Case 346: Megumi Yokota

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41-year-old Sakie Yokota felt slightly nervous as the clock ticked past 7pm on Tuesday, November 15, 1977 Her daughter, Megumi, age 13, was late in returning home from the bad minton practice she attended after school. Megumi walked to and from her middle school each day, and no matter how late her bad minton practice ran, she was usually home by 6 o'clock. If there was a deviation from that plan, she made sure to let Sakier know. The previous day, the bad minton club had held a post-training meeting, which Megumi had made sure to tell her mother about in advance. She'd arrived home at 6.3 that night, half an hour later than usual. But, Megumi hadn't said anything about another meeting or anything else that might delay her return home on Tuesday. After checking whether Megumi's twin brothers, who were nine years old, knew where their big sister might be, Sakier decided to go out and look for her daughter. She put on some sandals and left the large, single story home where the Yokota family lived on the coast of the Japanese port city of Nikita. The Yokotas, Sakier, her husband Shigeru, and their three children, Megumi, Tetsuya and Takuya, had only lived there for just over a year. They were used to moving about as Shigeru's work for the Bank of Japan saw him transferred to a different city every few years. They had relocated from Hiroshima to Nikita almost 18 months earlier in July of 1976
The neighbourhood where they lived was filled with grand homes and was just a few minutes walk from the beach. It was late autumn and the sun had already set hours earlier. Sakie Yokota hurried along the dark, dimly lit streets towards Megumi's school expecting to bump into her daughter along the route. But she arrived at the school without seeing Megumi. When Sakie headed towards the gymnasium, she felt a flood of relief as she saw its lights were on and heard female voices chatting inside. Believing Megumi must still be practicing, she almost turned to walk back home. But something stopped her. Wanting to make sure, Sakie went to the gymnasium's entrance and saw a group of women inside playing volleyball. The voices she'd heard had belonged to them and not to the students.
Gripped by fear again, Sakie ran to the school's main entrance and saw a security guard standing there. Have the students who were practicing badminton in the gymnasium gone home? She asked. His answer filled her with dread. They left a long time ago. All the students left a little after six.
Sakiya ran all the way home, trying to calm herself with possible scenarios along the way. Megumi might have walked a different route home than usual, or gone to visit a friend. Once Sakiya was back at home, she set about phoning some of Megumi's friends who had been at bad mid-term practice with her. None of them were with Megumi, and all were shocked that she wasn't home yet. They'd all left practice more than an hour earlier. They'd chatted for a little bit outside the school first. Megumi had been laughing and everything had seemed normal. Then she left at about 6.25pm with two friends. The three girls walked part of the way together along a long street that led to the sea. One of Megumi's friends soon turned right at a corner. Her other friend subsequently turned left at a busy intersection. She and Megumi said goodbye at 6.35pm. Megumi would have continued straight for two more blocks before turning left to reach her house. The walk from the intersection to the Yokota residence wouldn't take more than a few minutes.
Sakei also called Megumi's badminton coach, who urged Sakei to stay calm. Megumi might have stopped off somewhere else, like a bookshop. But Sakei knew it wasn't in her daughter's character to go somewhere without letting her know. She grabbed a torch and took her two sons out to look for Megumi with her. Sakei searched the neighbouring streets, a Gokoku shrine that sat a few blocks away, and the long road that led to the sea, which Megumi had walked with her friends. Sakei shone the torch into parked cars that lined the street and looked out across the beach's shore. There was no sign of Megumi. Sakei began to panic that her daughter might be locked in the boot of one of the nearby parked cars but had no way of opening them to check. At a loss, she and the boys walked back home at around eight o'clock. Shortly after they arrived, the home phone rang. It was Shigeru Yokota, Sakei's husband and the children's father. He was calling to say he'd be home late due to a work event, but Sakei begged him to come home right away, explaining the situation. Shigeru rushed home in a taxi and immediately went out to search for Megumi. Finding no sign of her, he decided it was time to call the police.