Husband of CT mom missing in Japan gives update on search

The husband of a Connecticut woman missing since earlier this month in Japan called the situation “unbearably difficult” — and gave an update on the intensifying search by Japanese and US law enforcement.

Patricia “Pattie” Wu-Murad, 60, of Storrs, was last seen the morning of April 10, when she left a hostel to embark on the Kumano Kodo Trail. When she didn’t meet her friends in Osaka as planned, police were alerted.

Wu-Murad’s husband, Kirk, spoke to The Post from Japan on Friday morning, just moments after a briefing with Mountain Works, the private search-and-rescue squad hired by the family.

“We know from them that the [Japanese] police are out as well,” Kirk said.

“Police have 30 people on the trail, helicopters, dogs … we know they have multiple teams out there for the next several days.

“We have one goal: We want to get Pattie home alive,” he said.

Kirk credited the couple’s daughter, Murphy, with coordinating the rescue effort.

“Murphy is running a major search-and-rescue operation,” he explained.

“We’re starting to get some more people to help. With multiple teams out there, we’re hopeful that something will come up in the next few days.”

Murphy also started a GoFundMe for the search that’s already raised over $120,000.

Japanese police initially searched for Wu-Murad for three days before suspending their efforts. Kirk attributed the new uptick in activity to Murphy’s “persuasiveness” and the involvement of US resources.

“The police have told us their procedure is three days … after that, their expectation is families that lose loved ones … pay for it themselves. That’s why we hired Mountain Works as soon as we could,” he said of the original search.

“With support from the US Embassy and [Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal] and my daughter’s way of saying ‘Hey, this is my mom’ … they’re back out there.”

Kirk said his wife is an experienced hiker and “meticulous planner” who spent months preparing for her once-in-a-lifetime journey — including daily 10- to 20-mile walks.

In an interview with NBC earlier this week, Kirk said his wife had twice completed the Camino de Santiago — a nearly 500-mile set of European pilgrimage routes that ends in Spain — and had also hiked extensively in Egypt and Jordan.

“She was well ready [for the Japan trip],” he told The Post.

“What our Mountain Works folks say is this is more an incident than an accident … meaning something strange happened. Meaning she went way off the trail, or she got caught up in a stream, or something.”

Kirk recalled last contacting his wife April 9, when she texted him a picture of her Easter meal.

“She said (she) was ahead of schedule, and she was going to go on a separate trek, so we might not be able to reach her,” he said.

“I didn’t think anything of it when I didn’t hear from her.”

In fact, the US Embassy was not informed of Wu-Murad’s disappearance until April 13. When it finally called Kirk with the news, he was headed to Chicago to visit his son.

“I FedExed my passport to Chicago, and got on a plane to Japan,” he recounted about the heart-stopping moment.

Despite the efforts of Wu-Murad’s family and officials, Kirk admitted the search has been challenged by navigating procedures in a foreign country.

“What we’ve found is that the Japanese have some very stringent privacy laws,” he explained.

“We wanted to ask the name of a gentleman who was staying at the same hostel … they would not give us that information. Not that he’s a suspect, but we just wanted to talk to him.”

Kirk added the police also will not share which cell towers Wu-Murad’s phone may have pinged before she vanished.

“We have the embassy and the FBI working on that,” he said.

When asked what he wanted the public to know about his wife of over three decades, Kirk described her as “one of the most loving people you’re ever gonna meet.”

He fondly recalled past Christmases with his large family, when Wu-Murad delighted in buying presents for all her nieces and nephews long after the group started using a “pick-a-name” system.

“She just loves her family,” he said.

“As far as I’m concerned … I’m a better person because of her. She’s been my best friend since 1986.”

Kirk said he was grateful for the outpouring of support for him and their children — one of whom has remained behind in Storrs to watch the family’s house.

“It’s really heartwarming to hear that people care,” he noted.

“People don’t just disappear.”