AK AK - Hiroko Nemoto, 36, Anchorage, 7 June 1998

I remember reading about this case and it always struck me as odd. She received a lower grade than anticipated but she was also really close to graduating. Therefore, it seems unlikely that it would have caused her to leave her life. Of course, there were other factors and a combination of them could have led to her decision to leave; assuming that's what happened. At the same time, something bad could have happened to her.

NamUs

Doe Network

NAMPN

Charley Project



Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance
• Missing Since: June 7, 1998 from Anchorage, Alaska
• Classification: Endangered Missing
• Date Of Birth: June 6, 1962
• Age: 36 years old
• Height and Weight: 5'6, 110 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics: Asian (Japanese) female. Black hair, brown eyes. Nemoto is a Japanese citizen.

Details of Disappearance
Nemoto was a senior majoring in psychology at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan in 1998. She told a friend that she did not plan to return to school the following semester, as she believed that her degree would lead to employment solely in research. Nemoto's friend said that she wanted to work in clinical psychology. Nemoto's friend also stated that Nemoto sold the majority of her clothing and personal belongings in early June. Her friend said that Nemoto gave her numerous Japanese mementos. Nemoto's friend and her husband took Nemoto to dinner shortly before her scheduled return to Japan on June 3, 1998. Her friend stated that Nemoto was an excellent student who received a lower grade than expected in one of her classes during the spring semester. Nemoto was apparently upset about the matter and her friend believed it lead to her decision to leave college, although she was only ten credits shy of completing her undergraduate degree.

Nemoto departed from Lansing, Michigan on a Northwest Airlines flight to Anchorage, Alaska on June 3. She normally phoned her mother in Japan weekly, but she did not tell any of her loved ones that she did not intend to return to her native country. Authorities determined that Nemoto traveled to Denali National Park and Preserve near Mount McKinley after arriving in Alaska. She returned to Anchorage shortly afterwards and spent one night at a youth hostel before traveling to Wasilla, which is approximately 50 miles north of Anchorage on June 7, 1998. Nemoto has never been heard from again. Investigators established that she purchased a train ticket from Anchorage to Whittier, Alaska and a ferry ticket from Whittier to Valdez, Alaska. It is unclear if Nemoto arrived at her destinations.

Nemoto's friend said that she theorized Nemoto was attempting to forget about Japan during the summer of 1998. Nemoto's case remains unsolved.

I think she either took off and left everything behind to start a new life in Alaska and she's still living there somewhere...or soon after travelling to Alaska she ended her life. I have a feeling though she could very well be alive today.

Reminiscent of this recent case:

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/c...disappear-into-wilderness-outside-yellowknife

Following along the lines of Montjoy's post...

Documentary reveals new details on what happened to missing tourist Atsumi Yoshikubo
The Missing Tourist airs tonight at 9 p.m. on CBC-TV
March 2, 2017

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...A week after her hotel reported her missing, RCMP called off the search and said Yoshikubo was presumed dead. At the time RCMP said they had information that she "planned to go into the wilderness alone and become a missing person" and that she had taken steps to avoid detection.

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north...lowknife-documentary-geoff-morrison-1.4005742

http://www.cbc.ca/firsthand/episodes/the-missing-tourist

[h=1]The Missing Tourist[/h] [h=2]Sunday, August 13, 2017 at 9 PM on CBC-TV[/h]

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HE MISSING TOURIST tells the story of Atsumi Yoshikubo’s mysterious disappearance and the urgent missing person investigation that followed, with the RCMP ultimately – and controversially – concluding that the 45-year-old doctor “arrived in Yellowknife with a plan to go into the wilderness alone and become a missing person.” When the RCMP made their surprising announcement just nine days into the search, few in Yellowknife could make sense of it. For a tourist to go missing was almost unheard of. Over the course of the missing person investigation, several facts emerged that made Atsumi’s case particularly unusual. While thousands of Japanese tourists visit Yellowknife every year, they usually travel in groups, and typically on pre-arranged tours.

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THE MISSING TOURIST sheds new light on the investigation and goes beyond the events covered in the news to find out what really happened to Atsumi Yoshikubo. Tracing Atsumi’s journey from a small prefecture in southern Japan to the wilderness of the Northwest Territories – including interviews with family, friends and colleagues in Japan as well as media, police officials and members of the community in Yellowknife who were among the last to see her – the film attempts to bring a sense of closure to one of the most unsettling mysteries of the Canadian North in recent memory.

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I worked in Denali the summer she was there but don't remember hearing anything about a woman going missing. I do remember there were some climbers stranded on Denali in early June.

Bumping for Hiroko...it's now been over 22 years.