6-Year-Old’s Remains Were Just Identified After She Was Swept Away in Historic Tsunami
NEED TO KNOW
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Human remains found in Japan in 2023 have now been identified as a young girl missing since the country’s 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011
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DNA testing identified the remains as belonging to 6-year-old Natsuse Yamane, who was swept away from her family home
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The remains were found in Miyagi, over 60 miles from the girl’s home
Authorities have identified human remains found in Japan as belonging to a 6-year-old girl missing since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The remains, which were found in 2023, have now been identified as Natsuse Yamane, a 6-year-old kindergartener from Yamada, Iwate Prefecture, according to The Japan Times, Asahi Shimbun and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Natsuse was at home with her family when the huge earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck and swept her away, according to the reports.
Several teeth and part of the girl’s jaw were discovered in February 2023 after a construction company volunteered to clean the sidewalks and beaches in the coastal town of Miyagi, and an employee located the remains, Asahi Shimbun and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
The remains were found over 60 miles away from Natsuse’s home.
TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP via Getty
Fishing boats lie among debris in Yamada in Japan following the earthquake and subsequent tsunami
They were identified using mitochondrial DNA analysis and an analysis of proteins on the teeth, according to Asahi Shimbun and The Japan Times. The DNA testing showed the remains were related to Natsuse’s mother.
In a statement to Asahi Shimbun, her family said, “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.”
“We were surprised to be contacted after losing hope, but we are truly happy,” they added.
According to the outlet, police plan to return Natsuse’s remains to her family over the coming days.
Satoshi Takahashi/LightRocket via Getty
Yamada Town in Iwate Prefecture, Japan
The March 2011 natural disaster killed 15,900 people, according to Japan’s National Police Agency, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. Over 2,500 people were still listed as missing at the end of February this year.
The 8.9-magnitude earthquake that triggered the deadly tsunami is one of the most powerful earthquakes on record, according to The Guardian. The disaster also triggered reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant in Fukushima Prefecture, making the areas affected by the tsunami too dangerous to search in the days after, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The last time human remains were identified in the three areas hardest hit by the disaster was August 2023 in Iwate Prefecture, Asahi Shimbun reported.
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PEOPLE has contacted the Miyagi Prefectural Police for comment.
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