Photo/Illutration Miyagi prefectural police headquarters in Sendai (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

SENDAI—Human remains discovered by a construction company in 2023 have been identified as a child who was swept away in the 2011 tsunami, Miyagi prefectural police said on Oct. 9.

The confirmation brings closure to the family of Natsuse Yamane, a 6-year-old kindergartener from Yamada, Iwate Prefecture.

Natsuse was at home with her family in Yamada on March 11, 2011, when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, spawning the tsunami that slammed into the home and carried her away.

Nearly 12 years later, a construction company volunteered for clean-up efforts along sidewalks and beaches in Minami-Sanriku and Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, which is south of Iwate Prefecture.

While sorting out collected items from the clean-up work, an employee at the company’s office in Minami-Sanriku found part of a jawbone and several teeth on Feb. 17, 2023, police said.

An analysis determined the age of the victim was between 5 and 9 years old. Mitochondrial DNA testing showed the remains were related to Natsuse’s mother.

A protein analysis of the teeth revealed the gender, leading police to conclude the remains belonged to Natsuse.

“We are grateful to those who volunteered to clean the area where the remains were found, to those who discovered them while sorting the collected items, and to the police officers who continued the investigation without giving up,” the Yamane family said in a statement. “We were surprised to be contacted after losing hope, but we are truly happy.”

Police plan to return the remains to the parents in the coming days.

This is the first case in about two years in which remains from a disaster area in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures have been identified.

The last time was in Iwate Prefecture in August 2023.

(This story was written by Kei Teshirogi and Yu Mimura.)

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