Desperate Maui locals turn to database to hunt for the missing

Locals in Maui are desperately clinging to hope that their loved ones will turn up safe more than a week after devastating wildfires destroyed parts of Maui, killing at least 111 people.

They have launched online trackers, including the “Maui Fires People Locator” Google spreadsheet and the “Maui Fires People Finder” Facebook page — in what’s become a grim and heartbreaking accounting of all those still missing.

The comprehensive spreadsheet, launched on Aug. 8, has swelled to nearly 6,000 entries, creating the go-to place for people to relay any signs of good news as officials continue to comb through the ruined neighbors for signs of human remains.

Sharon VanGiesen, 60, of Sonoma County, Calif., is one such user looking for her ex-husband, Michael Misaka, 61, who lived on Puiki Place in Lahaina.

“His home is gone, we know that. He lived where all the homes are gone,” VanGiesen told The Post Thursday. “This is day nine. We don’t know what to think.”

VanGiesen said Misaka was native to Lahaina and a beloved bartender, with his worried family constantly checking Erickson’s spreadsheet for any updates on the missing father.

“I lost hope until last night, when an old classmate of his told us he got a text message from Mike on Thursday, saying he got out and was [in] Upcountry. But then this person couldn’t find the text message, so it’s unverified,” VanGiesen lamented.

“I text Mike every hour, hoping he will respond and say he is safe.”

VanGiesen added that her daughter Megan has submitted her DNA to Hawaiian officials in case it can be used to identify him — should he be among the dead.

Laura Hudelson, 73, from Florence, Ariz., is another person desperately scanning the spreadsheet multiple times a day in hopes of finding out what happened to her son, Phillip, 56, a bartender who worked in the city.

“We’ve called the morgue, called the jail, called the hospitals, called the Red Cross, spoken to the Maui Police Department and I’ve posted umpteen times on Facebook,” Hudelson said. “I have him on the list [the Google Doc] someone put together, which I check three times a day. I just checked it then and it still says ‘not found.’”

Despite the lack of updates, Hudleson says she’s trying to remain positive, remembering that her son is always one to help others and would’ve likely joined the local volunteer effort before checking in at a shelter.

Staying positive, however, is proving to be harder as the days go by without an update about Philip.

“I am staying very optimistic, that’s all I can do at this point without going completely bonkers,” Hudleson said. “Somebody on Monday said they saw him walking on Front Street, but that can’t be confirmed. It’s all hearsay.”

The need for comfort was the exact reason why Ellie Erickson, of Kihei, created the spreadsheet in the first place.

“I really hope it can become a place where people wondering about their friends, their loved ones, if they know somebody is safe, they can come onto here and give people peace of mind,” Erickson, of Kihei, told KHON2 last week.

“I just hope it helps people come together and locate people faster so they don’t have to go through thousands of comments. It should just streamline that process.”

Erickson’s file allows people to submit names and details about when their loved ones were last heard from, with the spreadsheet regularly updated when the person has been located by family members or officials.

The spreadsheet has also been promoted as a useful tool for residents by the Hawaii State Department of Health given that cell phone coverage on the island remains spotty.

Notably, scores of people have been confirmed found or still missing through reports filed at shelters for former residents of Lahaina, the historic city that once housed more than 13,000 and now lies in utter ruins.

With Hawaiian Gov. Josh Green previously stating that about 1,300 people remain unaccounted for, the state’s estimate appears to be higher than that of Erickson’s spreadsheet, which as of Thursday afternoon lists about 1,021 people missing.

Although unofficial, the spreadsheet seems to be the only thing concerned loved ones can look to at the moment as experts warned that identifying the bodies of the deceased could take years given the fire’s destruction.

“This is much like what you see in a war zone or what we saw on 9/11,” the governor told CNN, noting that only 45% of the disaster zone has been searched with teams of 41 cadaver dogs.

Maui County officials on Tuesday publicly named victims Robert Dyckman, 74, and Buddy Jantoc, 79. On Wednesday they identified three more elderly victims: Melva Benjamin, 71, Virginia Dofa, 90, and Alfredo Galinato, 79.

With only five victims publicly confirmed by the government, Hawaii officials have been urging people who have relatives missing to submit samples of their DNA to assist with the identification process.

Many whose relatives were living in Lahaina at the time of the fire have since been seen going to police stations to submit DNA in hopes of one day learning of their loved one’s fate.