A search is currently underway for a Japanese student who has been missing for over a week, but her close friend says her disappearance is completely out of character.
Thirty-year-old Natsumi Kogawa was last seen at her home in Burnaby on Sept. 7.
She has been studying English in Vancouver and friends became concerned earlier this week when they couldn’t contact her.
Global News spoke with Kogawa’s close friend Jay Vergara, who reported her missing. He says there is no reason for her to disappear like this.
“If there was ever a situation where we are not messaging every day or every other day, I would know about it,” says Vergara. “In fact, we had plans to see each other on the weekend. It’s incredibly out of character.”
“I can’t imagine a scenario in which she would just disappear without me knowing,” he says.
Vergara says they have been able to track some of Kogawa’s last steps before her disappearance, like the fact that the last message from her cell phone went out to her friend on the morning of Thursday, Sept. 8. The two were supposed to meet later that night, but the meeting never took place.
He says they are working with the maker of a messenger app that was installed on her phone to try to obtain more information about her communications.
They are also strategically handing out fliers near the downtown branch of the Vancouver Public Library, which she is known to frequent.
“The more attention we can have on this, the better,” he says.
Kogawa’s family in Japan has asked to stay away from the media spotlight. They have not been talking to the Japanese media, but Vergara and Kogawa’s other friends are updating them about the search on a continuous basis.
“It’s an incredibly stressful time for them,” says Vergara.
READ MORE: Police looking for missing Japanese student not seen in over a week
Vergara says for now, they are giving out the fliers and walking around the area close to Kogawa’s home in Burnaby to see if there are any signs of her.
He wants to emphasize that they are not doing a body search at this time.
“We are trying to do as much as we can, but we are staying completely out of the way of the RCMP, who are very diligent in their work and have been working on this around the clock. We are just trying to gather as much information as we can.”
Vergara says Japanese media is showing tremendous interest in Kogawa’s disappearance because of the volume of ESL students from Japan and other Asian countries studying in Vancouver and the assumption that Vancouver is a safe place for these students, although the Vancouver Police provided no indication of foul play involved.
On Saturday afternoon, Kogawa’s friends will be holding a rally near Holdom Skytrain Station in Burnaby to raise awareness about her disappearance.
Kogawa is 5’0” tall, 100 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. It is unknown what clothing Natsumi was wearing when she went missing.
The Burnaby RCMP now have conduct of this investigation.
“It was not unusual for her to go away for a couple of days at a time,” said Staff Sergeant Major John A. Buis with Burnaby RCMP. “But this is the longest period of time that she has not contacted anyone.”
Buis says there was nothing suspicious prior to Kogawa’s disappearance.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Burnaby RCMP Missing Person Unit at 604-294-7922 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
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