‘There Are No Clues’: Family Suspends Search for American Woman Who Vanished in Japan

A two-month search for Pattie Wu-Murad, the Connecticut woman who vanished in the Japanese wilderness while hiking on April 10, has been suspended by the family — but her husband says they will continue working with law enforcement "to keep the case open."

"It's very frustrating and sad," Kirk Murad told The Messenger from Singapore, where he's been coordinating the search for his missing wife, 60. "There are no clues.

"Is she lost? Did she fall? Is she a victim of a crime?" Murad said. "All three are still being considered. My gut says she trusted the wrong person, but I have no evidence."

Murad remains in contact with the FBI, which is helping the family with the difficult task of obtaining telecommunications records that could provide a clue about where the cell phone last pinged. 

"We haven’t closed the book on that," he said. "We feel that’s an important piece to helping us pinpoint her geographic location."

For eight weeks, police, professional searchers and desperate family members have scoured the remote area of Japan near an 11.2-mile path of the Kumano Kodo — a network of trails that wind through mountain forests in southern Kansai — that Pattie, an experienced traveler and hiker, planned to trek on April 10.

"She seemed to be full of energy," innkeeper Shigeaki Tsuji, 59, previously told The Messenger of Pattie's demeanor that morning.

After an early breakfast at Tsuji's two-room inn, he directed her to the trailhead.

There's been no trace of her since.

Her loved ones, rescue workers and locals in the area are all baffled by the fact that they've found no sign of her whereabouts. 

Search and rescue pros have rappelled into crevices, explored bodies of water and deployed helicopters and drones in their effort to find the missing mom of three adult children.

Japanese police also have no clues. 

Local authorities at the Gojo Police Station previously told The Messenger that they are operating under the assumption that the case could be either "an accident or an incident."

Murphy Murad, Kirk and Pattie’s daughter who lives in Singapore, flew to Japan on May 24 to meet a a team of seven volunteer SAR experts from the U.S., who had previously been part of the search.

When the team arrived, they rejoined a Japan-based SAR group, Mountain Works, which has been searching continuously for Pattie since April. 

“Unfortunately, they again came up empty,” Kirk told The Messenger. 

After five days, the U.S. group returned home before typhoon season.

Search efforts ended as of May 30 “due to the underwhelming amount of evidence found,” Murphy wrote Sunday on the family’s GoFundMe page, created to pay for search-related expenses.

As of Monday morning, it had raised $201,035.

“We will no longer accept new donations on our gofundme after June 10, marking the two month anniversary of Pattie’s disappearance,” Murphy wrote. 

If any new leads come up, members of Mountain Works have agreed to continue searching as volunteers, according to Murphy’s post. 

Meanwhile, Kirk tells The Messenger he plans on returning home to Storrs, Conn., later this month "to figure out next steps."

Pattie, who was passionate about international travel and being outdoors, had previously completed months-long hikes in France, Spain, Jordan and Egypt since retiring in 2020 from a long career at United Technologies.

She had arrived in Japan in early March for another adventure.

Kirk tells The Messenger he and the family have “so many great people to thank" for their help and support since Pattie's disappearance.

Murphy, in her post, also thanks her mother.

“All of these people came together because of the profound influence you have had on our family and the impact you have had on so many different people around the world,” she wrote.

"In a time of chaos, thank you for reigniting everyone’s faith in humanity. Thank you for instilling in us the strength and resilience to keep moving forward each and every day without you by our side…We love you Mama.” 

As Kirk told The Messenger: "That really sums up the impact Pattie has on all of us."

— With reporting by Mayako Shibata in Japan.