A Japanese teenager who went missing two years ago has been found, claiming she was held captive in a man’s apartment after being abducted on her way home from school. She escaped when her kidnapper left the front door unlocked.
The 15-year-old, whose name has been withheld by most media outlets to protect her identity, was reported missing by her parents in 2014.
It was a huge news story at the time as there was no sign of her other than a suspicious note saying, “Don’t look for me”, before she contacted her parents via payphone yesterday.
They reached out to the police, who then raided the apartment of a 23-year-old man in downtown Tokyo, according to Japan Times.
Footage of police at Mr Trauchi’s apartment yesterday.
The man accused of taking her is university graduate Kabu Terauchi. He was apprehended by police yesterday after he attempted to take his own life with a box-cutter. They plan to formally charge him with kidnapping.
The girl told police she was never chained up inside the apartment and was even allowed to leave on occasion, but he always kept a close eye on her.
“Usually the door was locked from the outside, but it was not today,” she reportedly told police.
Kabu Terauchi. Image: Facebook
She has now been reunited with family.
“I’m really relieved. I want to spend time with my daughter so that we can regain time we’ve lost,” her father said.
