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

[annpats]

Regarding cell phone service....her family noted in the update that she had an Esim. My understanding is that an esim is a sim card that only provides data; not cell service. (I might be misunderstanding what and esim is, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong!) She would have to rely on Wi-fi. This would explain why she said she might be out of range for a while as she wouldn't have access to wifi on the trail and some places might have limited, or no, wifi. Having said that, the Mandokoro guesthouse indicates in their listing that they have wifi.

But she could use her data to access the Skype app and make phone calls that way.
That's what I do when I'm overseas and have a data-only SIM from that country.

 

[Snoopster]

But she could use her data to access the Skype app and make phone calls that way.
That's what I do when I'm overseas and have a data-only SIM from that country.

Good point. Thank you. And, yes, it seems she could do a VOIP call or other types of calls. It's possible that she didn't know if there would be reliable wifi in the places she would be staying.
And if she was out on the trail or somewhere there is no wifi, then she couldn't call for help. So if she got in trouble on the trail she wouldn't have had anyway to reach out for help, even if there was cell service. Does this sound right?

 

[Snoopster]

Based on Pattie's daughter's comments on the FB page, she says that police have collected the names of all "guests" in both Miura-guchi (where Mandokoro is) and Tatsukawa (where Taiyo-no-Yu is). I presume this means all people staying at hotels/guesthouses.

 

[PommyMommy]

APR 29, 2023

Family of Missing Storrs Hiker in Japan Enlists New Help, Holding Out Hope

The search continues for a Storrs woman who is missing after going hiking in Japan. After a few weeks of searching, her family says a new team is joining them as they hold out hope they can find her. “Every day we wake up and hope that today is the day.” A day Kirk Murad and his daughter Murphy...

www.nbcconnecticut.com

“Because there is a very underwhelming amount of evidence that she was in the part of the trail that we have been searching that’s why some people are naturally starting to think about foul play,” Murphy said.

She says as they search, so are police. Officers have been getting in touch with people who last saw Pattie and the community has stepped up to help as well.

The father and daughter duo were able to secure a search and rescue team, thanks to crowdfunding donations on social media. They say the support has been encouraging.

“We hope and praying for the best. We hear people praying for us and we appreciate everything that’s being done,” Kirk said.

Both are not giving up in the search for Pattie.

 

[acutename]

They did text, the day before she went missing, according to NY Post.

slowpoke said:
“Kirk recalled last contacting his wife April 9, when she texted him a picture of her Easter meal.
“She said (she) was ahead of schedule, and she was going to go on a separate trek, so we might not be able to reach her,” he said.”

nypost.com
Husband of Connecticut mom missing in Japan says search intensifying, involves Japan, US law enforcement
Patricia “Pattie” Wu-Murad was last seen on the morning of April 10.
nypost.com nypost.com

so what was the "separate trek" if she was 2 days into a 4 day trek and expected at the next guest house?

 

[acutename]

At the Help Find Pattie FB page there is the post by someone who submitted the link to the Nara Japanese language article who also included a presumed better translation of the whole article, if you can locate it.

Besides what others here have suggested for why the family is pushing for widespread media coverage, I think just out of desperate hope to reach that one person or persons who may be out there and have a key clue or expertise to help in some way. For example, say it was foul play…maybe a perpetrator has now left the area (to another part of Japan or even another country?) but has since been acting suspicious or said something odd, or suspect. If others in the hometown of this suspicious person have learned of Pattie going missing and think said person might have been on or near the Kohechi trail around that time, maybe someone will come forward with that tip.JMO

...or somebody is suddenly posessing a pink jacket or a backpack they did not have before....

 

[slowpoke]

so what was the "separate trek" if she was 2 days into a 4 day trek and expected at the next guest house?

The way I understand it is that the Kohechi route of the Kumano Kodo network of trails is the “separate trek”. The Kohechi Route is a 4-day to complete route.

She had been on the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage 88 (circular path of temples around the whole island of Shikoku) just before doing the Kohechi, completing temples 24 through 88. The plan was to meet up with friends on Apr 16 to do the rest of temples 1 through 23 of the Shikoku 88.

When doing temples 24-88, she “was ahead of schedule” (she told her husband in her last call), so it sounds like only around that time did she make the plan to squeeze in the Kohechi route and be finished with the Kohechi before Apr 16 (when she was to meet up with friends).

IMO

 

[j_in_c]

But she could use her data to access the Skype app and make phone calls that way.
That's what I do when I'm overseas and have a data-only SIM from that country.

Also an esim does not mean data only, it just means an electronic SIM card instead of a physical one that you take in and out of your phone. It's completely identical to a SIM and you could request from your US carrier to be changed from a SIM to an ESIM with no change to your service. They are convenient for travelling abroad because you can receive messages for both phone numbers, your US as well as the local country number.

 

[slowpoke]

The way I understand it is that the Kohechi route of the Kumano Kodo network of trails is the “separate trek”. The Kohechi Route is a 4-day to complete route.

She had been on the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage 88 (circular path of temples around the whole island of Shikoku) just before doing the Kohechi, completing temples 24 through 88. The plan was to meet up with friends on Apr 16 to do the rest of temples 1 through 23 of the Shikoku 88.

When doing temples 24-88, she “was ahead of schedule” (she told her husband in her last call), so it sounds like only around that time did she make the plan to squeeze in the Kohechi route and be finished with the Kohechi before Apr 16 (when she was to meet up with friends).

IMO

Replying to my own post to add that the information was from a translation provided by a poster on the HFP FB page of an aforementioned Nara article:
Nara article, in Japanese language

 

[Snoopster]

Also an esim does not mean data only, it just means an electronic SIM card instead of a physical one that you take in and out of your phone. It's completely identical to a SIM and you could request from your US carrier to be changed from a SIM to an ESIM with no change to your service. They are convenient for travelling abroad because you can receive messages for both phone numbers, your US as well as the local country number.

Good to know. Thank you.

 

[slowpoke]

Sunday makes it 21 days, Kirk Murad said by phone to CT Insider.

Pattie was pointed in the right direction to head to the Kohechi trail, but so far searchers haven’t found any clues or anything indicating her actual presence on the trail.

The family is expecting the police to give them an update on the investigation on Tuesday.

Some of the experts have left, but other searchers will join the hunt Monday,

Family 'desperate but holding out hope' as search continues for Storrs woman missing in Japan

 

[Snoopster]

Sunday makes it 21 days, Kirk Murad said by phone to CT Insider.

Pattie was pointed in the right direction to head to the Kohechi trail, but so far searchers haven’t found any clues or anything indicating her actual presence on the trail.

The family is expecting the police to give them an update on the investigation on Tuesday.

Some of the experts have left, but other searchers will join the hunt Monday,

Family 'desperate but holding out hope' as search continues for Storrs woman missing in Japan

Just to clarify, the specific quote about pointed in the right direction was referring to the leg of the trail that she was expected to hike that day (April 10).

Pattie Wu-Murad vanished on April 10 after she checked out of the Mandokoro guesthouse while hiking along the Kohechi route of the Kumano Kodo trail.

At this point, authorities only know that she was pointed in the right direction when she headed for the trail, Kirk Murad said. "We know that she didn't go the wrong way out of town," he said.

It doesn't sound to me that she was walked all of the way to trailhead.

 

[neesaki]

Sunday makes it 21 days, Kirk Murad said by phone to CT Insider.

Pattie was pointed in the right direction to head to the Kohechi trail, but so far searchers haven’t found any clues or anything indicating her actual presence on the trail.

The family is expecting the police to give them an update on the investigation on Tuesday.

Some of the experts have left, but other searchers will join the hunt Monday,

Family 'desperate but holding out hope' as search continues for Storrs woman missing in Japan

“Pointed“ in the right direction? SMH

 

[annpats]

Good point. Thank you. And, yes, it seems she could do a VOIP call or other types of calls. It's possible that she didn't know if there would be reliable wifi in the places she would be staying.
And if she was out on the trail or somewhere there is no wifi, then she couldn't call for help. So if she got in trouble on the trail she wouldn't have had anyway to reach out for help, even if there was cell service. Does this sound right?

No, because she had a Japanese e-sim, so had access to a Japanese cell network.

 

[annpats]

“Pointed“ in the right direction? SMH

But how many trails were there in a short walk from this guesthouse? I was thinking there was only the one.

 

[vls12345]

How far is it from where she stayed overnight to the trailhead?

 

[Snoopster]

I think it's about 1/4 mile, perhaps a little bit more, from the Mandokoro to the trailhead. I think the trail begins at the Kohechi Funawata pedestrian suspension bridge in this map snippet It takes people across the river and onto the trail You can see the 'sightseeing' icon in the bottom right of the map. That's the direction of the trail; to the SSE from the bridge.

 

[Snoopster]

I had difficulty finding the specific trail on AllTrails, but now I've come across a sub-segment of the trail posted there. Interestingly, there is a caution that it can be difficult to find the trail as you come out of the village.

It is a trail that starts from Kohechi Funawata Bridge in Yoshino, Nara. Crossing this bridge will result in a steep slope. The entrance from the village of Imoze is difficult to see, so be careful not to overlook the white patterns on the signboards and roads.

I presume they are referring to finding access to the bridge since they reference signboards and roads (and there are no roads across the bridge). I also noticed that immediately after crossing the bridge there is another trail that splits from the Kohechi. It isn't a very long trail (perhaps several km), but perhaps it has some difficult terrain?

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/t...bridge?mobileMap=false&ref=sidebar-static-map

 

[neesaki]

I had difficulty finding the specific trail on AllTrails, but now I've come across a sub-segment of the trail posted there. Interestingly, there is a caution that it can be difficult to find the trail as you come out of the village.



I presume they are referring to finding access to the bridge since they reference signboards and roads (and there are no roads across the bridge). I also noticed that immediately after crossing the bridge there is another trail that splits from the Kohechi. It isn't a very long trail (perhaps several km), but perhaps it has some difficult terrain?

View attachment 418424

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/t...bridge?mobileMap=false&ref=sidebar-static-map

Thank you very much for the map! It appears she would have walked down that road 733 to get to the bridge and enter the trail. I wonder if there’s much traffic on that road. Could something have happened before she reached the trail?

 

[ZaZara]

I think it's about 1/4 mile, perhaps a little bit more, from the Mandokoro to the trailhead. I think the trail begins at the Kohechi Funawata pedestrian suspension bridge in this map snippet It takes people across the river and onto the trail You can see the 'sightseeing' icon in the bottom right of the map. That's the direction of the trail; to the SSE from the bridge.

View attachment 418417

IMO it is possibly a little further away.

The description reads:

Access Information

10 min walk from Miuratoge trailhead of Kumano Kodo Kohechi
10 min walk from Obako-toge trailhead of Kumano Kodo Kohechi

The house is located on the east side of the small tunnel route 733, across from the old school. The Kohechi route follows this road between the trailheads for the passes to the north and south.

KUMANO TRAVEL | Community Reservation System

IMO the owner of the guesthouse walked with her to the start of the road she had to follow to return to the trail on route 733.