In the spring of 2008, 21-year-old Skye Budnick was attending Central Connecticut State University. She was studying international business and had a fascination with anything Japanese.
One day, she bought a one-way ticket to Hokkaido, Japan, and boarded the plane without telling anyone. She had also never traveled outside of Connecticut before.
She went missing during her trip to Japan. The last time anyone saw her was on April 7, 2008, when she was checking out of an inn at 10 a.m.
Skye lived at home with her parents. At first, her family thought she was staying with a friend on her college campus, but after several days without hearing from her, Skye’s mom called around and realized that no one had seen or heard from her daughter.
On April 4, Skye’s brother managed to log into her email on the family computer. He discovered the plane tickets to Hokkaido and an email draft that indicated Skye was leaving to start a new life.
The family reported Skye missing and drove to Bradley International Airport to look for her car. They found it within an hour, but nothing seemed suspicious about it.
Next, they confirmed with the airline that Skye had indeed boarded a plane to Washington, D.C., to catch a flight to Tokyo.
Skye didn’t seem to have packed any belongings, except for her laptop and Nintendo DS. The police contacted Japanese authorities, and they confirmed that Skye had entered the country.
However, the family had to actually go to Japan in person to file a missing person report.
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Skye’s parents quickly bought plane tickets and flew to Japan on April 10. Officials told them that Skye was last seen on April 7 at an inn in Noboribetsu, a small resort town located outside Sapporo in northern Japan.
Skye’s family knew that she had been studying the Japanese language and culture for several years. She also loved anime and manga.
But they were surprised that she had chosen to visit Hokkaido rather than more anime-famous spots like Tokyo and Kyoto. As far as they knew, Skye didn’t have any friends in Japan.
On April 2, Skye had arrived at Narita Airport in Tokyo. She then transferred to Chitose Airport in Sapporo. From April 4 to April 5, she stayed at Kiyomizuya Ryokan in Noboribetsu. Afterward, she took a taxi to Karurusu Onsen Suzuki Ryokan and stayed there on the night of April 6.
The next day, she checked out of the inn and told the innkeeper in passing that she was headed to Sapporo. She hasn’t been seen alive since.
Not much progress was made in the case due to language barriers and multiple law enforcement agencies working together.
In the spring of 2024, Skye’s mother and sister returned to Japan to provide DNA samples in the hopes of finding Skye. At the time of Skye’s disappearance, she was 5’6″ and weighed about 180 pounds.
She had brown hair and blue eyes. Anyone with information about her case is urged to contact the Southington Police Department at 860-378-1698.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
