Body Of Missing American Teacher Taylor Anderson Found In Japan

RICHMOND, Va. -- A Virginia couple is mourning the death of their daughter after learning that her body was found in disaster-ravaged Japan, where she had been teaching English.

Taylor Anderson, 24, could be the first known American victim in the Japan disaster as authorities continue the daunting task of finding and identifying almost 13,000 people believed to be missing.

Anderson's family said in a statement that the U.S. Embassy in Japan called them Monday to tell them she was found in Ishinomaki, a city about 240 miles (390 kilometers) north of Tokyo.

Officials with U.S. Embassy in Japan and the State Department could not immediately confirm whether she was the first known U.S. victim in Japan. Another 25-year-old man is presumed dead after being swept into the ocean March 11 by a swell from the tsunami on the northern California coast.

"We would like to thank all those whose prayers and support have carried us through this crisis," said Andy and Jean Anderson, who live in Chesterfield County south of Richmond. "Please continue to pray for all who remain missing and for the people of Japan. We ask that that you respect our privacy during this hard time."

Jean Anderson said her daughter was last seen after the earthquake riding her bike away from an Ishinomaki elementary school after making sure parents picked up their children. A tsunami struck shortly after the earthquake, completely wiping out homes and other structures.

Friends and relatives used Facebook and other social networks to spread the word about the search for Taylor. Officials first told the family last Tuesday that their daughter had been located, but the Andersons learned that night that the information was incorrect.

Taylor Anderson had a lifelong love of Japan and began studying the language in middle school. She moved overseas after graduating from Randolph-Macon College in 2008 to teach in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme.

She taught in eight schools in Ishinomaki, in the Miyagi prefecture on Japan's northeast coast. During her stay there she developed a love for her students and for the Japanese people, her mother said.

She was scheduled to return to the United States in August.

Comments

[NickySmiles]

12:36 PM on 03/23/2011

My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends. I will light a candle for her today. May her loved ones be surrounded by peace.

[ashan]

11:06 PM on 03/22/2011

My condolences to her family.

[sorjuana]

07:35 PM on 03/22/2011

My sincere condolences to the family and friends of this young teacher. I am so sorry for your loss.

[sydneymoon]

05:56 PM on 03/22/2011

Rest in peace dear Taylor.

[LogicalMathMan]

02:41 PM on 03/22/2011

Very sad....I'm ashamed to know how much she accomplished in her short life. RIP.

[Zodiki]

12:58 PM on 03/22/2011

I was in the JET program for 3 years, and I just had a bad feeling that there was probably at least one of us among the victims - we were stationed in all manner of little towns along the Japanese coast. My general impression of fellow AET's is that they were all doing something they loved. I'm sure she was as well. My condolences to the family.

[Frank Choi]

12:31 PM on 03/22/2011

Such a brave and honorable way to go-- it fills my heart with such conflicting feelings: warmness - knowing that humanity exists on such grand scales & sadness - for her family losing such a spirit.

My condolences for the family.

[catcancook]

12:30 PM on 03/22/2011

This is such sad news for her family and for all of us here in Virginia. Teachers who travel the world to teach in other countries and also the foreign teachers here in the US, are really the ideal ambassadors.

[ringmaster]

11:04 AM on 03/22/2011

The beautiful American.

[rich3324]

09:49 AM on 03/22/2011

" her daughter was last seen after the earthquake riding her bike away from an Ishinomaki elementary school after making sure parents picked up their children."

She died doing what she loved, in a place she loved. Good teacher.

[Duppy]

09:24 AM on 03/22/2011

So sad

[Tenement Funster]

08:48 AM on 03/22/2011

As a Japanophile myself who has lived and worked in that country, I am very saddened by her death. My condolences to her family.

[sve]

05:42 AM on 03/22/2011

Taylor, your lifelong love of Japan has come full circle. By sharing their lives and their fate you have become one of them. And bringing along the ties that bound you to your loved ones at home in the US, you have also tied these two groups internationally to each other too. Welcome to your bigger family.

[andwhatarmy]

08:18 AM on 03/22/2011

Lovely post. Can't be said any better. F&F.

[SlurmsMcKenzie]

10:59 AM on 03/22/2011

wha a gentle thought nicely expressed. Like brush strokes in haiku.

[Futbllwmn]

05:02 AM on 03/22/2011

I'm so sorry. My heart and prayers go out to all the victims of this horrible disaster.

[Jezreel]

04:00 AM on 03/22/2011

Sad. Very, very sad. May Taylor Anderson rest in peace. And may her parents be comforted in their time of incalculable grief and loss.