THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
May 3, 2022 at 16:58 JST
Tomoko Ogura talks to reporters while holding a stuffed animal belonging to her missing daughter, Misaki, in Doshi, Yamanashi Prefecture, on April 28. (Takuya Ikeda)
KOFU--Yamanashi prefectural police said May 2 they could not collect DNA from human bones found in a mountain forest by a man searching for missing schoolgirl Misaki Ogura.
Police said they will now study mitochondrial DNA contained in the bone cells for identification purposes. Mitochondrial DNA is inherited exclusively from the mother, so lab tests should be able to determine a blood relation on the mother’s side, they said.
A man on April 25 reported to prefectural police that he discovered human bones on a dry canyon slope in Doshi, Yamanashi Prefecture. The location is 600 meters east of the campsite where Misaki, then 7, went missing in September 2019.
The girl, from Narita, Chiba Prefecture, was on camping trip with her family and friends.
Police satrted searching the area on April 26 and found a pair of children’s shoes on April 28 and 29 near where the bones were discovered. The shoes’ color and manufacturer matched the ones Misaki was wearing when she disappeared, police said.
Police have continued the search, and around 40 people were scheduled to be sent to the site on May 3 for the effort.
Forensics experts say that collecting DNA from bones is more difficult than doing so from blood or hair.
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