According to reports, Mayu attended classes as usual on the day she vanished. There is very little additional information about the events leading up to her disappearance. What is known is that after August 20th, Mayu never attended her classes or contacted her loved ones ever again. She was reported missing on August 27th, 2001.
Mayu's fate remained a mystery for nearly six years. Then, in April 2007, human remains were found in a wooded area near the Boy Scout Camp Kickapoo in southeast Oklahoma City. In August 2007, DNA confirmed that the human remains were that of Mayuko 'Mayu' Kawase. The case then shifted to a homicide investigation.
What happened to Mayu?
More about Mayu.
It's known that Mayu came from Japan to the United States as part of a foreign exchange program. According to Oklahoma Cold Cases, she graduated from the University of Central Oklahoma English Institute. Afterwards, Mayu opted to enroll in a two-year program at Oklahoma City Community College. She had the option of enrolling into a four-year program at UCO but chose the two-year program so she could sooner return to Japan and be with her fiancé.
When Mayu came to Oklahoma, she moved in with a host family. She became particularly close with her host mother, Jean. Jean described Mayu as "shy and gullible but very much wanted friends and could have been swayed into the wrong crowd."
Mayu also often kept in touch with her family members in Japan. Her relatives quickly grew worried when she seemingly fell out of touch following August 20th, 2001.
Mayu's disappearance.
Oklahoma Cold Cases notes that Mayu's friend Brenda saw Mayu on the day of her disappearance. The two were classmates, and they reportedly drove to class together on August 20th, 2001. It appears that none of Mayu's loved ones saw or heard from her again after that day. As previously noted, she was reported missing on August 27th, 2001.
Oklahoma Cold Cases also reports that Mayu's last bank transaction occurred on August 23rd, 2001. It was reportedly a charge for $105.29 at an Albertson's located on 7000 S. May Avenue. It's unknown if any witnesses saw Mayu herself at the store. It was also noted that, once Mayu was reported missing, police found several faxes stacked up in her machine at her home - indicating that she had been missing for a few days.
A cold case disappearance.
Mayu's disappearance soon faded into a cold case. Years passed without any sign of the young woman. In 2006, Mayu's family members in Japan traveled to Oklahoma with a film crew for a Japanese crime show to search for Mayu's body near Lake Overholser. The search was prompted after a British psychic told Mayu's family that her body was buried in that area. Unfortunately, the investigative efforts did not turn up any evidence related to Mayu's disappearance.
Remains found.
Over a year after that search, on April 14th, 2007, a human skull was found in a wooded area near the Boy Scout Camp Kickapoo in southeast Oklahoma City - located approximately four miles north of Lake Overholser. A group of boys were hiking in the area when they spotted the skull. Police were called, and while they searched the scene, they found more human remains that matched the skull.
A forensic anthropologist concluded that the remains belonged to "an Asian or Hispanic female between the ages of 18 and 25," and that the female had been deceased somewhere between 2 and 10 years. As such, speculation that that the remains belonged to Mayu quickly began to build.
It took months, but in August 2007, DNA confirmed that the human remains were, in fact, that of Mayuko 'Mayu' Kawase. The case was then shifted to a homicide investigation, though the anthropologist was unable to determine an exact cause of death.
Still unsolved.
Several years have passed since Mayu's remains were found, but the investigation into her death remains unsolved. No suspects or persons of interest have ever been publicly identified. The Oklahoma City Police Department is the investigative agency in this case.
If you have any information that could help solve the homicide of Mayuko 'Mayu' Kawase, please contact authorities at 405-297-1126.
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