compassion and understanding for those who have lost loved ones. We continually strive to be proactive and provide information not only to our department, but also to national and international departments where critical incidents may occur. The dramatic, catastrophic, and dynamic events of the numerous fires that have struck Maui were rapidly evolving, and if we can improve, we will certainly consider them. We thank the community for their resilience, trust and patience as we move forward.

Laws and statutes appoint the police chief and other heads of state as coroners. As documented in our follow-up report, the police department maintains the forensic facility where the mortuary is located.

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