Police ask for help in solving 2001 mystery

Crime Stoppers with the Oklahoma City Police Department has posted a $1,000 reward for information that will help locate a missing Japanese girl — Mayuko “Mayu” Kawase. She has been missing since Aug. 20, 2001.

The last place she was seen was the Albertsons store located at 7000 S. May Ave. on Aug. 20, 2001, the Pioneer reported Sept. 10, 2001.

That was three weeks before 9/11 occurred.

Retired Criminal Profiler Marx Howell from Austin, Texas, said the 9/11 connection is a crucial tie into Kawase’s disappearance, because it can “reframe people’s thinking” back to when she went missing.

“That would sort of reorient people’s thinking back in time,” Howell said.

Howell is a consultant to “The Power of TV,” a Japanese network television show similar to “America’s Most Wanted.”

While the Japanese television crew was in Oklahoma filming a special on Kawase from March 14 through 22, Howell worked with the district attorney’s office and the OCPD, hoping to make some progress on Kawase’s case.

He said his expertise lies in getting an idea of the psychological makeup of Kawase. “Looking at her, I think she was a very kind person. She was a very trusting individual…”

Certain risk factors also were taken into account when considering what may have happened to her, he said. Age was one.

“I’m not saying she was immature for a 20-year-old, but generally a 20-year-old is immature,” Howell said.

“Another factor that plays in the mix of her vulnerability is being from Japan and not understanding the culture [here] really well.

“The culture in the United States is significantly different in the way young boys approach young girls, their expectations and beliefs, and that is one more factor that increases her vulnerability,” he said.

There are other possibilities Howell looked at in the case, including Kawase having walked away on her own or having committed suicide.

However, he said, hefound she was looking forward to going back to Japan after completing her education and maybe marrying her fiancé back home, which doesn’t fit the profile of a depressed or suicidal individual.

The last piece of evidence was an e-mail Kawase sent from the OCCC library to her mother’s cell phone in Japan around 5 p.m. central time on Aug. 21, 2001, Howell said.

In the e-mail Kawase said a female friend was supposed to take her to an offcampus bookstore, but she never identified who the friend was.

Up to the time the television crew left on March 22, TV Asahi’s Production Coordinator Nazu Kikkawa said there had been no concrete information regarding the case. But, she said, this will be an ongoing project for “The Power of TV.”

“We’re planning on coming back to Oklahoma City to do more [filming and helping search for Kawase],” she said.

The earliest the crew might return is April. “We would like to come to a conclusion at some point,” Kikkawa said.

Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers at (405) 235-7300.

Caroline Ting, Contributing Writer