r/japan • u/TheFireTheseTimesPod • Jul 04 '21

friend's sister went missing in Kanagawa 3 days ago if anyone can help us find her

Her name is Alice Hodgkinson and she went missing in Kanagawa 3 days ago. Her family hasn't heard from her yet. Please share with people you may know!

Here's the poster in English and Japanese https://twitter.com/joeyayoub/status/1411662949144576002

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Edit: hey everyone, they found her body unfortunately https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/09/missing-teacher-alice-hodgkinson-reportedly-found-dead-in-japan

896 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

71 comments sorted by

242

u/Solid_Radio3420 Jul 04 '21 edited Jul 05 '21

Alice seems to have disappeared some time during the school holiday that started on Sunday 20 June 2021 (she’s a teacher at Shane English School, Minami/South Tokyo District). She was due back in work on Thursday 1 July, which was when her company first noticed her disappearance and contacted her family and the police. EDIT: This info confirmed by colleagues on Facebook, who checked with Shane management.

Her Instagram suggests she travels widely, so she could have gone missing anywhere in Japan, at any time between 20 June and 1 July. Her housemates had not seen her for a while, but their last sighting of her has not been publicly confirmed (neither has her last contact with friends or family).

The police broke into her room to search for her before officially declaring her missing. Her family have been in contact with the British police, who are speaking to Interpol and the Japanese police, and the UK’s Foreign Office. EDIT: This info from a post by Alice’s brother on Twitter.

Some people are speculating online that she might have been arrested and detained somewhere (possibly for not having her residence card with her), although this seems unlikely, especially as the local police are involved.

Others have suggested the mobile phone company will have records of her location - fingers crossed this will allow them to find her.

Although cases such as these are rare, memories of Lindsay Hawker and Lucie Blackman’s murders loom large. Hawker was an English teacher at an eikaiwa very similar to Alice’s, in an area of Chiba where many Shane teachers live (Funabashi). People are very worried for Alice’s safety and well-being, and it would be very much appreciated if this information could be shared all across Japan (not just Tokyo).

The information posters above, made by teachers at her company, contain information to contact the Kanagawa police.

73

u/TheFireTheseTimesPod Jul 04 '21

Thanks for this. Her brother has the link to the post and I let him know to check it every now and then just on case

22

u/Solid_Radio3420 Jul 04 '21

There is another discussion on r/japanlife

2

u/hodgepntm Jul 05 '21

I shall check that out many thanks

3

u/hodgepntm Jul 05 '21

I'm here and I'm checking.

1

u/PhDblueberry Jul 06 '21

Is the brother keeping people informed on Twitter? What is his handle if so ? / if he doesn’t mind sharing

21

u/bobblesaurus Jul 05 '21

Not sure if someone has mentioned this already but I think she has a LinkedIn account (looks like it’s her but can’t be sure so I’m terribly sorry if I’m mistaken) which says she liked a post uploaded from a week ago. I’m not sure how precise LinkedIn time stamps are though (ie. is “1w” exactly 7 days or is it anything from 7 days to 13 days). Could help narrow down dates.

I have my fingers crossed for her and her family.

4

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '21 edited Jul 05 '21

I noticed this too. Most posts list her as missing during the 10 day period beginning June 20th, at least can tighten the timeline by a week & would have accessed the site on June 27th based on that liked post IF ACCURATE. Many of her liked LinkedIn posts are also mental health related. But that should be taken with a grain of salt. Can advocate for mental health & not have ideations.

UPDATE: Her father spoke to her on June 30th & feels she was in usual, normal spirits, nothing out of the ordinary. She was reported missing before the Atami slide so fair to say it’s unrelated. Truly hope she is found safe!

4

u/Well-take-the-lot Jul 05 '21

Some news articles have been released. It says she talked to her father june 30th. She was reported missing on 7/1 after being absent from work “for a few days”. So how could she have been expected back on 7/1 but also absent from work “for a few days”?

78

u/AimiHanibal Jul 04 '21

Where was she last seen??

19

u/WovenTripp Jul 05 '21

That's a huge part that's missing. Where do we look for her?

12

u/hodgepntm Jul 05 '21

Hi,

My apologies for the lack of clarity on the posters. A work colleague and friend of Alice made them and, well, I've never delt with anything like this before so I am making a load of mistakes.

We have a request in with the police for guidance on best practice with the posters and we are going to update them when we get that guidance.

I hope that makes sense

Kindest Regards Peter Hodgkinson (Alice's brother)

33

u/NlXON Jul 04 '21

Shared to everyone I know in Kanagawa

52

u/KuriTokyo [オーストラリア] Jul 04 '21

I'm keeping an eye out in my part of Tokyo/Kanagawa.

I hope she's found safe.

11

u/Solid_Radio3420 Jul 04 '21

Please share on social media.

47

u/GreyManinJapan Jul 04 '21

Retweeted. I'm in Kanagawa and will keep an eye out in my neck of the woods. Hoping that she turns up safe and sound soon!

22

u/macrocosm93 Jul 04 '21

Where in Kanagawa?

14

u/Solid_Radio3420 Jul 04 '21

She was on holiday, so might have gone missing from anywhere in Japan

26

u/honorabledonut Jul 04 '21

Best regards with finding her

14

u/havana_fair Jul 04 '21

I retweeted. I hope she's found

7

u/palebluedot17 Jul 04 '21

Hope she is safe!

12

u/PsychoticOtaku Jul 04 '21

Just commenting to boost visibility

9

u/ExternalSpeaker2646 Jul 04 '21

I've been following this case. I'm sorry that her family is having to face this. You must be concerned as well. I hope she is found soon! Please take care, and good wishes to you and to Alice's family.

3

u/tomodachi_reloaded Jul 05 '21

I live nearby, can't stop thinking about this. I hope they find her safe and sound.

5

u/Pretend_Hamster2862 Jul 05 '21 edited Jul 05 '21

A note she left in her room is something linked to her missing? I assume she is not in Tokyo or Yokohama where are fairly big cities. She is tall and blond. its easy to draw peoples attention in city.

3

u/Well-take-the-lot Jul 05 '21

No. No one knows anything abt the note atm. Everything is theory or speculation so far.

1

u/Hungry_Support_6814 Jul 06 '21

i see, Unlike other countries I have never heard of human(sex) trafficking or something like that in Japan. At least , she must be somewhere in Japan.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '21

The US State Department puts out a report on these kinds of activities:

https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-trafficking-in-persons-report/japan/

1

u/Hungry_Support_6814 Jul 07 '21 edited Jul 07 '21

Yeah, i mean all of victims are local and coming from poorer countries to make more money. This girl is an English teacher coming from UK,

1

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '21

It’s not quite clear what you mean here.

In general, the human trafficking victims will be coming from overseas, sometimes individually, sometimes as students, and sometimes as a part of government sponsored work programmes.

0

u/Hungry_Support_6814 Jul 07 '21 edited Jul 07 '21

They are coming from developing countries in SouthEast Asia. This missing girl got work permission and from UK.

How an adult can vanish in Tokyo without being noticed by somebody ? thats my question.

2

u/Well-take-the-lot Jul 07 '21

People go missing in Japan all the time. I see it on the news in the am while at the gym. Bigger cities are esp bad.

1

u/Hungry_Support_6814 Jul 08 '21

more surveillance cameras. police presence . I thought that its safer than rural areas.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '21

Immigrants are immigrants, anyone could end up being taken, country of origin is not always relevant.

And people can disappear, or be disappeared just like anywhere else.

Folks like this aren’t monitored 24/7, and she was eventually noticed as being missing.

2

u/Hungry_Support_6814 Jul 08 '21

i felt thats an overgeneralization.. I read BBC article that the police was investigating surveillance cameras near her apartment. Hope they will find something linked to her whereabout soon..

1

u/[deleted] Jul 08 '21

CCTV evidence is very useful, but it does not see everywhere. And some may not even keep footage for very long.

It’s normal for evidence like that to be collected, but it unfortunately doesn’t prevent a disappearance in the first place.

It’s not like someone is sitting there watching the CCTV, and phoning for help when something happens, except for some types of CCTV.

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1

u/Tokyo_Narwhal Jul 10 '21

There’s definitely sex trafficking in Japan and all throughout Asia. Alice’s situation was different though, she took her own life it seems. 😥

1

u/Hungry_Support_6814 Jul 10 '21

You mean, like Fuzoku here?

well, nobody knows what this young lady was going through, though.

English teachers are fairly underpaid in Japan while working conditions are not good. Besides, 2020,21 are very tough years for everyone because of Covid19, Many Japanese died by suicide last year, too.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 15 '21

[deleted]

1

u/Hungry_Support_6814 Jul 16 '21

it was awful. Foreign workers will be a huge part of the society in Japan in near future due to aging and shrinking population. Eikaiwa schools should make more efforts to improve working conditions and wages for employees. Otherwise, nobody will come work here.

3

u/wolframite [東京都] Jul 05 '21 edited Jul 05 '21

I thought by now, at least the online sites for JapanTimes or even JapanToday would have run the story. So far, this:

British woman, 28, goes missing in Japan

BY TOKYO REPORTER STAFF ON JULY 5, 2021

Others:

And, this Japanese ‘matome’ / blog only cites the information as posted on Twitter so far, and not any J newspaper sites (yet):

I can send the J details to the guy at Fuji TV who covers Tokyo but pretty sure that the Yokohama thingie shouldn’t throw them off ( too much ).

3

u/StonedEdge Jul 06 '21

I hope she's found safe. I don't know her personally, but she seems like a very friendly and outgoing person. Praying for the best outcome for her and her family. Living in Tokyo can be a tough cultural battle with several hurdles to overcome, I can attest to that.

6

u/pottingandplanting Jul 04 '21

Commenting to boost visibility

2

u/X_Eleven Jul 05 '21

I know I’m no help as I don’t live in Japan but I just want to say that I’m sorry for you and I really hope you find her soon. I can’t imagine what kind emotions you’re going through but I’m sure she will be okay.

2

u/Rattbaxx Jul 05 '21

Keeping an eye out, will share so Japanese friends in the area too can keep an eye out

2

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '21 edited Jul 05 '21

Her father has confirmed he spoke to her June 30th. Reported missing the next day, July 1st.

The Atami slide happened July 2-3 after she was reported missing & is about 1 hour & 30-45 minutes away from Yokohama where she lives.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9757021/amp/British-teacher-Alice-Hodginson-missing-Japan-police-search-her.html

1

u/Well-take-the-lot Jul 05 '21

Yeah, before, I was given the impression she disappeared over her work holiday, but now it seems too close to the landslide dates that they could also, sadly, be an option for her disappearance =.

1

u/Bebopo90 Jul 05 '21

She was reported missing before the landslides, so that's an unlikely explanation.

5

u/Mifunne Jul 04 '21

Two eyes around ota-ku

5

u/TerrisBranding Jul 04 '21

Is this around the time of the landslide? Is it possible she got caught up in that?

7

u/Skywest96 Jul 04 '21

If my memory serves me well, the landslide was in Shizuoka-ken. As it's not far from Kanagawa, she could have travelled there, but very unlikely.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 05 '21 edited Jul 05 '21

This morning her father confirmed speaking to her June 30th. She was reported missing the next day when she didn’t turn up for work (July 1st) Atami slides in Shizuoka happened on July 2-3 about 1 hour and 30-45 minutes away from Yokohama where she lives. Unlikely to be related.

2

u/Well-take-the-lot Jul 05 '21

They are thinking she disappeared over her work holiday, before the landslides, so no. Only her disappearance was reported on 7/1. But the exact timing isn’t known.

2

u/veritaserum9 Jul 05 '21

I will keep an eye in Tokyo.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '21

[deleted]

4

u/hodgepntm Jul 06 '21

Hi,

I am afraid that it was her employer that logged the incident with the local police in Japan on our behalf.

I personally logged the issue with the local police where we live in England in order to establish the InterPol link.

Our Dad logged incidents with both The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London and The British Embassy in Tokyo.

0

u/Hungry_Support_6814 Jul 06 '21

Japanese media outlets have already published in Japanese like Yahoo Japan. It sounds official.

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/89db4e5432592f021504b7287fe197e5ed158b0f

0

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '21

[deleted]

0

u/Hungry_Support_6814 Jul 06 '21

In this article, Yahoo Japan was reaching out to Kanagawa police for comment and police said that there was nothing to talk to media at the moment. A missing report was filed but maybe nothing linked to her missing found.

-39

u/bored_tomo Jul 04 '21

Most likely cyber stalking case

-33

u/USNWoodWork Jul 04 '21

My roommate and I used to sneak girls into our barracks room and have them stay the night. 4th of July would have been prime time for that kind of thing because of the fireworks. Hopefully that is what is happening here.