The Unsolved Mystery of 5-year-old Yuki Onishi

She disappeared at a gardening event and has never been found.

S.A. Ozbourne
9 min readApr 7, 2021
Yuki at 5 and what she may look like now (Source: Yuki’s missing persons page)

There is nothing more terrible than a missing child. The panic that sets in when you scan the area and can’t see them anywhere. Usually, they are just hiding around the corner and you are quickly reunited. Sometimes, you wander around the mall or the supermarket screaming your child’s name and they suddenly appear in tears. But sometimes, it’s not that easy.

Sometimes, no matter how much you are watching your child and how much they know not to wander too far or talk to strangers, something happens that shatters your life. This story is about a 5-year-old girl Yuki, who along with her mother and sister went to a local community gardening event. In one moment, they were digging up bamboo roots and enjoying the wonderful nature of Japan, the next Yuki was gone.

There were no traces of her and no one had seen if she had wandered off or was taken. Searches and patrols were sent but she was never found and even 16 years later, she has still not been found. The police are no closer than they were in 2005 when she first went missing. What happened on that day? Who was the last to see her? What are some of the theories of where he is? This is the unsolved case of 5-year-old Yuki Onishi.

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S.A. Ozbourne

Canadian in Japan. Teacher, Crime writer, video editor, and pet lover. Follow my journey via my monthly newsletter: https://bit.ly/team-ozsome-subscribe