Japan - Miyazawa family of 4 murdered, Setagaya, Tokyo, 30 Dec 2000

[FacelessPodcast]

And this is what I am thinking about - if sensitive to perfumes, how could one spend a long time in a house with so many unpleasant smells? I see two options:
1) he did not stay in the house for too long
2) or, he did stay long, but could the setup be totally opposite? He uses Drakkar in general because he won't be able to tell when he is starting to smell, but in fact, he suffers from anosmia, or hyposmia?

Anosmia - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

(I have to look specifically through every condition that can cause anosmia. Some are interesting).

I think the perpetrator has quite a number of odd traits. Maybe he was persuaded to stay in the house because of the physical trauma only. I can imagine him sleeping after a profuse discharge of emotions. Eating? Hardly likely unless there is something wrong with your olfactory nerve.

(I am not going to go through all smells, but think of all - mixed in a small house where one person has been strangled, and three, brutally stabbed. I hope that Haruko being 70, she was partially spared of intensity of the smell, as the olfactory nerve gets older with age, but a man of 15-20 with normal smell would be very much affected. So I am trying to sort out what that man could have. We don't know his face, nor even the race, but something about him we can probably guess, even now. BTW, I think if he were local and mafia-connected, he's be dead a long time ago, such a liability).

Your points in order, Charlot.
1) We know that he stayed in the house almost certainly between 10:38pm(ish) to 1:23am. That's a fairly significant amount of time given that Mikio was alive at 10:38pm and the whole family was likely dead by 11pm. An extra couple hours-worth of extreme risk. But like I said the other day, it seems as if the papers are saying he left BEFORE dawn. This was always the more likely scenario to me vs him staying until daybreak and leaving JUST BEFORE the grandmother discovered the bodies. For all his crazy risks, the killer doesn't seem stupid. And that would have been stupid.

2) Your ideas about his sensitivity to smell are interesting. I simply have no clue to this beyond the fact that his clothes held *traces* of Drakkar Noir. He may not have been wearing it that night but had previously worn it before.

3) We don't know he slept at any point. It does seem, however, as though he sat on the couch. My best guess is that he was hurt and exhausted. He was possibly in shock. We know for a fact he lost a fair amount of blood. He was very possibly panicking. Maybe if he felt taking on more sugar would help him in some way, or to stay awake. But basically, we actually don't know that much of what he did considering he was in the house for a couple of hours after the murders beyond tossing documents, eating/drinking, patching himself up, using the toilet, and using the computer. That shouldn't all take 2 hours.

4) I think of all the possibilities, the one connecting him to the Yakuza is among the least likely. I'm yet to hear one SINGLE plausible explanation for why the local mob would have any interest in the Miyazawas. Much less contract a young man to kill them with a sushi knife. And even then, if they were to kill him after these botched murders, where is the report of that crime? Surely, that's a body we're missing etc.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

I think he could live on Yokota base, and if so, then maybe previously on any air base in the US with a travel to Edwards base with a parent? Not sure he was a "momma's boy" literally, maybe even a child of divorce? Him ironing his handkerchief might be also a sensory sign if he used them often. The fact that he didn't use paper napkins/handkerchiefs popular in the US is interesting, though.

In Japan, it's very common to carry handkerchiefs -- particularly in the summer. The fact he had two of them feels 'Japanese' but then again, I too used them when I was there in the summer, from Muji in fact just like the killer (FamilyMart sells Muji products so they are widely-available) and I am not Japanese.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

You know, to me it says that either the Miyazawa family was 100% targeted (I have different versions of why, but the most obvious, the perp. thought he had some biological tie to the family, because his relatives lied to him), or he wanted to know how it would feel to be a killer, knowing they'd leave Japan soon. Somehow, his behavior in the house points more to version nr. 1. He was looking for some document, made a folder for it, only to realize that it didn't exist. Maybe later he found out that the story he was fed was a lie, and now lives not only in fear, but in denial, as he killed absolutely innocent people. But this is my thought for today.

I agree the family was 100% targeted. There are too many factors standing against this being a random attack or a simple robbery gone wrong (which, we must note, is the official listing of this crime according to the TMPD --robbery/homicide-- given that the killer did actually take some of their money).

I do not believe the killer had any biological ties to the family, however. The TMPD would have been able to find that connection very quickly. I also know that the family next door were fingerprinted and no matches were found with the killer.

I too believe he knew he had a way out after the murders, however. As for his motive -- whether to know how it felt to kill, whether impotent rage he wanted to take out on them, whether some unknown connection to the Miyazawas -- I simply don't take a view. It would be fishing in the dark.

The same goes for why he went through their documents. Maybe he was looking for something specific. Maybe he felt he had to leave the house in disarray to make it look like a robbery gone wrong. We simply don't know. But I too feel the killer thinks about these murders to this day. Whether or not he feels fear, I don't know. It's possible he doesn't experience those kind of emotions. It's also possible he does but he simply feels too long has gone by now for this to catch up to him. Especially if he lives thousands of miles away.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Here is what I was thinking about for a long time. Sleeping in a house where you murdered four people - is it common? If he did, then he may struggle from a REM sleep disorder.

(Sleep disorders became my interest when I realized that we spend 1/3 of our life in sleep.) So... Maybe falling asleep after killing four people is the norm. Or maybe it is the symptom of mild cataplexy, that is, an element of narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is an incredibly interesting condition; type I has 3 elements (sleep paralysis, hypnagogic hallucination (lucid dreams) and cataplexy - loss of muscle tone or falling asleep after intense emotional exhaustion). Type II has only 2 elements (sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations).

Several things have been found out: 1) REM sleep can burst into daytime so not all hallucinations are nocturnal; if you suddenly see a bizzarre apparition it may not be schizophrenia at all; 2) cataplexy doesn't need to be intense or frequent; 3) narcolepsy is often accompanied by lower sensation of smell

Olfactory dysfunction in patients with narcolepsy with cataplexy is restored by intranasal Orexin A (Hypocretin-1)

Until recently, olfactory dysfunction was an unknown feature of narcolepsy. Orexin A, also called hypocretin-1, is abnormally decreased or undetectable in

academic.oup.com

Now, here is an interesting thing.

Narcolepsy affects 0.16% TO 0.18% of the general population in Japan and 0.02% to 0.06% of the population in the United States and Europe. (Probably more carry the gene as it is a rare condition - autosomal dominant but with incomplete penetrance. But, the two genes linked to narcolepsy are more prevalent in Japan). Don't read the whole article, it is just proof that statistically, narcolepsy is 4 times more common in Japan than in US or Europe.

Anti-Tribbles Homolog 2 Autoantibodies in Japanese Patients with Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and cataplexy. The association with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DQB1*0602 and T-cell receptor alpha locus suggests that autoimmunity plays a role in narcolepsy. A recent study ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

As I say, we don't know he slept in the house for a fact. One thing I would guess: if he had some kind of disorder, he would be on medication. Having lived in the US for six years, I think the likelihood of that would be pretty high. However, the TMPD found no traces of drugs or alcohol in his blood. Now, whether or not they're testing for sleeping medication, I have no idea. Perhaps the screening is only for a few standard narcotics. However, the TMPD does have a massive science campus in Chiba that looks pretty state-of-the-art, at least from the outside. They also had access to his blood and faeces. I don't think it would be beyond the wit of man to test across the medical panorama.

And again, it's very possible that the killer was Japanese. But also very possible he was not. Based on the DNA evidence, if we can take the official findings at face value -- there is a 1 in 4 chance he is ethnically Korean and only a 1 in 13 chance he is ethnically Japanese. Now, it bears repeating but the TMPD actually wanted Wikipedia to take this information down as it was actually leaked from a university who they approached for a second opinion. Note, they don't mention his DNA on the official website or the casefile found there. But it seems as if that information regarding his ethnicity is at least the closest thing we have to fact. So, based on the available information, he's not even Japanese. Ignoring all the stuff about the sand and his clothes, there is his Houdini act for 23 years. If he's a Japanese citizen, that makes him closer to remarkable than him simply being foreign and leaving the country. I have my doubts as to whether the TMPD cast their net across the whole globe beyond lodging his fingerprints with Interpol. I cannot say that for certain seeing as they refused to speak with me for the podcast.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Season 2 would be lovely. I binged the podcast in one day and was sorry it was over.

Thank you very much, dms! Appreciate you giving it a listen. Here's hoping this time next year there'll be more of the story to tell...

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Christmas gifts! Note Chief Tsuchita's CD of ballads ...

 

[Auntie Cipation]

Well, it sounds like it's not just sand from the Mojave Desert but specifically from in or around Edwards Airbase. That area is closed to public and heavily controlled by the military. So, however that sand got into the bag, the coincidence remains. We're talking about someone who was in or about one USAF airbase, who I believe is likely linkable to the airbase in Tokyo. And if he is a Japanese local, what was he doing out there? I've been to that region. There is basically zero of interest to a tourist out there...

Also, there was no other DNA found on the bag. So, if he borrowed or stole it, there would be the logic problem of him cleaning it in such a way that removed all other genetic traces from it but somehow left sand in it.

Thank you for clarifying about the specificity of location of the sand.

On my end I would like to clarify that I didn't mean to suggest that the bag was stolen, but that whatever the bag *held* that contained traces of Edwards AFB sand, could have been gifted, borrowed or stolen, which removes the requirement that our perp traveled to Edwards AFB and back since acquiring the bag.

Your photo above gives me an excellent suggestion -- how about a small towel, a shirt, a handkerchief, a hat? If he had been given or otherwise acquired an item similar to those, which had been at Edwards AFB and touched the ground, he puts that item in his bag and the few grains of sand are now in the bag.

I know it's a stretch, but it seems possibly less convoluted that the scenario required for himself to have made the trip there and back in recent times.

All just MOO.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Thank you for clarifying about the specificity of location of the sand.

On my end I would like to clarify that I didn't mean to suggest that the bag was stolen, but that whatever the bag *held* that contained traces of Edwards AFB sand, could have been gifted, borrowed or stolen, which removes the requirement that our perp traveled to Edwards AFB and back since acquiring the bag.

Your photo above gives me an excellent suggestion -- how about a small towel, a shirt, a handkerchief, a hat? If he had been given or otherwise acquired an item similar to those, which had been at Edwards AFB and touched the ground, he puts that item in his bag and the few grains of sand are now in the bag.

I know it's a stretch, but it seems possibly less convoluted that the scenario required for himself to have made the trip there and back in recent times.

All just MOO.

Yes, that's entirely possible. And fair points. But I guess two things would still remain in the same scenario.

1) the killer would *know* someone who has a connection to the USAF base, meaning the TMPD could uncover that. They didn't. So either, they haven't thought the sand of importance, or they don't want to track that down. And the USAF base would have fingerprints for that person in question. (Whether the US military would share that or not is an entirely different matter).

2) Whoever gave it to the killer or whoever he stole it from left no trace on the towel / bag / item inside the bag that held sand from Edwards. The Chief was adamant that there was DNA throughout the bag but only that belonging to the killer. Is it possible the original owner's DNA could somehow degrade away? Or that they somehow transferred the item holding the sand without leaving their fingerprints/DNA on it? I suppose so, yes!

I would respectfully suggest that it's less convoluted for the killer simply to have been in possession of the bag the whole time and, indirectly, the sand it carried.

 

[fridaybaker]

Over time, I've read through all the posts in this thread twice. Because it's been over time, I've forgotten much; however, these points brought up here by our "expert" recently have been very helpful at summarizing for me. I'm really beginning to think that our suspect has likely been out of the country for many years. Obviously this, and many other factors, point quite handily to Yokota/Edwards.

Rather than think this guy felt that he would be able to do the crime because he'd be able to find a way out of the country, I think it's much more likely that he thought he could do the crime because he knew he'd be out of the country very, very soon. As in he knew he (or a parent) was going to be transferred soon. It would sure be interesting to find a list of people with young teenagers who were transferred off Yokota and to cross-check it with folks who'd been at Edwards before that.

I know, I know. It's obvious but, apparently, unattainable.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Over time, I've read through all the posts in this thread twice. Because it's been over time, I've forgotten much; however, these points brought up here by our "expert" recently have been very helpful at summarizing for me. I'm really beginning to think that our suspect has likely been out of the country for many years. Obviously this, and many other factors, point quite handily to Yokota/Edwards.

Rather than think this guy felt that he would be able to do the crime because he'd be able to find a way out of the country, I think it's much more likely that he thought he could do the crime because he knew he'd be out of the country very, very soon. As in he knew he (or a parent) was going to be transferred soon. It would sure be interesting to find a list of people with young teenagers who were transferred off Yokota and to cross-check it with folks who'd been at Edwards before that.

I know, I know. It's obvious but, apparently, unattainable.

I'm glad the thread has been helpful, friday! Likewise for me, so many good ideas and different currents of thought. Obviously, I knew it was a long shot as there wouldn't be many Japanese-speakers here. But still, you never know. And I've found it super helpful.

As for that list of transfers in/out of Yokota: a post 9/11 law holds that freedom of information requests don't apply for foreign military bases for security reasons. So, the FOIA request wouldn't work on the Japanese end. As for Edwards, I tried to get such a list from them via FOIA. And, essentially, I was told that such a request cannot involve 'research'. So, the questions have to be limited and direct. I can't go fishing for a list of all males on base between dates X and Y, for example. Essentially, it boiled down to them saying "if you have a name, and maybe even their permission, we can confirm whether such a person was at Edwards." And obviously, if I had such a name and his permission, it would be a different kettle of fish. However, as I have someone in mind, this sort of negates such a request. So, when I'm ready to make season 2, I might pursue such a thing. However, it will only tell me roughly what I already know. His father was in the USAF stationed at Yokota at the time of the murders...

 

[Charlot123]

As I say, we don't know he slept in the house for a fact. One thing I would guess: if he had some kind of disorder, he would be on medication. Having lived in the US for six years, I think the likelihood of that would be pretty high. However, the TMPD found no traces of drugs or alcohol in his blood. Now, whether or not they're testing for sleeping medication, I have no idea. Perhaps the screening is only for a few standard narcotics. However, the TMPD does have a massive science campus in Chiba that looks pretty state-of-the-art, at least from the outside. They also had access to his blood and faeces. I don't think it would be beyond the wit of man to test across the medical panorama.

And again, it's very possible that the killer was Japanese. But also very possible he was not. Based on the DNA evidence, if we can take the official findings at face value -- there is a 1 in 4 chance he is ethnically Korean and only a 1 in 13 chance he is ethnically Japanese. Now, it bears repeating but the TMPD actually wanted Wikipedia to take this information down as it was actually leaked from a university who they approached for a second opinion. Note, they don't mention his DNA on the official website or the casefile found there. But it seems as if that information regarding his ethnicity is at least the closest thing we have to fact. So, based on the available information, he's not even Japanese. Ignoring all the stuff about the sand and his clothes, there is his Houdini act for 23 years. If he's a Japanese citizen, that makes him closer to remarkable than him simply being foreign and leaving the country. I have my doubts as to whether the TMPD cast their net across the whole globe beyond lodging his fingerprints with Interpol. I cannot say that for certain seeing as they refused to speak with me for the podcast.

Perhaps he was just trying to kill the time till the blood would stop - btw, do we know if he was using something to press against the bleeding area? That would indicate some rudimentary medical knowledge, to lift the wounded part higher up and press a towel against it, for example.

(Also, I don't understand where the killer was wounded. The police says he was R-handed, so the easiest things is to imagine him slicing own L hand during the attack. However, Mikio could grab his hand, too, or try to divert a stab. If the perp is alive now - his L hand or arm bear the tracesbof the attack? )

@FacelessPodcast, I know that if we try to define the time slot during which he stayed in the house, it probably won't be precise. But I ran into a website where it was discussed that a mailman on a bike saw the light being on in the house in the beginning of his paper route, but not when he was driving back. I remember the time being about 6:30 AM, have you seen it?

My personal bet would be, I think he stayed till the subway would open, so, since it was only the eve, around 4-5 AM? It is a handicap to enter the subway alone, better in a crowd, but if you are bleeding, maybe better not to be in a crowd. So my guesstimate would be, he stayed till around 4:30 and then left, unless he walked to a different subway station.

About the medication - I doubt that the perp was prescribed anything. Most likely, he was undiagnosed because all his relatives would see is daytime sleepiness and "nocturnality". In diagnosed cases, some type of a stimulant would probably be used, but the diagnosis sometimes lags behind by 20 years, if ever.

 

[fridaybaker]

"...if you have a name, and maybe even their permission, we can confirm whether such a person was at Edwards."
Too funny. What would one need a FOIA for, then???
And, a bit off topic, but: Do you ever think he's reading here? Do you ever fear getting too close? I have to imagine that in this internet-intensive era, he'd constantly be trawling through the internet, following news stories, etc. Of course, he'd have to do that in a hidden way, but I think that's pretty easy these days. Anyone will even a little internet/tech sophistication would probably be able to figure out how to hides their searches quite well.

 

[fridaybaker]

Charlot, I think he used gauze, and when he ran out of that, feminine products, to stanch the bleeding, at least that's what I recall. There must have been a lot of bleeding.

That brings me to something that I think was mentioned in the podcast. If this was a teenager, wouldn't his parents notice the wounds? Perhaps they did, and decided to cover for him. I think many parents would do the same. They kept him home from school, then shipped out almost immediately afterward. More and more I think this is the case.

All that evidence, and nothing ever found in Japan. No link to the skateboarders. No link to anyone. The guy seemed to have a decent amount of disposable income (and it's been suggested that perhaps one of his parents was a doctor -got him the wound care he needed, possibly antibiotics, etc., and would also have the kind of income to provide the new, fairly fashionable, dud.)

 

[bettyboop]

Hello everyone. I have been following along and had some thoughts. @FacelessPodcast , can you confirm that Mikio had an
interest in airplanes, or creating model airplanes? I think this perp was known to the family. If he was indeed a young teen, it
seems possible he might share a love of model airplanes, or just airplanes in general, or both. Could Mikio and the perp have met in person at a club of some sort, or an online forum. Perhaps striking up a friendship over their mutual interests. Rei could have shared this interest as well. I also googled and found out that the airbase has a yearly open day. It's actually two days, and is called the Japanese-American Friendship Festival. Last year was the 47th year it has been held. If the Miyazawa family
was anything like mine, they might have gone at least once to such a thing. They could have met the perp at one such festival.

Off topic, but my family went EVERY year to our local airbase
for their "open house". Mom and Dad both worked there. MOO JMO

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Perhaps he was just trying to kill the time till the blood would stop - btw, do we know if he was using something to press against the bleeding area? That would indicate some rudimentary medical knowledge, to lift the wounded part higher up and press a towel against it, for example.

(Also, I don't understand where the killer was wounded. The police says he was R-handed, so the easiest things is to imagine him slicing own L hand during the attack. However, Mikio could grab his hand, too, or try to divert a stab. If the perp is alive now - his L hand or arm bear the tracesbof the attack? )

@FacelessPodcast, I know that if we try to define the time slot during which he stayed in the house, it probably won't be precise. But I ran into a website where it was discussed that a mailman on a bike saw the light being on in the house in the beginning of his paper route, but not when he was driving back. I remember the time being about 6:30 AM, have you seen it?

My personal bet would be, I think he stayed till the subway would open, so, since it was only the eve, around 4-5 AM? It is a handicap to enter the subway alone, better in a crowd, but if you are bleeding, maybe better not to be in a crowd. So my guesstimate would be, he stayed till around 4:30 and then left, unless he walked to a different subway station.

About the medication - I doubt that the perp was prescribed anything. Most likely, he was undiagnosed because all his relatives would see is daytime sleepiness and "nocturnality". In diagnosed cases, some type of a stimulant would probably be used, but the diagnosis sometimes lags behind by 20 years, if ever.

I think he was either killing time, yes, or he simply needed the time he needed to feel well enough to walk out. And as comments below and several times in the thread, yes he used both first aid products and the mother's sanitary pads to stem the bloodflow. The Chief said several times, he lost a "significant" amount of blood in the house. And yet he persisted with the killings. That tells me, there's no effing way this was a robbery. A robbery's motive is financial.

The injuries seem to be to both hands, not just the right. It seems as if he switched the knife to his left hand after hurting the right one. Which explains why there is blood in both gloves. I believe the slices and cutting to the gloves gives the TMPD a steer on HOW he was injured and also how much was in the gloves / how much blood was left in the house. It's not 100% certain but I would bet my life that he is carrying scars today at least to his hand hand/wrist.

I haven't heard about a mailman / seeing a light on in the house. As I say, the ONLY CERTAIN time stamp is 10:38pm to 1:23am. There are a few 'witness statements' on the night but none of them sound that credible. Supposedly, Yasuko herself complained about 'a car parking too close' to the house in the days before the murder. This is the one I'm most likely to believe (and incidentally, I believe the killer had access to a car).

As to whether or not the killer used public transport to escape. I find this almost impossible to believe. Sunrise on December 31st in Tokyo is somewhere around 06:50am. The first train of the day in Tokyo is around 5am. So even well before sunrise, there are going to be people on those trains and it's a city of 40 million people. I find it extremely hard to believe that NOBODY saw a young man, with no jacket (that we know of, Mikio had none missing that we know of) and extensive hand injuries / bandaged up with Yasuko's sanitary pads? Not one? On a day when many people would be travelling early to see family, leave town etc. For nobody to remember him, especially when the news breaks shortly after? I suppose it's possible but the killer would need miraculous luck. For me, it is massively more likely he either left on foot meaning he was almost certainly local or had somewhere to stay locally for a short time before getting the eff out before the heat rolls in. Or he left by bike but his hands were shredded so that would probably have been very uncomfortable at the very least. OR, for my theory connecting him to Yokota to hold true, most likely he would have had a car. Which both solves the journey to Yokota, some 30-40 minutes away, and explains how nobody saw him at all.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

"...if you have a name, and maybe even their permission, we can confirm whether such a person was at Edwards."
Too funny. What would one need a FOIA for, then???
And, a bit off topic, but: Do you ever think he's reading here? Do you ever fear getting too close? I have to imagine that in this internet-intensive era, he'd constantly be trawling through the internet, following news stories, etc. Of course, he'd have to do that in a hidden way, but I think that's pretty easy these days. Anyone will even a little internet/tech sophistication would probably be able to figure out how to hides their searches quite well.

I've thought about that before, yes. When I was making the podcast, especially. Not enough sleep and dark headspace. Plus, I was living in the US at the time...

But I console myself by telling myself I've likely got 100lbs/45kg on the guy and, unlike Mikio, it wouldn't be my first rodeo. Plus, I would probably see him coming. I hope!

I think it's also very possible that back in 2000 he had very little lose / didn't have the mental capacity to fully understand the ramifications of his actions. Now he does have things to lose. The POI certainly does. If it IS him, it would be impossible for him to make a move on me or anyone else. Frankly, I think his best bet is keeping his mouth shut and hoping he's lost in the sands of time. Unfortunately for him, there are quite a few people, including me, who won't ever give up on this.

(And, to Mr. Unknown Male, if you're reading this, I'm coming for you).

 

[FacelessPodcast]

If this was a teenager, wouldn't his parents notice the wounds? Perhaps they did, and decided to cover for him. I think many parents would do the same. They kept him home from school, then shipped out almost immediately afterward. More and more I think this is the case.

All that evidence, and nothing ever found in Japan. No link to the skateboarders. No link to anyone. The guy seemed to have a decent amount of disposable income (and it's been suggested that perhaps one of his parents was a doctor -got him the wound care he needed, possibly antibiotics, etc., and would also have the kind of income to provide the new, fairly fashionable, dud.)

Even if the POI I'm looking at had nothing to do with this, I think it's almost impossible that the people in the killer's life didn't notice his injuries. I think they would have been quite debilitating before the healing process. And I find it hard to imagine parents, particularly American parents living on-base in another country, wanting to give up their son to the police when he could be facing a death penalty. Are they going to put their faith the legal technicality of him being under 18 at the time of the murders? Even if he only got 1-2 years in juvenile detention, what then? Hide his identity forever? No, he would forever be a killer. I think this would be particularly unacceptable for a military man. Let alone a doctor. Or a devoutly religious man.

As you say, the killer knew he had his ticket out of Japan before the murders. He isn't stupid. And that part of his plan, at least that part, went off perfectly. Because the alternative is, his bones are somewhere up a mountain still unfound. In which case, it's likely a question of time and the Chief or his successors will identify the killer eventually given their legal injunction to test all unknown male bodies in Japan that are found. OR, he's Jason Bourne and somehow living on a tropical island for the past 23 years.

And yes, whether his parents were medics or he had access to it on base, how many people in Japan are able to lose that much blood and not seek medical attention? Not sure it's possible to tough it out. Now, tantalisingly, there were three men I believe the day after the murders who were tended to for injuries that fit the scene (how the TMPD know that, I can't be certain). But they made no arrests. So, either none of that three were the killer or he slipped through the grasp of the hospital records AND the TMPD. Again, Jason Bourne.

 

[FacelessPodcast]

Hello everyone. I have been following along and had some thoughts. @FacelessPodcast , can you confirm that Mikio had an
interest in airplanes, or creating model airplanes? I think this perp was known to the family. If he was indeed a young teen, it
seems possible he might share a love of model airplanes, or just airplanes in general, or both. Could Mikio and the perp have met in person at a club of some sort, or an online forum. Perhaps striking up a friendship over their mutual interests. Rei could have shared this interest as well. I also googled and found out that the airbase has a yearly open day. It's actually two days, and is called the Japanese-American Friendship Festival. Last year was the 47th year it has been held. If the Miyazawa family
was anything like mine, they might have gone at least once to such a thing. They could have met the perp at one such festival.

Off topic, but my family went EVERY year to our local airbase
for their "open house". Mom and Dad both worked there. MOO JMO

Thank you for the post, betty. I can't say with certainty re: Mikio's interest in model planes but it *seems* that way. I can't get into this topic too much but I will simply say -- yes. This is a potential avenue of interest. Now, if it's open to me, it has been open to the TMPD for 23 years. Considering the Japanese do the longest work hours on earth, that they even have a word in their language for death-by-employment, and that the TMPD have put 280,000 personnel on this case since 2000, how likely do we find it that they have simply overlooked this?

I, for one, find that hard to believe. I think it's occurred to them and they have discounted it for whatever reason. Now, either they are not sharing that reason or that reason is not shareable. I can't really say more than that. But yes, I am aware of that open day and that is in fact where the towel is from in my previous photo... Note, there is also such an open day at Edwards AFB, I believe... In fact, I believe tourist visits are scheduled regularly.

 

[fridaybaker]

Wow, Faceless. I like your attitude! (A bit concerned about previous rodeos, though.)

Anyway, your post makes me wonder what happens to vehicles when people are transferred from base to base all over the world? If he had access to a car, would he have sold it? And another question: Do you have any idea if your POI has ever popped into the awareness of the TMPD?

Lastly, be careful!

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

Yes, that's entirely possible. And fair points. But I guess two things would still remain in the same scenario.

1) the killer would *know* someone who has a connection to the USAF base, meaning the TMPD could uncover that. They didn't. So either, they haven't thought the sand of importance, or they don't want to track that down. And the USAF base would have fingerprints for that person in question. (Whether the US military would share that or not is an entirely different matter).

2) Whoever gave it to the killer or whoever he stole it from left no trace on the towel / bag / item inside the bag that held sand from Edwards. The Chief was adamant that there was DNA throughout the bag but only that belonging to the killer. Is it possible the original owner's DNA could somehow degrade away? Or that they somehow transferred the item holding the sand without leaving their fingerprints/DNA on it? I suppose so, yes!

I would respectfully suggest that it's less convoluted for the killer simply to have been in possession of the bag the whole time and, indirectly, the sand it carried.

I've skimmed through the thread and I'm sorry if I missed this: Do you know *when* the bag was DNA tested?

If it was 20+ years ago it's quite possible they might have missed small or degraded samples of another person's DNA. If it was more recent it's less likely they would have missed something.