Body Found Off Japan Coast Identified As Missing Girl; 14-Year-Old Was Swept Away Amid Heavy Rain in Wajima

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:40 JST, October 3, 2024

FUKUI – A female body found in the Sea of Japan has been identified as Hanon Kiso, a 14-year-old junior high school student from Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, the Fukui Coast Guard Station said Thursday.

Kiso’s body was found about 40 kilometers off the coast of Sakai, Fukui Prefecture, and was identified through DNA analysis. Her whereabouts had been unknown since Sept. 21, when her home was swept away by a mudflow amid record-breaking rain.

The death toll from the heavy rain now stands at 14 people.

Kiso’s grandmother Etsuko, 64, had received a phone call from her shortly before the disaster. “It’s sad, but now we can send Hanon to heaven,” Etsuko said tearfully after the coast guard’s announcement. “I want to tell her to be happy there.”

Grandmother Haunted by Panicked Call Waits for Missing 14-year-old Girl, After Heavy Rain in Noto Peninsula