Chiharu Wakao is wanted for allegedly abducting her then five-year-old
daughter, Marina Tiffany Kaneda, and possibly taking her to Japan.
Marina's father, who has been awarded full custody of his daughter,
last saw Marina on Wednesday, May 19, 2004, when he dropped her
off at her preschool in Honolulu, Hawaii. Wakao usually picked
up Marina from school on Wednesday afternoons and dropped her
back off on Friday mornings. When Marina's father went to pick
her up on the afternoon of Friday, May 21, 2004, he was told
by school officials that Marina had not come to school on that
Thursday or Friday. It was later learned that Wakao had moved
out of her apartment on May 10, 2004.
On November 4, 2004, Wakao was indicted in Hawaii for custodial
interference in the first degree and a grand jury bench warrant
was issued. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Wakao on
May 12, 2005, charging her with international parental kidnapping.
Wakao and Kaneda are believed to be residing in Osaka, Japan.
