Trying to locate someone abroad (Japan) - No contact 24H

[Royle9]

** UPDATE **

We received text communication about 3 hours ago... but very little detail.

Good news is he's clearly alive, though not answering questions and acting like nothings wrong even though he was told that police and embassy/consulate were contacted.
Bad news is he apparently claims he has "significant charges on his credit card" and "thinks he was drugged" but wont go to police? The saga continues...

I wont get into anymore details, but I want to say I appreciate everyone's help and comments.

I will echo that its VERY VERY important to let people know where you're staying when traveling abroad solo, for this very reason.
Both the consulate and police said that not having any information outside of pictures is simply not enough to help with any urgency and that travelers should let someone know where they are staying. Yep we all know this



I feel stupid typing this but I need to try and see what I can do to help, so hear me out

• Brother in law travelled to Japan (Tokyo) a week ago
• Staying in an airBNB there as his home base, has been commuting via train outside the city to different ski hills a few times and staying in hotels there.
• Has shared multiple photos, videos, phone calls of all the different things he's done, including showing maps of all the walking and routes he's gone on etc.
• He calls both my wife and mother in-law daily, usually 2-3 times to share updates/stories or just to say a quick hi.

It's now been 24H and nobody has received anything.

• His phone was going straight to voicemail for about 8 hours earlier, within the last 2 hours his phone is back to ringing but then goes to VM.
• Hasn't answered emails, texts, facebook/instagram messages etc.

1. Stupid issue #1 - He wouldn't/didn't share the address or anything of the airBNB he booked in Tokyo. Yep I just said that.
2. Stupid issue #2 - He hasn't shared hotel information with anyone other than photos of his room and saying its been "pretty cheap" etc
3. Stupid issue #3 - He has no infinitary at all, he flew there with the intent of staying a month "or so" and just doing whatever he wants (mostly snowboarding) and enjoying a new country for the first time

Mother in-law is absolutely distraught, like the worse case scenario type.. over and over again. Wants to book her own flight, but with no information... not much it would do.

Tried contacting the consulate but its closed? Have left a few messages.
Tried contacting friends, the ones we've contacted dont know either, waiting on more.

I've told them to contact local RCMP to at least get guidance/start a police file that maybe can start something with Telus?

At the risk of this sounding completely ridiculous (and trust me, we're saying it ourselves) what can/should we do at this point? There's absolutely no way my wife or mother in-law will sleep at this point.

[PaperBagger'14]

Royle I wish I could help but I have no clue, maybe Undercoverbrother knows an organization that could help.

I’m sorry you’re going through this though, really I wish you the best.

[BlackArcher101]

If it helps resolve worry, on my recent trip to Japan I had a problem with my phone sim that was such a pain to deal with. I wasn't able to use voice or data for a few days.

[FlamesAddiction]

Maybe you can contact the Canadian consulate in Tokyo and see if they have any ideas. I have no idea what they can do, but I don't think there would be any harm in reaching out.

I hope everything is OK.

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Maybe you can contact the Canadian consulate in Tokyo and see if they have any ideas. I have no idea what they can do, but I don't think there would be any harm in reaching out.

I hope everything is OK.

We've left a few messages, apparently its closed on a Monday weirdly enough.

Thanks guys.

[afc wimbledon]

Of all of the countries this could happen in Japan is about the safest there is, chances are he dropped his phone in the crapper

[dissentowner]

Hopefully it's just a phone issue. Hoping all is ok.

[Muta]

Yeah I would say - if there’s one place that should ease your worries, it’s Japan. Incredibly safe, and the right infrastructure and resources to contact home if there was a problem; it’s possible he just lost his phone. I’ve had SIM card issues there before too for what it’s worth.

[Royle9]

Yea I think we're all trying to give him the benefit of the doubt here, we're assuming some sort of phone/sim card problems.

But what's odd to me at least is that he hasn't trying contacting anyone in any other manner, which would be easy for him to do as he's got his laptop to read messages and he could use a local phone at the very least. He would/should know that people would be worried about him after 24H of no contact... its that part that has both my wife and I a bit puzzled.

[opendoor]

Yeah, definitely strange that he wouldn't try to make contact through other means if it was just a lost/broken phone. Though not knowing him, maybe there's another benign explanation (skiing somewhere where there's no real service, partied too hard or got sick and is out of commission for a day, etc.?).

You could try contacting Emergency Assistance in Canada; they might not be any help. But it could be worth a try, particularly if the consulate in Japan is closed on Monday:

https://travel.gc.ca/assistance/emergency-assistance

[opendoor]

There's also this info on the same site that might give you some ideas of what steps to take:

https://travel.gc.ca/assistance/emer...issing-persons

[WhiteTiger]

Hm, well, several things you can try. The Consulate isn't a bad idea, though I'm not sure how helpful that they would be.

What you want to look into is the Japanese Police version of their Non-Emergency line. Google tells me that it's #9110. From what it looks like from Google, you'd dial 81 (as the country code) and then either #9110 or 9110. I'm not sure. Looks like they are open 24/7 and have English speakers available to assist, though it might take a bit to set that up.

You'd want to have as much info as possible before calling. They are going to ask his full legal name and DOB at a bare minimum. They are going to want his phone number (and his phone provider, such as Telus). You mentioned that he'd shared some maps of where he was walking around. That may give them a starting point. Especially if they pair that up with a ping or two on his phone. If possible, be sure to indicate that you have photos and maps of some places that he's been, as they may ask for them to be emailed to them/the investigating officer to help out. They may ask for as current a picture as you have, as well.

You can phone AirBnB emergency support at 888 234 2500. Should probably have someone directly blood related do this, and they may not help over the phone...but they may, and they could have the address of the location he was staying at. You'll likely need to know his username for the service.

If it goes nowhere with the Japanese Police, you can try filing a Missing Persons report with the most local PD to his Canadian address. If he lives with his mother in law, for instance, she would call her local police. If he lives in Calgary, you'd call the Calgary police. They are going to want pretty much the same info as the Japanese Police.

It may not hurt to take some of the walking maps he's given, and see if you can find common local areas among them while you wait. A coffee shop or something he often frequents may indicate that his AirBnB is in that area, for example, which helps narrow down locations after ping searchs.

Those are all the useful steps I can think of off the top of my head. I hope that it's just a phone issue/he got really excited doing something and just didn't contact anyone.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Royle9

We've left a few messages, apparently its closed on a Monday weirdly enough.

Thanks guys.

Sorry, I missed that in your original post.

That's really unfortunate that they happen to be closed today.

You probably already thought of this, but maybe send an email on the off chance that someone is at least monitoring emails when the embassy is closed.

Tokyo-consul@international.gc.ca

[MacDaddy77]

What about find my phone feature? Anyone know his Apple/android ID to have his location shared?

[Royle9]

Originally Posted by MacDaddy77

What about find my phone feature? Anyone know his Apple/android ID to have his location shared?

We tried, nobody has access to see it. Apparently you have to approve it?
Trying local police now.

[CaptainCrunch]

White Tiger has a good handle on it.



Its only been 24 hours, not to sound insensitive but that's a little soon to be panicking, unless this person has a history of vanishing before, or there's a reason to be concerned. I once vanished in Germany for 5 days freaking out my family, but the girl I found was cute and she wanted to go hiking.



Under no circumstances get on a plane and fly over until you know more. you will be out of communications for a long stretch of time, and you don't know where your going.


Calling the Consulate is a strong idea, because it puts the person on their radar, and they have contacts with local police, and know the language and customs so they might be able to initiate a wellness check.



If you have his airbnb user name, you could attempt a log in and contact the host. I don't think you can get much out of AirBnb emergency services.


You need to report the missing person to your local police and foreign police. You can also report the missing person to the emergency watch and respond centre.


https://travel.gc.ca/assistance/emergency-assistance


You'll need the person's usual information, name, height weight, identifying marks, a recent photo their passport number etc.



You can also try the international redcross



But 24 H is too soon.



Stick by your phone and your computer. Japan is not like Brazil, where Kidnapping tourists is a pokeman type game for gangs.

[Manhattanboy]

What about retaining a Japanese law firm with relationships with local law enforcement and private investigators. Law firms have great networks and contacts.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Jesus Christ, always let some close family or friends know exactly where you are going if you are travelling alone.

Hope it all works out.

[fotze2]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

Jesus Christ, always let some close family or friends know exactly where you are going if you are travelling alone.

Hope it all works out.

Jesus Christ let someone have a vacation. Sounds like he’s taking a much needed break from …….. his family. His phone got buggered most likely.

[bluejays]

I may not be too helpful but ten years ago I had a stopover for 24 hours in Japan so decided to go to Shinjuku (sp?) for the night. I said I'd stay up and just roam around to experience Japan. I had USD and no place would accept USD for me to eat. Further, for hours, couldn't find a chain that would accept credit cards for food (McDonalds, KFC, nobody would take the USD or credit card). My cards were declined at about a dozen local banks for withdrawing money, including 7-11 where "all the foreigners go to use the ABM". Eventually I found a Chase bank where my card worked at the ABM.


Then I went to a Starbucks to find wifi, but I was told by a journalist you had to register yourself somehow federally to get wifi (not like the Starbucks here). So I went without it, ate at a Hooters, and slept on the street until the subways opened again to get back to the airport.


Anyway, point being for a developed and advanced country, ten years ago they were pretty behind or locked down with what you could do. Your brother in law may be in a similar situation. Or he could be in a remote place given his ski trip. Give him a little bit of time as I'm sure he'd like to inform his family given he's very close with them too. One thing to know if he's sent you pics and stuff is there is metadata attached to where it was taken, when, etc. So you may be able to get some info from those pictures alone (even try Google images). Just an idea. I'm sure he's alright though.