According to her family and lawyer, the investigating judge responsible for the investigation into the unsolved disappearance in Japan of Tiphaine Veron, a French tourist from France, has concluded her investigations.
"The investigating judge, based in Poitiers (the city of origin for Ms. Veron), informed the parties that she didn't intend to perform additional acts in the context (...). She wishes to close her information," stated Me Antoine Vey.
After the investigation ends, the parties have the opportunity to make observations and request acts of inquiry.
We will need to take action in Japan
Damien Veron, brother of the missing, says the investigation is "on the French side (...) we'll have to perform actions in Japan with private investigators on-the-spot, it will be an enormous job."
It's shocking. It's incomprehensible. It's incomprehensible.
Tiphaine Veron vanished on July 29, 2018, in Nikko. Nikko is a tourist town in northeastern Japan, surrounded by hills and forests with many sanctuaries. At 36 years old, the epileptic young woman had gone for a walk and left behind her passport, suitcase and sightseeing plan. The research done by his family on the spot has not yielded anything, except for the judicial investigations in Japan and Poitiers, which led to a French team of police officers going there in May 2019.
The family had deemed Japan "indispensable" and supported the prosecution's request for the investigation judge to refuse to travel to Japan. The Poitiers Court Of Appeal, which was investigating the case, confirmed this refusal in December 2021.
Me Vey sunday said, "We aren't suspended from the decision by this investigating judge. We are just saying it is a shame to not offer us the expertise and powers of an French judge."
The family is critical of the Japanese police in this case because they did not devote enough resources to their investigations. Witnesses have been ignored and the criminal trail has not been thoroughly explored.
To keep all the actors in motion, we committed suicide for four years. We are disgusted
"The Elysee was on our side, as were the prosecution. To keep the actors mobilized, we committed suicide for four years. We are disgusted. It is disrespectful to our work," Damien Veron said about the conclusion of the investigations.
Tiphaine Veron's relatives had also sought help from the President of France Emmanuel Macron. He had raised the issue with Yoshihide Sauga, the Japanese Prime Minister, during the Tokyo Olympics of 2021.
