Remains are those of missing teacher

A DNA test of the remains of a young woman confirmed that they belonged to Wei Qiujie, a Chinese teacher missing in Japan’s northernmost region of Hokkaido since July 23, according to the Chinese consulate-general in Sapporo, Japan, on Wednesday.

A local fisherman found the remains on a beach in Kushiro on the northern island of Hokkaido on Sunday morning. An autopsy revealed she died of drowning, local police said.

“When I saw the body, I immediately thought it was the (missing Chinese) woman whose image has repeatedly been shown on TV,” the fisherman, who called police immediately, told local media.

The beach is not a place where tourists visit, let alone foreigners, but local fishermen collect kelp washed ashore there.

Wei, 27, a primary school teacher, arrived alone at Hakodate from Fujian province on July 18.

She checked in at a guesthouse in Sapporo on July 20 and paid in full for her fiveday stay. Changing her schedule, she left Sapporo for Lake Akan near Kushiro on July 22 and departed the picturesque hot spring resort the next day — the last time she was seen. Wei was scheduled to return to China on July 25.

Wei left behind a handwritten note with her belongings at the Sapporo guesthouse where she had stayed, saying thank-you and bidding farewell to her family.

On Monday, Japanese TV network ANN revealed the whole letter, in which Wei said she did not want to exert herself anymore and she loved her family and friends.

Wei’s father, Wei Huasheng, came to Sapporo on July 28 to find his daughter. He told Hokkaido police that there was nothing unusual about her before she left China, according to Japanese media. He left behind his DNA sample before returning to Fujian. Hokkaido police had launched a massive search for Wei throughout the prefecture, asking local residents for help.

The Chinese consulategeneral in Sapporo has been assisting the family and local police.