Found Deceased JAPAN - Patricia "Pattie" Wu-Murad, 60, US Citizen, on hiking trip Kumano Kodo Trail, didn't arr next stop Osaka, 10 Apr 2023

[AzPistonsGirl]

Yes, I do think Pattie has sadly passed. For me, once someone is lost for a week in the wilderness, I do start to think that.

I just can't bring myself to LIKE this post although I agree. Whether or not she is or was lost in the wilderness, I agree.

Not knowing is awful for any family or loved ones, but add that this did not happen close to home but in a different country, just adds a layer of feeling helpless and hopeless...

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

DBM: Dup, having some trouble posting, sorry all!

 

[kittythehare]

But nobody at all saw her on the trail, did they/
Her gear, that she might have been expected to be carrying on her person was still at her lodging house.
Did something happen there that prevented her going on her planned walk?

 

[neesaki]

But nobody at all saw her on the trail, did they/
Her gear, that she might have been expected to be carrying on her person was still at her lodging house.
Did something happen there that prevented her going on her planned walk?

I thought she had her gear with her. The host saw her off, walked her towards the trail.

 

[kittythehare]

I thought she had her gear with her. The host saw her off, walked her towards the trail.

Did she not leave her itinerary or some such documents behind at the hotel/


i could have picked that up wrong..?

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

I thought she had her gear with her. The host saw her off, walked her towards the trail.

Thank you, that is what I thought but I am scouring threads and links now to find confirmation.

The "itinterary" or note she may have either left behind or thrown away - discussed but dismissed as inconsequential if I recall

 

[kittythehare]

Thank you, that is what I thought but I am scouring threads and links now to find confirmation.

The "itinterary" or note she may have either left behind or thrown away - discussed but dismissed as inconsequential if I recall

thanks, it was a few days ago.. I wasn't sure whether it was a thing of consequence or not.

 

[annpats]

But nobody at all saw her on the trail, did they/
Her gear, that she might have been expected to be carrying on her person was still at her lodging house.

No, that's not true. She had all her gear with her.
She mis-placed her orange fleece jacket several days/a week before, but in another location.

Her itinerary (written on paper) was left at the guesthouse, but we don't know whether that was intentional or whether it was trash or not, or where exactly it was found.

 

[kittythehare]

No, that's not true. She had all her gear with her.
She mis-placed her orange fleece jacket several days/a week before, but in another location.

Her itinerary (written on paper) was left at the guesthouse, but we don't know whether that was intentional or whether it was trash or not, or where exactly it was found.

that's the bit I read, thanks Ann.
I also missed that the fleece was misplaced at another location.. sorry for my confusion.
I'm unclear on another thing, this was a spiritual journey, I understand?
Has it been described in spiritual terms anywhere?
I'm trying to understand which spiritual path she favoured because it might provide a clue to her whereabouts.
Japan has many beautiful religions and paths and practices which is what drew me her.
I'm not sure which she was in and following?

 

[annpats]

Has it been described in spiritual terms anywhere?
I'm trying to understand which spiritual path she favoured because it might provide a clue to her whereabouts.
Japan has many beautiful religions and paths and practices which is what drew me her.
I'm not sure which she was in and following?

I understand these shrines are Shinto shrines, which is a distant cousin of Buddhism.

Pattie is originally from Taiwan, so may have been of a Buddhist leaning herself. I don't know.

Of course, many people hike and visit these shrines without doing the spiritual side of it. I think it'd be a lovely tranquil area to visit, I'd like to do it and I'm Christian.

 

[kittythehare]

I understand these shrines are Shinto shrines, which is a distant cousin of Buddhism.

Pattie is originally from Taiwan, so may have been of a Buddhist leaning herself. I don't know.

Of course, many people hike and visit these shrines without doing the spiritual side of it. I think it'd be a lovely tranquil area to visit, I'd like to do it and I'm Christian.

I would too.
I would love to.
I studied a kind of a version of Shinto Buddhism but they are the basis of many sects and religions,
they all have special monuments in various locations throughout japan, some are massive, some tiny but they are very important.
I just wondered whether she had taken a side track to visit one she had not seen before or that was close to her heart, not on the actual route but close to it, not necessarily big..?

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I would think if hikers were going "missing not found" regularly we'd know about it.
So many international people do these trails, that the missing people would be all over the forums and webpages - but they're not. Now, I'm sure the Japanese SAR tes do have to search for some people who get lost, but I don't think anyone has disappeared quite so out-of the-blue as Pattie.
What makes it worse, ,of course, is that she was a steady, cautious lady. Not gung ho at all.

I think we can all agree that we hope we'd hear about it, but it's all relative. There can be two similar cases on WS and one case ends up with 20 threads whilst another is lucky to get 20 posts. Even if a disappearance is reported, it might get a couple of lines in the missing person's local newspaper and then never be heard about again.

We know about Pattie because of her wonderful family who have refused to give up or let the case fade. If not for her family trying to get as much publicity as possible, would we have ever heard about Pattie at all? It's impossible to know.

 

[slowpoke]

that's the bit I read, thanks Ann.
I also missed that the fleece was misplaced at another location.. sorry for my confusion.
I'm unclear on another thing, this was a spiritual journey, I understand?
Has it been described in spiritual terms anywhere?
I'm trying to understand which spiritual path she favoured because it might provide a clue to her whereabouts.
Japan has many beautiful religions and paths and practices which is what drew me her.
I'm not sure which she was in and following?

It hasn’t been said what her religious leanings were. I’m not very knowledgeable of these routes. But this is what I think I understand: she had already done the Camino de Santiago in Spain, another pilgrimage, which is Christian/Catholic. Earlier in her current Japan trip she did half of the Shikoku 88 Temples pilgrimage, which may be Buddhist. Then, she was doing this Kumano Kodo one, which may be both Shinto and Buddhism, mixed.

Perhaps, for Pattie, she enjoyed the spirituality, no matter what religion the routes represented. MOO but I think she may have liked the pilgrimage routes for its deep sense of history, hiking it for the recreation of it, and the feeling one gets when being in peaceful, serene settings—a feeling of being connected to nature. I can relate to that. I think I would enjoy it, too.

 

[ZaZara]

New interview with Pattie's husband Kirk:

Pattie and Kirk on their wedding day.

Pain grows for CT family of woman missing in Japan. Birthdays, anniversaries and holidays pass in her absence.

A Go FM page set up by Murphy raised over $190,000, and the Murads were able to bring American search and rescue teams over to Japan and pay a Japanese SAR team, Mountain Works, which is still looking for Wu-Murad. The American search and rescue teams had to go home and, eventually, Kirk, Murphy and Bryce left, too, because they couldn’t afford to stay in the country. They wanted to put their remaining money toward search and rescue.

Kirk and Murphy are now in Singapore where Murphy lives and where they have friends. They talk to the Japanese rescue team every day and are trying to figure out what the next steps will be in the search.

BBM

 

[sassyblue]

What a beautiful couple! I can only hope my DH would fight half as hard to find me if I went missing.

I so hope she is still alive.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

I feel so sorry for Kirk and the rest of Pattie's family. It's obvious from the way they speak about her that this has devastated them. Whatever the answers end up being, I sincerely hope they get some answers.

The village of Miura-guchi is almost like a kind of Rivendell: a small village in a mountain gorge. There's one road in and out, a river that appears in many images to be little more than a dry gravel bed (though that presumably depends on the time of year), and the mountain trail itself. Otherwise there's seemingly nowhere to go.

I'm reminded of what my history teachers used to tell the class: Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.

I still think it's most likely Pattie got lost or had an accident on the mountain. All of her belongings were carried on her person, so wherever she ended up, her belongings would go with her unless she dropped them or made a conscious decision to leave them behind.

Not finding any trace of Pattie on the trail isn't necessarily strange.

The trail runners were seen on CCTV once they got back on the road, and the Australian reached his destination in Totsukawa Onsen. But if not for the evidence of them reaching the other side, is there anything, anything at all, to prove they were ever on the mountain? Because if there isn't, the lack of evidence of Pattie's presence becomes a lot less remarkable.

 

[ZaZara]

From an update by Murphy Murad on the Go FM page:

(---)

The team also agreed that getting data from the Japanese telecommunication companies would help us narrow the search area. The FBI continues to work with Japanese officials to see if this data is available. However, we have been waiting for this data for over a month and are waiting to hear back about a potential timeline. We will hold off sending a team if they can provide us with any information or progress otherwise we are not willing to stand by idly for an additional month.

(---)

Just by spreading awareness, we have received information from a solo female hiker that a man near one of the Kumano Kodo trails asked if she would go home with him to help him practice his English. This incident occured on April 20th, 10 days after Pattie’s disappearance. We forwarded all information to the Japanese police as well as the FBI and this hiker has been more than willing to help in any way she can. This is why we need to continue talking about my mom’s story. The police have come to a lot of dead ends in their investigation but its you getting our story out on multiple platforms to reach people all around the world who have these stories that we never would have been aware of. We still believe there is a possibility that Pattie’s trust in people could have made her a victim of foul play and all stories and suggestions are welcomed.


BBM

 

[StillDiggin]

A new lead came into law enforcement from a female hiker on the same trail that Pattie was to hike, Kirk tells The Messenger.


The other hiker, from New York City, reported that two different Japanese men she encountered asked her to come home with them for tea and teach them English.

“She said it made her feel very uncomfortable,” says Kirk.

Family of American Mom Missing in Japan Refuses to Give Up 5 Weeks After She Vanished

Pattie Wu-Murad's husband remains hopeful his wife will be found alive as he celebrates their 33rd wedding anniversary alone.

themessenger.com

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

Presumably these encounters with Japanese men happened in the villages/on the roads rather than on the mountain trails; I understand why Pattie's family isn't divulging all of the information, but it would be useful to know precisely where these encounters happened.

 

[annpats]

A new lead came into law enforcement from a female hiker on the same trail that Pattie was to hike, Kirk tells The Messenger.


The other hiker, from New York City, reported that two different Japanese men she encountered asked her to come home with them for tea and teach them English.

“She said it made her feel very uncomfortable,” says Kirk.

Family of American Mom Missing in Japan Refuses to Give Up 5 Weeks After She Vanished

Pattie Wu-Murad's husband remains hopeful his wife will be found alive as he celebrates their 33rd wedding anniversary alone.

themessenger.com

Well, was she on the trail the same day?
Did this new hiker appear on the CCTV?
Or did the 2 Japanese men appear on the CCTV too?
If not, why not?