Yoshiko Funakoshi was 58 when she and her daughter, pilot Shima Funakoshi, boarded a Cessna 406 Caravan in Utqiagvik, Alaska, in August 2003 bound for Wainwright. The plane, tail number N6591L, disappeared during the flight. Searchers found debris and an oil slick about 10 miles northeast of Wainwright in Arctic Ocean waters roughly 75 feet deep, but neither Yoshiko nor Shima were recovered.

The crash site produced limited wreckage, and investigators could not determine a definitive cause. Memorials later honored both women: a bench called Shima’s View on Anchorage’s Coastal Trail and a memorial in Utqiagvik. The disappearance remains unresolved and deeply felt by family and community.

If anyone has information about that August 2003 flight or the area northeast of Wainwright, please share what is known.