Overview

• Teeth and jaw fragments recovered in February 2023 in Miyagi were found by construction workers sorting materials from coastal cleanup.
• Forensic analysis determined the remains were from a child and DNA matched a relative of the girl's mother, confirming her identity.
• Natsuse Yamane, aged 6 in 2011, disappeared from her home in Yamada in Iwate Prefecture when the tsunami swept through.
• Her family expressed relief and gratitude in a statement, thanking cleanup volunteers, the workers who discovered the fragments, and investigators.
• The 2011 quake and tsunami killed about 15,900 people with roughly 2,520 still listed as missing, and this case marks the latest confirmed identification in the hardest-hit prefectures since August 2023.