A man who rose to prominence for helping identify the remains of 9/11 victims and those murdered by serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer heads to Maui to help identify the remains of last week’s deadly wildfires.
Dr. Robert Mann directs the Forensic Science Academy at the Central Identification Laboratory in Oahu, Hawaii, and will head to Maui Thursday to assist with identification efforts.
Mann’s arrival comes as the death toll rises to 110, but the process of identifying the remains is proving painfully slow – and Mann warned it could take years.
John Pelletier, Maui’s police chief, said Tuesday that only about a third of Lahaina’s devastated area had been searched, and Hawaii Governor Josh Green has said he expects another eight to 10 bodies to be found each day. found it. at least for the next week.
Cadaver dogs flown in from California and Washington are assisting in the search, and relatives of the 1,300 missing have been asked to provide DNA samples.
said Mann Khon 2 that he hoped to end the families.
Robert Mann, who runs the world’s largest forensic skeleton lab on Oahu, arrives on Maui Thursday
Devastated parts of Lahaina can be seen Wednesday, with burned-out cars and ruins of homes
In Lahaina, the remains of a business or home were imaged on Wednesday
“There are three steps in all of this: there’s the search for the missing, there’s the recovery of the missing, and then there’s the identification of the missing,” he said.
He said family members should brace themselves for the long haul.
“Typically what we’d say, and what I’ve seen over the last 30 to 40 years or so, it could be days if you’re lucky, it could be weeks, it could be months or even a few years. .
“They’re still trying to find and identify victims of the Twin Towers.”
He said burnt bodies were particularly difficult to identify.
“With burning and destruction, you lose pieces of the puzzle, but you still have hope,” he said, telling families not to lose faith in the process.
Mann is seen in the jungles of southern Africa wielding machine guns from a crashed American plane
The West Virginia-born scientist is depicted as a young man working on a construction site
National Guard directs motorists to a roadblock next to a wildfire-ravaged area in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, on Wednesday
Rescue workers were seen in Lahaina on Wednesday
Areas devastated by forest fires that have killed at least 110 people
Burnt-out cars along the roads in Lahaina, Hawaii
A fire sparked by a downed power line on the morning of Tuesday, August 8, is believed to have developed into the conflagration that devastated Lahaina. Officials initially had the fire under control, but a flare-up quickly spread
Mann, who has written six books on the subject, teaches at multiple universities and has worked with the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Smithsonian, said DNA, fingerprints and teeth are three of the most common methods of identification.
But, he said, they weren’t the only clues.
“Each case, each individual, each deceased is unique — they were unique in life and they are unique now,” he said.
“And we just have to figure out what’s going to be the magic piece of that science that’s going to end up in identification.”
Mann said personal items such as wedding rings or items in a person’s pockets can provide clues.
But DNA is often most helpful, especially for burn victims — even though DNA in burnt bones is contaminated.
The discovery of mitochondrial DNA in the 1990s has proven to be a game changer, as it is more abundant than nuclear DNA.
President Joe Biden will visit Maui on Monday.
These exclusive photos from DailyMail.com show how rescue efforts are still underway, even as hopes of being found alive in the devastated city are fading
Rescue teams are huddling as they try to find the 1,300 people who are still missing after the fire in Lahaina swept through the city last week. The death toll stands at more than 100
Exclusive photos from DailyMail.com show how rescue efforts are still underway, even as hopes of being found alive in the devastated city of Lahaina are fading.
The photos show cadaver dogs sniffing the wreckage of a burnt-out parking lot, search and rescue crews combing through the remains of a demolished warehouse, and firefighters combing the wreckage of a gas station.
The poignant images also show how little is left standing in the historic city of Maui, which was home to more than 12,000 people until a week ago.
The tourist hotspot of Front Street, with charming wooden buildings and a century-old banyan tree, is now littered with burnt-out cars, while the city’s main business artery, the Honoapiilani Highway, is a wasteland of demolished businesses and car wrecks.
Lahaina has been cut off from the outside world since a fire broke out a week ago and only search teams were allowed to enter the wreckage.
At least 110 have died, including Alabama native Carole Hartley, 61, who was killed trying to avoid the inferno and local man Franklin Trejos, 68, who died trying to protect his roommate’s dog from the flames .
Other victims are four members of the same family: Faaso and Malui Fonua Tone, their daughter Salote Takafua and her son Tony.
All four were found in the burnt-out remains of their car – and died trying to escape the blaze.