Mounties are asking for the public’s help finding a Japanese student who disappeared from the Vancouver area more than a week ago.
The RCMP said no one has seen Natsumi Kogawa since Sept. 7, and her friends and family are growing increasingly worried for her safety.
The 30-year-old was reported missing to the Vancouver Police Department on Sept. 12, but the case has since been handed over to Burnaby Mounties as her last known location was at her home in their jurisdiction.
Staff Sgt. Major John Buis urged anyone with any information at all on Kogawa or her whereabouts to come forward and assist with their investigation.
“We are concerned. We are giving it a priority and we have a number of police officers investigating this,” Buis said.
Mounties said it’s not unusual for Kogawa to go away for a couple days without telling people, but she has never left for this long.
“This is the longest period of time that she’s not contacted family,” Buis said.
Kogawa’s friend, Jay Vergara, said the missing woman was studying English at Kaplan International English School in Vancouver.
Vergara told CTV News that Kogawa messaged another friend on the morning of Sept. 8 to make plans to meet with him later that day.
He said Kogawa didn’t show up for the meeting and has not been responding to calls and text messages from her friends.
“I’m incredibly concerned,” he told CTV News. “I really hope for her safe return.”
The disappearance has already made international headlines, appearing on a number of Japanese news websites. A few Japanese journalists have also travelled to Canada to cover the case, including TV Asahi reporter Tetsuyo Nishio, who said there is significant interest in the story back home.
“There are a lot of unknown factors,” Nishio said. “A lot of Japanese people are concerned about the reason she’s gone missing.”
Kogawa is described as being five feet tall, 100 lbs. with black hair and brown eyes. Police don’t know what kind of clothing she was wearing when she went missing.
Anyone who can help with the RCMP’s investigation is asked to contact the Burnaby detachment at 604-294-7922, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS to remain anonymous.
