Masumi Hiratsuka was a woman who perished during the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, which ravaged Japan's Tohoku region. Her remains would be discovered by the Tomarihama fishing port in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, a month later.
A missing person report had been submitted by Hiratsuka's relatives, but as they were not direct blood relatives, previous DNA comparisons did not yield a match.
She was identified in April 2019 after DNA taken from a stamp on a letter she sent in 2009 matched with her remains.
Sources[]
- The Great East Japan Earthquake on Wikipedia
- Asahi Shimbun (Japanese) (archived)
- The Sankei News (Japanese)