SIGHTING: UNDISCLOSED, NEW MEXICO (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"Regarding Mufon #32939, I found the newspaper article in the Albuquerque Journal regarding the missing businessman from Japan you cited in your submission. Following is a copy of the article from the paper (I believe the date is correct, if not the 28th, it was the 29th). Thanks.ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL SEPT 28, 2002 WHITE SANDS NATIONAL.MONUMENT Two hikers have discovered a body believed to be that of a Japanese businessman who has been missing since Sept. 8 in the shifting white gypsum sands of the national monument near Alamogordo. The body found Saturday was believed to be that of Kazuomi Fujita, a 29-year-old textiles executive who had wanted to extend his visit so he could see White Sands National Monument. "At this time there doesn't appear to be any foul play," said. Norbert Sanchez, chief of detectives for the Otero County Sheriff's Department. Fujita's, passport' was found beside the body 2 miles south-southwest of where his vehicle was found on the 145,000-acre national park. The body was sent to the state Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque for an autopsy. Fujita's last night at his motel was supposed to have been Sept. 7. His rental car was found Sept. 9 in the park at closing time. Rescue crews spent the following day searching with an Army helicopter. On Wednesday, all-terrain vehicles were used in a ground search. A pair of search dogs did, however, pick up Fujita's scent, investigators said. And a faint footprint was found at thepark's northern end. People do sometimes get lost among the many dunes. At sunset, the sands sometimes begin to blow along the rippled surface of the dunes, covering footprints, which some visitors might have counted on to lead them back to their car. "Most of our searches for visitors find the individuals within two hours, or they walk out on their own," park superintendent Jim Mack has said. The previous week, Fujita had visited his Tokyo-based company's New York office, seen the Metropolitan Museum of Art and attended a Yankees game. "He was a happy, well-adjusted single fellow from Japan who truly loved the tranquility of the park and wanted to enjoy what it had to offer," Mack said. Otero County sheriff's detectives examined Fujita's rental car and found nothing that would suggest foul play, Mack added.VERY STRANGE INDEED!!!"