Overview

• Fragments of a lower jaw and teeth found in February 2023 during a coastal cleanup in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, were traced to a child missing from Iwate.
• The remains were identified as those of Natsuse Yamane, who was six when the tsunami swept her from her home in Yamada, about 100 kilometers to the north.
• Tohoku University assisted Miyagi prefectural police with mitochondrial DNA typing and protein examination of the teeth, leading to a formal identification on September 24.
• Police said the remains will be returned to her family, who expressed surprise and gratitude after years without answers.
• Authorities say more than 2,500 people from the 2011 disaster remain missing nationwide, and Miyagi still holds six unidentified sets of remains, with this the first confirmed identification since 2023.