12-year-old British girl who went missing in Tokyo found safe after visiting anime sites around Yokohama
Police say she also spent time at an Internet cafe. Carmelita Lakdesha Paul, a 12-year-old British secondary school student who went missing while travelling in Japan with her family, has been found safe after spending time at an Internet cafe while visiting anime-related locations around Yokohama. Carmelita had been staying with her family at a […]
Carmelita Lakdesha Paul, a 12-year-old British secondary school student, went missing while traveling in Japan with her family. She had been staying at a private rental property in Minami-Kamata, Tokyo’s Ota Ward, with her parents and older brother after arriving in Japan for sightseeing on July 21. Her mother reported her missing around 9:30 a.m. on August 13, after the family realized she had left their accommodation around 8:30 a.m.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department launched a public search the next day, and officers traced her whereabouts to Yokohama Station in neighboring Kanagawa Prefecture on the morning of her disappearance. However, they were unable to locate her beyond that point. Carmelita reportedly had only a few thousand yen (less than US$100) on her and had not taken her passport.
Surveillance footage helped trace Carmelita to Yokohama Station, but she was found alone at a police box in Yokohama on August 15, roughly 59 hours after she left her family's accommodation. She was unharmed and told officers she had begun to miss her parents and did not know the way back to their location. Police say she had visited anime "pilgrimage sites" and stayed at an Internet cafe in Yokohama during her time away.
It remains unclear how a minor was able to stay at the Internet cafe, as there are restrictions on minors' access, particularly late at night, and individual establishments may have additional age limits.
Former prosecutor Tsunehiko Maeda, who spoke with Carmelita's parents, said she had informed them the day before about her desire to visit Yokohama to see locations associated with the anime Bungo Stray Dogs, which she enjoys. Evidence suggests Carmelita traveled from Keikyu Kamata Station to Yokohama Station using a transport IC card, indicating she had planned her trip deliberately rather than getting lost.
With no criminal involvement in the disappearance, Carmelita has been safely reunited with her family.
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