Where was Kandace Schipper last seen? Details explored as Chicago woman goes missing in Japan

Kandace Schipper, a 29-year-old Chicago woman traveling in Japan, has reportedly been missing since June 4, 2023. Kandace Schipper, who was traveling alongside a 27-year-old man named Luis Torres, landed at the airport in Tokyo on May 8, 2023.

Adam Willea, Schipper’s brother-in-law, told WGN9 that the missing woman, who has been quite active on social media since she landed in Tokyo, was last seen on a post on June 4, 2023. Willea said that Kandace Schipper was last heard from in Shibuya, Japan after a credit card transaction alerted family shortly after she stopped posting on social media. He said:

“Every single day she had been communicating with family and friends. I mean text, phone calls, pictures, updates, Instagram posts. And then it all abruptly ended on June 4th.”

Concerned family members reportedly filed a missing persons report with the Chicago Police Department earlier this month.

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Family seek answers as missing Chicago woman Kandace Schipper disappears in Japan

Kandace Schipper’s family are desperately seeking answers in the search for the missing Chicago woman in Japan who hasn’t been seen since June 4, 2023. Family members who filed a missing person’s report with the Chicago Police Department told WGN9 that officials have contacted the U.S. Embassy and authorities in Japan to help them locate Schipper. However, search efforts have reportedly been hindered after they hit a roadblock with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.

Willea said that the due to a minor technicality Tokyo Metropolitan Police refused to file a report and start investigating the case until Kandace Schipper misses her flight from Japan to the united states.

“I guess it’s [an] issue because technically her flight home isn’t scheduled yet. So, until she misses her flight home, they won’t even start a report.”

Willea revealed that Schipper’s family feel crippled by their inability to find the missing Chicago woman who disappeared in Japan. They expressed that since they are in the States, there is no way for them to glean any information regarding her whereabouts as Tokyo authorities refuse to officially file a case and start investigating the disappearance. He added:

“We’re here stateside. There’s literally nothing we can do. So, this helpless feeling of not knowing if she is in a hospital, is she being held somewhere against her will? Is she hurt? There’s nothing we can even do because it’s in Tokyo, Japan. We need feet on the ground over there.”

The incident comes amid the disappearance of Patricia Wu-Murad, a 61-year-old Connecticut mother of three who vanished while on a hiking pilgrimage in the mountainous region of Japan on April 10.

As previously reported, Patricia Wu-Murad, 61, an avid hiker who retired last year from her job at United Technologies, reportedly embarked on an ambitious hiking pilgrimage in March. Wu-Murad was in the middle of a 700-mile trek along the Kumano Kodo trail through the mountainous Kii Peninsula when a hostel reported her missing on April 10 after she failed to show up for her stay at the end of the trail. She is yet to be found by authorities.