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The Abduction and Torture of Fusako Sano
He kept a 9-year-old girl captive in his room for almost 10 years.
“She was not only confined physically, her soul was also in chains.”
-Hiroaki Iwai, criminal sociology expert at Tokyo’s Toyo University.
This is a story about a 9-year-old girl named Fusako Sano. Living in a small town in Japan, she was a typical elementary school student with an average life. Unfortunately, she was at the wrong place at the wrong time. A violent and disturbed man, 27-year-old Nobuyuki Sato saw her, wanted her, and took her. He brought her to his room and kept her for almost 10 years.
Why did it take so long to find her? How did the police finally track her down? What did Nobuyuki do to her while she was his hostage? What happened to both Fusako and Nobuyuki?
A mixture of mistakes, lack of resources, and police ineptitude all created the perfect storm for this terrible tragedy. Had things been different, most likely Fusako would have been found within days rather than the 9 years and 2 months it took.
