Presumed Deceased JPN - Patricia Wu-Murad, missing while hiking on the Kumano Kodo Trail; Apr 2023

[Springer]

So sad.... I'm in the trail accident category. The photo from April 8 has me VERY bothered. Personally, I would be all kinds of concerned if I came across a foreigner on a remote, strenuous, trail with expensive new pack and boots that doesn't seem to have figured this stuff out yet.

Maybe not the reason for an accident, but definitely could be the reason for snowballing.

I keep wanting to straighten her out, so I guess I interpret that to mean she didn't know what to expect from equipment. I hate to say it, but that's an experience thing.

I know, I know, I start getting annoyed when I see stuff like this and know just a little input from someone skilled could have made her look a lot more comfortable. But maybe I'm just wishing this hike hadn't turned out the way it seems....

 

[One Fat Marmot]

The family is trying to track down the 3 trailrunners who were said to be on the trail at the same time.

Family of missing Storrs woman trying to track down trail runners

STORRS, Conn. (WTNH) — The family of a Storrs woman who went missing in Japan is hoping to find runners who were on the trail she was planning to hike. Patricia Wu-Murad was last seen on Apri…

www.wtnh.com

 

[Springer]

The family is trying to track down the 3 trailrunners who were said to be on the trail at the same time.

Family of missing Storrs woman trying to track down trail runners

STORRS, Conn. (WTNH) — The family of a Storrs woman who went missing in Japan is hoping to find runners who were on the trail she was planning to hike. Patricia Wu-Murad was last seen on Apri…

www.wtnh.com

This is so painful.

The day PWM went missing, the whole total of others on the trail was: one Australian male hiker, and 3 trailrunners.

 

[Rainforest]

This is so painful.

The day PWM went missing, the whole total of others on the trail was: one Australian male hiker, and 3 trailrunners.

Yep.

Very un-trafficked trail. The odds of meeting someone are about zip.

 

[One Fat Marmot]

This is so painful.

The day PWM went missing, the whole total of others on the trail was: one Australian male hiker, and 3 trailrunners.

Didn’t Japan’s LE already interview the trail runners? Way back at the beginning, yeah?

 

[Rainforest]

Didn’t Japan’s LE already interview the trail runners? Way back at the beginning, yeah?

Yes. IIRC in the first 3 days.

 

[Are We There Yet]

I keep wanting to straighten her out, so I guess I interpret that to mean she didn't know what to expect from equipment. I hate to say it, but that's an experience thing.

I know, I know, I start getting annoyed when I see stuff like this and know just a little input from someone skilled could have made her look a lot more comfortable. But maybe I'm just wishing this hike hadn't turned out the way it seems....

Me, too, on the straightening out and the inexperience. I feel wimpy and intimidated just looking at that photo; I guess I've felt that way before myself. But IME, if you feel that way, you gotta bail, though maybe I should say "I" instead of "you". To each their own, I guess.

 

[Breaking Trail]

Me, too, on the straightening out and the inexperience. I feel wimpy and intimidated just looking at that photo; I guess I've felt that way before myself. But IME, if you feel that way, you gotta bail, though maybe I should say "I" instead of "you". To each their own, I guess.

There's not a lot of weight in that pack, though (and you'd need hardly anything for this trip, since all bedding and indoor clothes are provided by the minshoku). It's just all kinds of not working for her: the whole getup looks like not fun.

It doesn't mean the getup per se has anything to do with disappearance. To me, it says lack of input by people who know what they're doing; that's a major red flag.

 

[I Am A Rock]

I feel like maybe we've gone out on a limb based on that photo, and because there's not much else to say. But IMO there's also no reason to believe that anything happened other than a hiking mishap.

 

[Hates Ramen]

It doesn't mean the getup per se has anything to do with disappearance. To me, it says lack of input by people who know what they're doing; that's a major red flag.

Clipped

"Red flag" for what?

 

[Twiglets]

Clipped

"Red flag" for what?

To me, the photo reads not so much "red flag", as "I'm not comfortable out here ...".

I can think of a lot of things that would make a person uncomfortable out there, but we have no way to know which of the many apply to this photo.

 

[One Fat Marmot]

To me, the photo reads not so much "red flag", as "I'm not comfortable out here ...".

I can think of a lot of things that would make a person uncomfortable out there, but we have no way to know which of the many apply to this photo.

Experience/inexperience could be an aspect of that. Sometimes you can realize while you’re out there thatmyou’re way over your head.

 

[Cliffed Out]

Me, too, on the straightening out and the inexperience. I feel wimpy and intimidated just looking at that photo; I guess I've felt that way before myself. But IME, if you feel that way, you gotta bail, though maybe I should say "I" instead of "you". To each their own, I guess.

There’s a photo of PWM in Europe. France, by the look of the poplars. She looks so much more relaxed and together. Night and day.

I don’t know if I got this link right.

Murphy Murad on Instagram: "It’s been 1 month since my mom, Pattie, went missing in Japan. New update posted on Gofundme, link in bio #helpfindpattie #missingperson #japan #kumanokodo"

366 likes, 12 comments - murphymurad on May 10, 2023: "It’s been 1 month since my mom, Pattie, went missing in Japan. New update posted on Gofundme,..."

www.instagram.com

 

[Twiglets]

There’s a photo of PWM in Europe. France, by the look of the poplars. She looks so much more relaxed and together. Night and day.

I don’t know if I got this link right.

Murphy Murad on Instagram: "It’s been 1 month since my mom, Pattie, went missing in Japan. New update posted on Gofundme, link in bio #helpfindpattie #missingperson #japan #kumanokodo"

366 likes, 12 comments - murphymurad on May 10, 2023: "It’s been 1 month since my mom, Pattie, went missing in Japan. New update posted on Gofundme,..."

www.instagram.com

The pack even fits, and she’s more “with it”. I wonder what happened in Japan?

 

[Are We There Yet]

There’s a photo of PWM in Europe. France, by the look of the poplars. She looks so much more relaxed and together. Night and day.

I don’t know if I got this link right.

Murphy Murad on Instagram: "It’s been 1 month since my mom, Pattie, went missing in Japan. New update posted on Gofundme, link in bio #helpfindpattie #missingperson #japan #kumanokodo"

366 likes, 12 comments - murphymurad on May 10, 2023: "It’s been 1 month since my mom, Pattie, went missing in Japan. New update posted on Gofundme,..."

www.instagram.com

Looking at the mini-video on there (which must have been taken in Japan?), PWM looks like she’s hobbling along a road. I would imagine either a bad knee or blisters.

 

[Are We There Yet]

Sadly, the family has ended their searching.

One source, but there are many others with the same language:

Search for missing Storrs hiker in Japan ends

The search for a woman from Storrs who went missing after going hiking in Japan has ended after nearly two months. Pattie Wu-Murad went missing on April 10 while hiking in the Nara Prefecture in central Japan. She was last seen checking out of the Mandokoro guest house around 7 a.m. After she...

www.nbcconnecticut.com

 

[Twiglets]

This seems to wrap it up.

Family of missing Connecticut woman suspends search in Japan after almost two months

The family of Pattie Wu-Murad of Storrs, Connecticut, who has been missing since April 10 after setting out for a hike in Japan, has stopped actively searching for her but her husband Kirk Murad said they are still not giving up. “We’re going to keep working with the police, keep…

japantoday.com

 

[Rainforest]

I feel very sad for PWM's family, but, now that the search has wound up, I'm finding myself with unfamiliar reactions. It seemed like, in this case, we were told almost nothing about PWM. Maybe since the biggest effort was made on acquiring search dollars, details about PWM were very limited and tended to be repeated over and over, like an advertising campaign. I wanted more texture to the information, things like whether PWM hiked in the woods at home by herself, did she climb forested mountains, what was it about outdoors that she liked, had she had a history of injury, what were her previous routes in Japan, etc....

With more info, I think I would have felt more drawn to the case, and more invested in search updates. I wasn't getting the warm and fuzzies, especially as the search progressed. I feel apologetic about it, but that's how I feel.

 

[One Fat Marmot]

I feel very sad for PWM's family, but, now that the search has wound up, I'm finding myself with unfamiliar reactions. It seemed like, in this case, we were told almost nothing about PWM. Maybe since the biggest effort was made on acquiring search dollars, details about PWM were very limited and tended to be repeated over and over, like an advertising campaign. I wanted more texture to the information, things like whether PWM hiked in the woods at home by herself, did she climb forested mountains, what was it about outdoors that she liked, had she had a history of injury, what were her previous routes in Japan, etc....

With more info, I think I would have felt more drawn to the case, and more invested in search updates. I wasn't getting the warm and fuzzies, especially as the search progressed. I feel apologetic about it, but that's how I feel.

Not to be grumbling, but there were some things that left me wondering. This seems to be a tight-knit family, but PWM wasn't communicating with them very often, even though she evidently could have with her phone setup.

 

[Cliffed Out]

Not to be grumbling, but there were some things that left me wondering. This seems to be a tight-knit family, but PWM wasn't communicating with them very often, even though she evidently could have with her phone setup.

That got me, too. It didn't sound like anyone knew her itinerary, either.

So, yeah, I feel badly for the family, but sometimes lack of textured detail diluted my sympathy. However, I'm just a casual bystander, and who am I to find fault with that?