'Abductee' may have drowned in Japan | 日本のニュースを英語で読むならジャパンタイムズウィークリー


	UPDATE: Saturday, June 12, 2010 The Japan Times Weekly 2004年3月13日号（バックナンバー）

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'Abductee' may have drowned in Japan

Miho Yamamoto

A Japanese woman, whose disappearance two decades ago was believed by some to be linked to North Korea's abductions, may have died in Japan from drowning, the Yamanashi Prefectural Police said March 5, ruling out the possibility that she may be alive in the North.

The police said they have determined that the DNA of the twin sister of Miho Yamamoto, who went missing from Kofu, Yamanashi Prefecture, in 1984 aged 20, matched that of an unidentified body found in Yamagata Prefecture shortly after her disappearance. They had identified the body as that of Yamamoto.

According to investigations, the DNA of the partially decomposed body found at Yuza, Yamagata Prefecture, on June 21, 1984, matched that of Yamamoto's 40-year-old twin sister, Misa Morimoto.

Yamamoto went missing June 4, 1984, after she left her home in Kofu, saying she was going to the library. Four days later, her handbag was found on a beach at Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, about 200 km from Yuza. The police suspect the body may have drifted to Yuza.

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