Print
Close
Search for missing Connecticut hiker in Japan ends due to ‘underwhelming evidence found,’ family says
By Stephen Sorace
Published June 06, 2023
The search for a Connecticut woman who disappeared while hiking in Japan two months ago has ended due to an "underwhelming amount of evidence found," the woman’s family said Sunday.
Patricia "Pattie" Wu-Murad, 60, was reported missing by Japanese authorities on April 10 when she failed to arrive at the Taiyo-no-yu guesthouse hostel in Osaka as expected after her hike along the Kumano Kodo trail.
The U.S. embassy notified her family on April 14 following a 72-hour search by a Japanese rescue team.
However, as the search for Wu-Murad nears the two-month mark without a sign of the missing hiker, her family says that all search efforts have ended.
BODY FOUND OFF FLORIDA BEACH IDENTIFIED AS MISSING 19-YEAR-OLD SWIMMER
Patricia "Pattie" Wu-Murad, 60, went missing nearly two months ago while hiking in Japan. On Sunday, her family said that the ground search has come to an end. (GoFundMe)
"If we had the time, resources and financial capacity to search every trail in the area with as much depth and precision as we did this one, we would," Wu-Murad's daughter Murphy posted in an update on the family’s GoFundMe. "However, the reality is all search efforts have ended as of May 30 due to the underwhelming amount of evidence found."
Patricia Wu-Murad disappeared while hiking the Kumano Kodo trail in Japan. (Photo by Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images)
The Murad family had hired a private investigation team and flew to Japan to help local authorities in the search.
TEXAS DAD COLBY RICHARDS FOUND SAFE; FAMILY ‘OVERJOYED’
While saying that it is "heartbreaking" to "have come up empty-handed," Murphy wrote that the family would continue to work with Japanese police and the FBI to get Wu-Murad’s cellphone data in the hopes it can provide important information.
Patricia Wu-Murad was reported missing on April 10 after failing to arrive at a hostel in Osaka, Japan. (Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images)
Wu-Murad is described as an experienced hiker who has done treks all over the world.
FOX News’ Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/search-for-missing-connecticut-hiker-in-japan-ends-due-to-underwhelming-evidence-found-family-says