Connecticut woman’s remains found in Japan 2 years after she went missing
Pattie Wu-Murad, 60, of Storrs, went missing more than two years ago when hiking in Japan. Now, her family finally has some closure.
Earlier this month, the family learned that a femur bone found in April by a member of a U.S. search team working on retracing Wu-Murad’s steps did indeed belong to their missing wife, mother, sister, daughter and aunt.
“Although we had tried to prepare ourselves for this outcome, the finality of this news is heartbreaking,” family members wrote in a social media post. “It offers a measure of closure, but many questions remain unanswered, including the exact circumstances and cause of Pattie’s death. We now begin the process of working through international protocols to bring her remains home.”
Wu-Murad, a mother of three who retired from United Technologies during the pandemic, was an avid hiker and loved the outdoors. Her hiking pilgrimage through the mountains of Japan on the Kumano Kodo Trail was her third such solo trip, and something she had always wanted to do, family said.
She was last seen leaving a guest house along the trail of Japan’s Kii peninsula around 7 a.m. on April 10, 2023. When she didn’t arrive at the next hostel that evening, staff contacted police. Authorities searched the area for about 72 hours, then they notified the U.S. Embassy, which notified Wu-Murad’s husband, Kirk Murad.
The scramble then began for the family to raise money to go to Japan to aid the investigation. Murphy Murad, Wu-Murad’s daughter, set up a GoFundMe that raised more than $200,000. That money not only helped pay for the 21-hour flight to Japan, but also funded helicopter searches — which can run about $1,600 an hour — and guides to take Kirk Murad through remote areas and trails in hopes of finding his missing wife.
“Despite an extensive international search effort that involved 24 American search and rescue (SAR) professionals, local Japanese SAR experts, law enforcement, U.S. Embassy officials in both Japan and Washington, D.C., the FBI, and Senator Richard Blumenthal, no trace of Pattie was found in the months following her disappearance,” Kirk Murad wrote in his recent Facebook post.
Many people offered constant support, local knowledge, commitment and kindness – anything from meals, transportation, snacks, drones and heartfelt companionship, family members said.
But it wasn’t until a year and a half after Wu-Murad disappeared that there was a break in the case, in September 2024.
A local fisherman found what was later confirmed to be Wu-Murad’s backpack, and in the same area, police then found one of her shoes, a towel and a pouch containing nail clippers and other personal items. The items were near a different trail than she had originally thought to have been hiking, and officials launched a search along the nearby river — both upstream and downstream.
“Japanese police conducted a search of that region for several days, but again, no further evidence was found,” Murad wrote in his post.
Finally, on April 27 of this year, a member of the original U.S. search team was able to retrace the area where the backpack had been found, and during this hike he found more of Wu-Murad’s personal belongings, along with a bone he believed to be a femur. Japanese officials confirmed the bone was human, and on May 9, DNA testing confirmed the remains were a match to Wu-Murad.
“We would like to express our profound gratitude to all those who supported us during this long and painful journey,” family members wrote in their social media post. “Pattie was an incredible woman whose love and friendship touched many lives. While we are devastated, we are also humbled by the global community that rallied to help find her. We will continue to honor her memory with love and gratitude in our hearts.”
Kirk and Patricia were married for 33 years. They met through work and often traveled together. In an interview with CT Insider last year, Kirk Murad said when his wife went missing, “part of me is missing” and that he would never give up until he found her.
It is still unclear if Wu-Murad took the wrong trail, got lost or fell and injured herself, or someone hurt her intentionally.
While the family may never get all the answers it seeks, they know she will never come back home again.