Jason Musgrove has spent every day for the past two weeks trying to find out whether his mother is alive or dead.
He and his stepfather drive to shelters, clinics and aid distribution sites around Maui, lurching between hope and despair, like hundreds of other families still searching for relatives and friends in the wake of the fires that destroyed the coastal town of Lahaina.
Mr. Musgrove asks: Has his mother, Linda Vaikeli, 69, ended up as a Jane Doe in a burn unit?
The fire’s official death toll of 115 marks the worst wildfire in more than a century, but that figure has overshadowed a potentially more ominous statistic: Roughly 1,000 to 1,100 others are still listed as unaccounted for, according to the F.B.I.
They include immigrant hotel workers who spoke little English, multigenerational families who were living in close quarters when the fire swept through their homes, residents of homeless encampments, and grandparents who had trouble walking and did not use cellphones.
Persons:
Jason Musgrove, Musgrove, Linda Vaikeli, Jane Doe
Locations:
Maui, Lahaina, Mr