The case of the SOS sign in Daisetsuzan National Park
At Hokkaido’s largest national park, Daisetsuzan National Park, Japan, on 24th July 1989, a helicopter dispatched to find 2 missing hikers came across a giant SOS sign measuring 4.8m x 3m. It was made using birch wood and was located 4km away from the peak of Mount Asahidake. The rescuers ended up finding the 2 missing hikers, but the duo told the rescuers that they didn’t make the SOS sign.
A 2nd search was conducted. This time, a skeleton with broken bones and a bag pack were found 10-30m away from the SOS sign. In the bag, there was a tape recorder. You can hear the recording here.
In the recording, a man can be heard dragging out the following words: “SOS, 助けてくれ。崖の上で身動きとれず。ここから吊り上げてくれ。” It translates to, “SOS, help me. I am on the cliff, I can’t move. Please lift me up from here.”
The bag also held a hiker ID belonging to a man named Kenji Iwamura. He went missing about 5 years before in July 1984, according to a report in the Asahi Shimbun on 1st March 1991. DNA analysis eventually determined that the skeleton belonged to a male with type A blood, thereby solidifying the fact that the skeleton belonged to the missing hiker, who also had type A blood.
However, the circumstances that led to his eventual death remain a mystery.
