Military families reeling after possessions stolen during transfer to Hawaii

HONOLULU (Hawaii News Now/Gray News) - Police in Honolulu have opened a second-degree theft investigation after several military families say they lost all of their possessions during transfers to Hawaii.

The Honolulu Police Department reports a shipping container was parked on the road in front of a moving company Tuesday and Wednesday. It’s not currently clear if the container was burglarized or stolen, but it was taken with all of the families’ possessions inside.

“It’s a whole bunch of people’s personal belongings. Like, how do you let that happen?” military spouse Nichole Maxwell told Hawaii News Now.

The Maxwell family’s move was organized by a military contractor from Missouri to Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station.

Maxwell says they received an email Feb. 28 that their shipment was expected to arrive at the Honolulu Port on March 3.

“And then it would take about 10 to 12 days to process and then be delivered to us,” Maxwell said. “So, it was supposed to be delivered late this week, early next week.”

Instead, Maxwell received an unsettling update from their shipping coordinator Thursday saying that their container was gone.

“We were notified that the container was stolen,” Maxwell said. “And all our stuff along with four other families’ things were taken.”

She says almost everything they owned is missing and she is most concerned about what’s irreplaceable.

“My sonogram pictures, things that my family made for my daughter when she was born,” Maxwell said. “The cards and gifts that she has made me in the last six years - they’re gone.”

Last week, authorities did not identify the company or the location of the theft but Matson at the Port of Honolulu reports it was notified by a company that the container had gone missing.

Maxwell has since posted pictures of some of her missing belongings on Stolen Stuff Hawaii and hopes people can help recover them.

“I understand that things go missing in shipments all the time but never everybody’s stuff just gone,” Maxwell said.

Currently, no arrests have been made, according to Honolulu police.

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