Police in Sapporo are appealing for help in finding a 9-year-old girl who has been missing since Jan 27.
Police on Thursday released a photo of Rina Hataya, a 3rd year student at Higashi-Sapporo Elementary School in Shiroishi Ward.
Fuji TV reported that the girl left home at around 3 p.m. on Jan 27 after telling her mother that she was going to buy a notebook for school. She has not been seen since.
Police said they questioned the girl's friends, the family's neighbors, but after turning up no clues, they decided to release the girl's photo to the media in case she has fallen victim to a crime.
Hataya is about 1.3 meters tall, of slim build, with hair a bit longer than her shoulders and wears purple-framed glasses. When she left home, she was wearing a black down jacket and beige pants.
Anyone with information is urged to call Sapporo Shiraishi police at 011-814-0110.
© Japan Today
23 Comments
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slumdog
I really hope she is found ok.
Sugar Bowl
There is no telling how many kids go missing if your source is the news. They don't tell you all the stories. They pick and choose.
CrazyJoe
I have a heartache every time I hear of news reports of young children involved in an accident or an incident. I sincerely hope that the girl returns to her parents safely.
DudeDeuce
Exactly, I wonder if the income bracket of the family whose daughter is missing plays a role too in what is reported.
ConnorH93
Me too. Reports of girls going missing have become more prevalent of late. As she's been missing for so long, I can't help thinking something bad happened as much as I hope it hasn't.
Mirai Hayashi
Wow...not a another one...hope they find her like they found the other two
papigiulio
I was just thinking about this one, has anyone ever considered putting a gps tracker in their kids shoes or backpack or whatever, this is happening more and more often. Hope to go she will turn up alive like the last 2 girls
Sugar Bowl
We are just a small number of gaijin and our concern may not amount to much, but I do wish a picture of reasonable size and clarity were posted for us to see. What I see here would not aid me in identifying her if I saw her.
Magnus Roe
Those things already exist and are fairly common. Every cellphone operator sells them and some schools require them.
Mirai Hayashi
@slenderman
I can't tell if your comments are sarcastic or said with sincerity.
According to the Japanese news sites, this girl did go to the store to buy a notebook. There were witnesses who spotted her at the store and one the way home. At some point, on the way home from the store she went missing, so I seriously doubt this is a runaway case.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsAeINc-HZM
hatsoff
Good idea. You can get them in kids' phones but you can't bring the phones to school.
Elbuda Mexicano
On the Japanese news, they said that there are also reports that this little girl was also seen talking to a stranger, to a man around 30 years old who was driving around and that she followed him but now they do not know what happened after. Why, oh why would such a young girl go off with some total stranger?? I do hope nothing bad happens to her and that she gets back to her family safe and sound.
Fadamor
Japan needs their own AMBER Alert System. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_abduction_alert_system
Of course, such a system only kicks-in once police confirm an abduction has happened (i.e. someone sees the child get abducted).
Amanda Harlow
So sad. I was driving in this area at exactly that time Monday, going over and over it in my mind to think if I saw anything unusual. She was last seen only 100 m from her home....100 m!
Sparky Santos
As a parent - this story chills me.
I hope she gets home safe.
zabutonsenbei
I think there is even a company in Mexico that injects gps trackers in children and pets due to the many kidnappings. (Usually rich families…) I hope she is found safe, there are a lot of evil people out there.
nath
For every day that she is missing, there is a significant less chance that she will be found alive. I just hope this time that is not the case. 9 year old child! Gotta be scary! Come home soon, come home safe!
Mirai Hayashi
@Sugar Bowl
There a plenty of larger more clearer pictures on the other news sites....don:t why JT chose the smallest one out there
Vincehwr
@papigiulio You'd wonder they are good at inventing a lot of crazy stuff but I can't believe no one patented it yet when this kind of stories are too prevalent in Japan.
Mar044
sad, hope she is found, I will say a prayer for her return, sad because its in a area that her just wondering off would be dangerous weather wise, either she ran away to a friend which at this point someone would have called someone buy now, or she has been taken by someone, and the last option she might be gone forever and they will find her one day.
Lowly
If she was abducted, 4 days sounds like well over the danger point to me (like, of able to get her back alive, or get the kidnapper before he is settled and able to keep her confined for years). If a runaway, there's always the hope she will come out of hiding...
Bob Sneider
Parents who led their small children wander free are delusional if they think japan is as safe as it was a decade ago
nath
This is obviously just a fad trending with young rebel-without-a-cause girls. Parents should ignore the cries for attention and not notify the police. Then the girls will come home all defeated and pouty-like.