‘Like finding a needle in a haystack’: Man reported missing in September goes home

Seen in a previous photo with date and location unspecified, Grant Isamu Okazaki who was last seen in Las Vegas on Sept. 9,  2022 has been located | Photo courtesy of Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Grant Isamu Okazaki, who was reported missing in September, has been located and is back with his family.

Stock photo of Santa Clara-Ivins Police patrol vehicle | Photo by Cody Blowers, St. George News

Okazaki was last seen in St. George on Sept. 9, after which he traveled to Las Vegas via St. George Shuttle, Santa Clara-Ivins Police Sgt. Reed Briggs told St. George News at the time.

The 37-year-old man had recently been released from a care facility and given a ticket to Nevada, where he received additional resources, Briggs said.

Santa Clara-Ivins Police officer Braden Ray said the department contacted local resources in Las Vegas via email and fax to distribute the missing person flyer with Okazaki’s information.

“It was like finding a needle in a haystack at that point,” he said.

On Nov. 16, Okazaki called his mother with a borrowed phone and while the woman doesn’t typically answer calls from unknown numbers, she did when she saw it was coming from a Las Vegas area code, Okazaki’s ex-wife, Barbara Schuknecht, said in an email to St. George News.

Okazaki had been in the hospital but Ray could not confirm the reason for his stay.

Hawaii stock image, St. George News

His family flew to Nevada, Ray said. They then traveled to the Santa Clara-Ivins Police Department so officers could verify that Okazaki was well.

On Nov. 24, Okazaki officially returned home to Hawaii, “thanks to Officer Braden Ray,” said Schuknecht, adding that the officer informed the family Okazaki had boarded a shuttle to Las Vegas, giving them an idea of where to keep looking.

Before being located, Okazaki was added to the National Crime Information Center as his family and police were concerned for his safety due to an unspecified mental illness, Briggs said in September. His diagnosis was not shared with St. George News, and he has since been unlisted.

Ray said he was glad Okazaki called a relative as privacy laws limit the information the police could obtain from hospitals and other facilities where the man may have stayed.

“I’m just so grateful he was able to reach out to family and we were able to tie it all together and get him back home,” he said.

Okazaki spoke with his ex-wife and son, who was “very happy to hear from him” on Tuesday after his father helped him obtain a phone, Schuknecht said. He is with his mom and sister and is “feeling overwhelmed and adjusting.”

Going forward, Okazaki wants to reconnect with friends as his health improves and plans to spend Christmas with his son and extended family, Schuknecht said.

Stock image of Las Vegas Strip, Las Vegas, Nev., date not specified | Photo by Julian Paefgen-Unsplash, St. George News

“Christmas is a special holiday for him and his family,” she said. “He is thankful for his family.”

Schuknecht said she is thankful for “the kindness of many people who helped Grant be reunited with his family,” including a person named Sean who communicated with Okazaki’s relatives on social media to alert them he was in need of help, the Santa Clara-Ivins Police officers who worked the case, Utah news stations and locals who sent the police tips.

Additionally, she said she was grateful to the person in Las Vegas who lent their phone to Okazaki and to his mother and sister for flying to Nevada to pick him up.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

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