GOKARNA: A 43-year-old Japanese woman tourist has gone missing from Gokarna in Uttara Kannada district, the police said on Wednesday. The woman, identified as Emi Yamazaki, hails from Nagano in Japan and was visiting Gokarna with her husband Dai Yamazaki (40).
According to the police, the duo was staying in a cottage at Banglegudda near Gokarna.
At 10.15 am on February 5, she left the cottage telling her husband she would return shortly. After she failed to return even after 24 hours, Dai Yamazaki tried to contact her. After she did not respond, he approached the Gokarna police on February 6. The police swung into action to trace her, but in vain. The news reached the Japanese embassy, which is in constant touch with the Karnataka police.
Meanwhile, the police reviewed the CCTV camera footage and found that Emi had left the cottage alone. The police questioned Emi’s husband who said that she was a bit upset and was probably in depression.
The police said a detailed investigation is on and senior officers are monitoring the probe. Meanwhile, sources said that Emi had not carried her mobile phone. She, however, e-mailed her husband saying that she was safe and told him not to search for her, added the sources. When TNIE contacted the police, they confirmed that Emi does not have a phone with her, but has contacted her husband. “She is in touch with him. They are chatting in Japanese. This seems to be a personal problem. We can confirm that she is safe and is in touch with her husband. We will track her whereabouts. She might be in Kerala,” a senior police officer in Gokarna told TNIE.