Survival Update

Two schoolgirls who completely vanished after going off to visit an allegedly “haunted” hotel in Japan created a 25-year long mystery that resulted in the discovery of their bodies in a car below the sea.

The story started back in 1996. Megumi Yashiki and Narumi Takumi, both 19 at the time, seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth.

They told their families that they were going to Uozu City in Yashiki’s car to visit a deserted onsen hot springs hotel that many locals claimed was “haunted.”

The hotel was shut down in the 1980s due to financial problems. However, it quickly became a regular hangout spot for some not-so-friendly people.

The last contact anyone had with the two girls was when Takumi sent a pager message that said, “We are in Uozu.”

They were reported missing two days later, but they were never seen again until their remains were pulled from Fushiki Port, about 13 kilometers away from their home in Himi City, 25 years later.

For years, the police could not figure out what had happened to the girls. But in late 2014, three witnesses came forward. One of them said, “A car with two women dropped from a parking lot into the sea near Kaiomaru Park at midnight of a major holiday [Golden Week] in 1996.”

One of the witnesses said that they approached the car, but it “suddenly started moving backwards and fell [into the water].”

When asked why it had taken them so long to come forward, the witnesses said that they were scared.

The Internet has sparked all sorts of theories about what happened to the girls, including involvement from motorcycle gangs and abduction by North Korean agents. But the most realistic theory there is right now – the police failed to act quickly on the witnesses’ testimony. It took six years before officials found the bodies where the witnesses described.

According to Shukan Josei, the Toyama Prefectural Police said, “The alleged witnesses were interviewed multiple times. We know that the car fell into the sea for some reason, but at this time foul play is not suspected.”

This brings very little closure to the girls’ families. Yashiki’s father said, “I don’t trust [the witnesses] at all. I don’t know who they are. I have asked the police but they won’t tell me.”

Whilst he wants the investigation to continue the search for answers, he admitted: “Even so, the police cannot do anything without evidence.”