‘I hope she’s still alive’: Family still searching 16 years after daughter disappears while on trip to Japan
SOUTHINGTON, Conn. (WFSB/Gray News) - A Connecticut family is still looking for answers after their daughter booked a one-way ticket to Japan and never came back.
Skye Budnick was 21 years old when she left on a trip to Japan in 2008. Her family hasn’t seen her since.
“Skye was a very quiet girl, very quiet, very shy,” her mother, Susan Budnick, said.
Skye Budnick was a college student studying Japanese when she bought a one-way ticket to the country. She reportedly didn’t tell anyone that she was leaving and took very little with her.
“She did not let anyone know, even her very best friends,” Susan Budnick said. “She took very little with her, very little, and she left. And she took her car, she left it at the airport.”
She was last heard from on April 7, 2008.
Weeks went by, prompting Susan Budnick and her other daughter Megan to make a trip to Japan as well, in order to file police reports, do interviews and pass out translated “missing person” fliers.
“The language barrier alone is enough to shut you down,” Susan Budnick said.
There were a handful of leads, but unfortunately, none of them led to Skye Budnick’s whereabouts.
Susan Budnick believes Skye Budnick met someone online who convinced her to fly to Japan.
In the 16 years since Skye Budnick’s disappearance, her mother has taken up gardening to cope with her grief.
“I have a difficult time talking about Skye without tearing up,” Susan Budnick said.
She said she still has hope that her daughter is alive.
“I hope she’s still alive. I hope she’s safe, and she’s happy,” she said.
Skye Budnick’s sister Megan started a TikTok page dedicated to her sister’s case. The family is also raising money to send Susan Budnick back to Japan, to supply DNA to Japanese investigators to match against Jane Does.
Police in Southington have been involved in the investigation into Skye Budnick’s disappearance and have provided DNA to Interpol in Japan.
They say they will continue to work with authorities in Asia to get answers.
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