Draft:Skye Budnick

• Comment: Some of the information in the draft has no source (where does that info come from?), and neither the namus.nij.ojp.gov source nor the ABC News source show any notability. bonadea contributions talk 14:38, 25 October 2024 (UTC)

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Skye Lynn Budnick (born February 2, 1987) is an American woman who disappeared on April 7, 2008, after checking out of a traditional Japanese inn called Suzuki Ryokan, in Noboribetsu, a village in the Hokkaido region of Japan. Her whereabouts remain unknown. Budnick was a 21-year-old student completing her junior year at the Central Connecticut State University at the time of her disappearance.

Background

Early life

Skye Budnick was born February 2, 1987, in Southington, Connecticut, the youngest child of Robert and Susan Budnick. She has an older brother, Matthew and an older sister, Megan.

Prior to disappearance

Prior to her disappearance, she was suffering from episodes of depression, specially at the end of 2007, having communicated to friends and family her desire to one day die in Japan, after seeing the cherry blossoms. She left a draft email, discovered by her family, where she apparently wrote about her desire to restart her life, although that draft email has also been interpreted as a possible suicide note.

Trip to Japan

One-way ticket

On March 24, 2008, Skye Budnick bought a one-way ticket to Sapporo, Japan, using an online service called Vayama. The flight appears in her bank statement as TRAVEL 888 VAYAMA1, probably meaning the initial search from Vayama transferred into a booking by the Travel 888 agency.

She boarded flight UA 803 in Washington, Dulles International Airport, on April 1, 2008 at 12h48, arrived at Narita International Airport in Tokyo at 15h35 on April 2, 2008 and then boarded flight UA9726 to Sapporo, arriving at New Chitose Airport, still on April 2, at 19h45, local time.

Trip to Noboribetsu

It is unknown where she spent the days between her arrival late on April 2 and her first reported sighting, checking in at a inn, in the village of Noboribetsu (70 km from New Chitose Airport and 110 km from Sapporo), on April 4, at the Noboribetsu Onsen, Kiyomizu-ya, where she stayed 2 nights. She then traveled to Karurusu Onsen, checking in at the Suzuki Ryokan for one night, before checking out on April 7, in the morning. She told the inn keeper that she was going to Sapporo and seem to be in good spirits. The inn keeper also reported not seeing anyone waiting for her when she left, and he presumed she was going to take the bus back to Noboribetsu train station.