An avid hiker and recent retiree from Connecticut went missing on a solo "bucket-list"-type pilgrimage in the mountains of Japan more than a week ago.
But while local police have called off their search, her family said they're taking matters into their own hands.
The family of 61-year-old Patricia Wu-Murad, an experienced outdoorswoman and life-long hiker, has hired a private search-and-rescue crew and traveled to the region themselves to try and locate their beloved relative.
"We're pleading with the local authorities and the [United States] consulate to try to get them to continue looking," Wu-Murad's sister-in-law, Julie Murad-Caruso, told Insider on Tuesday.
Wu-Murad was in the middle of a 700-mile trek along the Kumano Kodo trail through the mountainous Kii Peninsula when a lodge reported her missing to police on April 10 after she didn't show up for her stay.
Local authorities searched for Wu-Murad for 72 hours, but gave up after they could not find the married mother-of-three, her family said.
The family was notified about Wu-Murad's disappearance by the United States Embassy on April 14.
"Not enough resources and not having enough details made [police] feel like it wasn't worth putting more resources into it," Murad-Caruso explained.
The local Gojo Police Department in Japan could not be reached for comment by Insider on Tuesday.
Wu-Murad's family has started a GoFundMe page to raise money for their private search efforts and days ago, Wu-Murad's husband, Kirk Murad, and two of their three adult children went to Japan to look for her.
"Kirk is determined to find her. He wants to bring her home because he wants to celebrate" their upcoming 33rd wedding anniversary, Murad-Caruso said, adding, "He's having a hard time functioning without her."
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