Global Courant
A Chicago woman who was missing for nearly two weeks while traveling abroad in Japan has been found safe, her family said.
“We are relieved to have found the location of our beloved daughter, sister and cousin Kandace Schipper,” the missing woman’s sister, Nicole Willea, wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday night.
“We are grateful for every email, call and message and are now focused on getting her home safely,” Willea said.
Schipper, 29, had been traveling around Tokyo, Japan, since May 8, communicating with her family “every day” before she suddenly stopped sending messages on June 4, her sister had previously said. Her last known location was reportedly June 5 in Tokyo’s Shibuya City area, Willea had said.
Kandace Skipper.Family Handbook
Willea said her family had filed a missing persons report in Chicago and alerted the US embassy in Tokyo. Chicago police and the U.S. embassy in Tokyo did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
People in the US and Japan joined in the search for Schipper as days passed without a word from the 29-year-old.
“After going through this process, we are overwhelmed by the kindness of so many strangers. From Chicago to Tokyo, we received so much support and eagerness to help us find our loved one and have empathy for everyone looking for missing relatives,” Willea said. “It’s a complicated process to find information and it wouldn’t have been possible for us without the generosity of so many.”
Willea has not shared where or how her sister was found. She also did not share what condition Schipper was in. Willea did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment from NBC News.
