User:Findmasumi

Masumi Watanabe (June 26, 1985 - April 12, 2007) was abducted and murdered while taking a walk in Pupukea, a small community located on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii, USA. A shy young woman from Sado Island, Japan, Watanabe had hoped to build confidence and gain independence by doing a homestay with a relative in Hawaii.

Watanabe was last seen walking on Pupukea Road on April 12, 2007. Around 9:30am, witnesses saw a woman matching her description looking confused as she crawled into a Hauoli Pest Control truck, driven by Kirk Lankford. Although her body has not been found, investigators found glasses matching her prescription and blood matching her DNA in Lankford's work truck. On April 14, 2008, a little more than a year after she disappeared, a jury found Lankford guilty of second-degree murder, and he is serving a life prison term with parole.

Family Life
Masumi Watanabe was born June 26, 1985 in Sado Island, Japan, to Hideichi and Fumiko Watanabe. Watanabe was the youngest child of the family, with two older brothers. Her parents raised the family on a tiny island, worlds away the from the big cities of Tokyo and Osaka. One of Watanabe's immediate goals was to become independent. She looked forward to the day when she could rent her own apartment and have her very own washing machine. Watanabe also wanted her own car so that she could be free to go wherever she wanted.

Watanabe loved nature and animals, and expressed her feelings through her drawings. She kept a sketchbook, in which she displayed a particular fondness for dogs, from beagles and basset hounds to collies. She also drew fishes, lady bugs, and dinosaurs.

In September 2006, Watanabe visited Hawaii for the first time. The beauty of Hawaii moved her so much that she returned in February 2007 for a two-month homestay with a relative. She saved money and hoped that her stay in Hawaii would reveal further dreams and directions in her life ahead, as well as to build confidence in herself. It was her longest time away from home. Her parents were concerned for her safety in a foreign country where she could not even speak the English language, but they understood that this was what she wanted to do. Besides, they knew that Honolulu was a safe place.

Death
Watanabe enjoyed volunteering 3-5 times a week at the Sunset Elementary School's library in Pupukea and interacting with its students. After volunteering, she would walk from 1st. Alapio Road and then along Pupukea Road on her way to her homestay house, one mile up the hill. A week before Watanabe planned to return home to Sado Island, she went on her usual walks but never made it home.

On April 12, 2007, Watanabe was last seen walking on Pupukea Road about 9:30am.