Maui PD boasts ‘Coroner’s Office’ award following reports it mishandled fire victims’ remains

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - A Facebook post has some fire survivors incensed after the Maui Police Department displayed a picture of an award honoring its “Coroner’s Office” for exceptional work in the wake of 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, ashes families received, might not be their loved ones.

On Oct. 3, in advance of the interview being broadcast, HNN Investigates asked MPD if it followed 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 took to Facebook to announce its “Coroner’s Office” had been honored with the 2024 Medicolegal Office of the Year Award, for excellence in death investigation, performed in the wake of last year’s wildfire. It’s an office HNN Investigates can’t confirm exists — despite asking MPD directly.

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

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

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

“When I saw that, I was like, really? This is from our leadership, doing this? No! You don’t do that,” he said. “It’s childish.”

“That’s part of their PR 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 were killed when flames swallowed Hale Mahaolu Eono, a senior retirement community off Lahainaluna Road.

HNN Investigates

He says a lot of what they’ve been told by officials about who was found where doesn’t add up.

“I think it would be in bad taste to put the picture of that award up,” Hill said.

HNN Investigates asked MPD why it chose to post a picture of the award. We haven’t gotten a response.

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

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

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

Abarra says as soon as he noticed proper procedures weren’t being followed, he immediately provided MPD leadership with a copy of Maui County’s Mass Fatality Operations Plan as well as a field operations guide that explained step by step what needed to be done.

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

Now Hurt, alongside members of the community, are calling on the Maui Police Commission to take action.

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

Nava said, “You might not like the question that’s going to come your way. But you know what, the people have the right to know how these things were being handled.”

“We need to have accountability,” Hill added.

The Maui Police Commission canceled its regularly scheduled meeting for the month of October. We asked them why — but our question wasn’t answered.

HNN Investigates also reached out to International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners, the organization that presented MPD with its award, asking for comment in light of the new information. We also asked if MPD will be able to keep the award.

We’re waiting for a response.

Meanwhile, the head of Common Cause Hawaii shared this message: “We’re doing an all out call to action. We want to see a mobilization of the community statewide at the next Maui Police Commission.”

Hurt went on to say, “We’re calling for everybody to show up in person. Maui still needs us. So let’s help raise that voice.”

The next police commission meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 20 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 spokesperson Alana Pico wrote:

“Thank you for noticing the award from the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners. They awarded this due to the efforts of the forensic team, which consisted of our medical examiners, and the work they performed during the August 2023 wildfires. In addition, the Law Enforcement and Security Coalition of Hawaii proudly presented our forensic team with the Judge C. Nils Tavares award last week at the Top Cop Hawaii event for their extraordinary efforts in identifying the victims of the Maui Fire.

It is vital to understand that discussion and continued discussion of the events that occurred 14 months ago may cause our affected community and those who lost loved ones tremendous pain. We want to be very cautious when those wounds are reopened.

Regarding your questions, all the information you seek has been painstakingly documented in the after-action reports by the Hawaii Attorney General and MPD. The GPS coordinates are diagrammed in our after-action report, and the coordinates were released in the Attorney General’s report. Concerning protocols, we utilized best practices from our federal partners who worked with us, specifically the FEMA USAR teams (it should be noted that these teams worked on recoveries from 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina and are the foremost experts). We also were privileged to have the Department of Defense DOD team, which helps recover POWs and MIAs. This is the highest threshold possible, and this is the practice that was used. We utilized all available personnel, including police officers who were in the Academy at the time and with other first responders, all of which did a remarkable job.

The initial acts of that day and the days after that of a rescue, which unfortunately quickly became a recovery, is a painful and traumatic situation for all those involved, and we are sympathetic and understanding to those who lost loved ones. We are continually looking to be proactive and provide information not just to our department but to departments nationally and internationally that may go through critical incidents. The dramatic catastrophic and dynamic events from the multiple fires that affected Maui were rapidly evolving, and where we can improve, we certainly will look at them. We thank the community for its resilience, trust, and patience as we move forward.

Law and statutes establish the police chief and other chiefs within the state as the coroner. As documented in our after-action report, the police department maintains the forensic facility that houses the morgue.

We ask that if you use our response for your story, you do not piecemeal it but use its entirety."

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