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Police are searching for a 14-year-old girl from Nara City who was last seen on Dec 1.
Nara Prefectural Police on Wednesday released photos of Hiiro Baba for the first time. She was last seen leaving home for school at around 7:20 a.m. on Dec 1, Fuji TV reported. When she had not returned home by 8 p.m. that night, her father called police.
Police said there have been no solid leads so far. There is no indication Baba boarded the bus for school as she does every day. Her cell phone reception signal has been cut off, and footage from street and train station surveillance cameras in the area show no trace of her.
Following his daughter’s disappearance, Baba’s father told media: “The night before she vanished, we had a normal conversation as usual. The next morning, I heard her voice saying she was leaving for school. I’m just hoping for news that she is safe.”
Baba is 150 centimeters tall with long black hair. She was wearing a white fleece jacket, black denim, black sneakers, and carrying a black backpack.
Anyone with information is asked to call Nara Nishi Police Station at 0742-49-0110.
© Japan Today
21 Comments
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shogun36
One can only hope she is found unharmed.
Chico3
I hope they find her soon and in good health. My prayers to her.
SandyBeachHeaven
Prayers are false hopes. Get the feet on the pavement and start searching.
It is cold out. I hope she is found safe.
Ego Sum Lux Mundi
Could be a runaway - 14 is a difficult age in Japan with JHS pressures. Let's hope it's that and not anything more sinister.
Maria
So that means she didn't go to school that day?
Who saw her leave the house?
Bernard Marx
This is horrible. Almost never turns out well in Japan, given how many sickos/pervs are out wandering the streets here.
Sven Asai
Of course, no bullying at school and / or DV at her home, not the slightest indications, right? We can surely exclude that right from beforehand, as always. Come on...
Eric
They have left this very late before notifying the public.
I wonder if they are able to access phone records to find out if she was visiting any chatrooms?
John Beara
Was she playin' games online like the other girl few weeks ago? It's time to do somethin' bout that.
sual
I don't understand why there are some many negatives for shogun36's post, "One can only hope she is found unharmed."
Is it that you hope that she is not found or is that you hope she is found having been harmed?
I hope that her loved ones do not see your negatives.
Monozuki
I know so well how the father feels. I pray for the safe return of the girl.
BNiigata
Hiiro-san was not seen leaving home but, according to her father, was heard by his wife to say "I'm off" (行ってきます) as she was leaving. Their daughter did not board the bus, nor did she attend school. The belatedness of the police announcement is hard to understand. According to the Nara Prefectural Police missing persons site, Hiiro-san's disappearance was duly reported on its homepage the day the parents' report was received: 1 December. For the sake of comparison, the Niigata Prefectural Police, which received a missing persons report on 19 July for a junior high school boy who did not return home that day (and, sadly, is still missing), note on their site 2 dates: 19 July, when they were first alerted about the missing student, and 4 August, when the prefectural police updated their homepage. The same page includes the case of an elderly woman on Sado Island who went missing on 17 February of this year but whose case was not published on the page until 20 July. She, too, has not been found.
Yasuragi
When I taught in junior high the homeroom teacher always called the parents if a child was late. The father called the police at 8pm when she didn't come home. If there had been a call that morning they could have been looking for her hours earlier.
Once in my time there a student went missing. They left for school as usual and then jumped a train to a relative's house two hours away.
Hoping this girl is found safe and sound.
Strangerland
Really? I only ever see reports when it doesn't turn out well, it doesn't seem they report on the situations when the kid comes home later that afternoon or the next day or whatever, cause they were at their friend's house. I'm curious, if it almost never turns out well, what is the breakdown of times where it turned out bad, compared to times where it turned out well? And do you have links to the data you used to come up with this conclusion?
Note that I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that your comment was not rhetoric based purely on having read some stories where it didn't turn out well, which as we all know isn't a logical way to come up with the conclusion you came up with.
CaptDingleheimer
Sounds like they are using pretty antiquated camera software if a city of that size can't find even "a trace" of her...
Maria
Or she didn't go far enough outside the house to reach a camera.
sir_bentley28
One can only imagine the wave of emotions her parents are going through! I just hope she gets back home alive and well with no bad endings. I hope we are kept up to date on this story too.
Bernard Marx
....and now she has turned up dead. Horrible.
sir_bentley28
Wait......are you serious? Is this true?