Items found with human remains belonged to missing tourist: police
Family of Atsumi Yoshikubo contacted about discovery
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, September 4, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Police confirmed personal items found with human remains in the city Monday near Giant Mine belonged to Atsumi Yoshikubo, a Japanese tourist who went missing last fall.
Items belonging to missing Japanese tourist Atsumi Yoshikubo, shown in this video camera photo from Oct. 19, were found with human remains in the city near Giant Mine on Monday, according to RCMP. - photo courtesy of RCMP |
The items are "without a doubt" linked to Yoshikubo, an RCMP news release states. Police aren't releasing further details about the items or what led them to that conclusion.
RCMP Const. Elenore Sturko said it could be up to a year to get results of tests before police are able to state whether the remains are of Yoshikubo, who has been missing since Oct. 22.
"It would be incorrect for us to speculate," Sturko said in an interview. "The right thing to do is to wait for the scientific evidence that will make a confirmation either way."
While she couldn't speak to the specific tests that will be carried out, in other similar cases, DNA tests have been done.
Police held off on announcing that the items found with the remains were linked to Yoshikubo to allow them time to contact the woman's family in Japan, Sturko said.
"We're working through all the means available to us to make that identification and bring that comfort and closure that comes with being able to make an identification," Sturko said.
The remains were found in a forested area off the old Highway 4, a section of road which leads past the city landfill toward the former mine. The exact location won't be disclosed.
"Looking at the map, Highway 4 - the old one and the new one - are in close proximity to a contaminated site and we don't want people trespassing and going on Giant Mine. It's for safety and also related to the ongoing investigation," she said, adding police were still in the area Wednesday afternoon looking for more potential evidence.
Yoshikubo, 45 had checked in to the Explorer Hotel Oct. 17 but did not check out and missed her return flight Oct. 26.
Kerri Riehl previously told Yellowknifer she believed she saw the woman walking along Highway 4 in her distinctive pink coat around 11:30 a.m. around the time Yoshikubo disappeared, but couldn't recall the exact date. An extensive search was carried out for Yoshikubo in the area around the Yellowknife Ski Club and the Giant Mine site, according to police. The discovery of the remains was made in an area that had been searched from the air but the closest foot search was about a kilometre away, Sturko said.
The case drew national and international media attention.
The search ended Nov. 4 with Sturko telling media that police believed Yoshikubo intended to disappear and was presumed dead. The nature of the evidence police used to determine she wanted to disappear has not been disclosed.
Shannon Ripley had organized an effort to send a card of condolences to the woman's family last fall. While she no longer lives in the city, Ripley expressed sadness and relief about the announcement by police Wednesday. To lose a family member or friend so far away and for the circumstance be so mysterious or so uncertain would bring a lot of grief, Ripley said.
She hopes that if the remains are confirmed as Yoshikubo's that it will bring closure to the family and those in the city involved in the search for her.
