Haruchika “Chika” “Haru” Miyagi

Haru is a son, an entrepreneur, a brother, a global day trader, a friend, and, as of 12/05/2015, a missing person.

He graduated from Lehi High School in Utah and went on to further his education at Utah Valley University. Haru was very involved in social media and posted to many common platforms daily. Just before 9pm, on December 3rd, 2015, Haru would post the following words to his public Facebook account: “The power of giving is important. Want to give as much as possible. Its called Karma”. This would be the last time friends and family heard from Haru .

Haru Miyagi was involved in several companies and created a wide array of YouTube videos, from him bowling with friends, to tips on saving money on your utility bills, to information regarding the global trading software, Tensai, that he had created. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Haru used all of the social media at his disposal to advertise, educate and promote his business and personal thoughts alike. While his life leading up to December 4th 2015 may be followed through posts, tweets, public records and videos, what happened to the 34 year old man becomes a mystery in the crisp, early evening hours of December 5th, 2015, 565 miles south of his home in American Forks Utah. A small town comprised of 4000 people, Dewey, Arizona is situated atop Mingus mountain in Northern Arizona. Far from the glittering lights, heat induced mirages and high crime rates of Phoenix, Dewey is an oasis of ranch homes and evergreen shrubs, about 20 miles east and 800 feet in elevation below Prescott, Arizona, “Everyone’s hometown”.

It was in this town, on that cool evening of Saturday, December 5th, 2015, that a man believed to be Haruchika Miyagi would do something very out of character, just before disappearing into the sporadically populated, high plains desert landscape of Dewey for the next two and a half years.

Why Haru was in Arizona on this day is unknown. He hadn’t shared any plans to travel, and had no known ties to anyone in any part of Arizona. What led him down the series of dirt roads he would travel that day in the area in which he was last seen, is a complete mystery.

There are two different routes he could have taken to reach the area in which he was last seen, each route involves navigating winding dirt roads and making a series of turns that one would consider unlikely without a final destination in mind. It is thought that Chika may have been traveling east, away from Prescott, on Highway 169, a 15 mile stretch of two lane highway frequented, primarily by residents in the town of Dewey. He would have passed housing developments, ranches, businesses and the waste management center, traveling 6 miles to your 7th road on the right. Orme road, or Farm Road 68 is a well traveled dirt road that runs south of highway 169. Only homes and ranches are located on this road and it becomes an increasingly uncomfortable ride in a small sedan. After over two miles of washboards and dust, Haru, inexplicably, made a right hand turn on a smaller, less maintained dirt road, Med Bar Road. He then took a right at the fork and headed up the private drive to a large horse ranch, known as Med Bar Ranch. How he came to be at this location, heading east or west on the 169 is not known for certain, however, the remainder of his vehicle’s known movements, come from police reports.

According to a trespassing report to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office a man, later identified by one witness as Haruchika Miyagi, drove his red, 4 door, 2002 Mazda Protege down the private drive of Med Bar Ranch at about 5pm. He opened the main gate to the property off Orme Road, and proceeded up the dirt driveway to the house. The woman who lived there would exit the home to greet the unknown visitor. According to her later statement to police, this man that she did not know, asked her if he could stay at her home or on her property for the evening. She declined, advising him that he should go to Prescott to procure lodging. She said he calmly entered his vehicle, and, as opposed to turning around in the large open area in front of the house and heading back in the direction from which he came, he proceeded north on the property’s private drive, crashing through a closed, but unlocked gate before disappearing from view. Within approximately one hour of her call to police, officers from the Yavapai County Sheriff’s office arrived at her home to take her statement. After having been advised of the direction in which the unknown man had driven, officers headed north on the private drive to see if he was still in the area. At around 7pm, two hours after he had been seen by the woman, around a bend and approx one mile down this dirt drive, they spotted Haru’s red Mazda in Yarber wash. The hood wedged between the stony wash and a barbed wire fence used to keep the cattle from traveling up the wash, his vehicle was said to be stuck, heavily damaged on the front end, and abandoned. A tow truck was dispatched to remove the vehicle. Four days later, search and rescue personnel and dogs were brought into the area to search for Haru. The dogs did not appear to pick up on a scent and Haruchika Miyagi, nor any sign of him, would be located on that, or any other day since. Later checks of his phone’s location show that it’s last communication with a cell phone tower was sometime shortly after he drove away from the ranch. His phone was never turned on again, and was not located in the vehicle, or surrounding area.

Why he was in the state of Arizona is unknown. Why Arizona? Why Dewey? Why Orme Road? Why Med Bar Ranch? Where was he going? Where did he end up? These are all questions his family, friends, and officials, have been asking since that quiet Saturday in 2015.

When a person goes missing for a long period of time, there are only so many possibilities as to the cause. That person is no longer living due to an accident, a murder, or a suicide. Or the person chose to disappear and is living a new life of their choosing. In this particular situation, the movements surrounding Haru’s disappearance are strange, and not understood. His reason for leaving his home to travel to this area make no rational sense. Did he have, perhaps, some mental break that caused him to do so many things that would not be easily explained? If his actions were chaotic as a result of a mental health issue, then what happened to him after his vehicle crashed? Did he wander away from the site, or hide from other people he may have encountered? If so, where did he ultimately end up going? Where has he been able to live, undetected, for over two years? Did a man who owned his own home, had money in the bank and a stable job, just decide, suddenly, to take so many roads less traveled, for no apparent reason, and without mentioning anything to his friends, or family? Did a man who created software for a living and had a strong online presence suddenly and inexplicably decide to give up all electronic communication to live his life as a homeless person someplace else? If so, why abandon your car in Dewey, AZ, over 500 miles from your home? If one wished to simply disappear, then why ask a stranger, on a remote desert road at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, if you could stay with them for the night? What happened to Haruchika Miyagi on December 5th 2015, the day his phone stopped pinging, and none of his family and friends ever heard from him again?

At the time of his disappearance, Haruchika was described as 5 foot 8 inches tall, weighing approximately 180 pounds, He is of Japanese descent with brown hair, and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a blue jacket, blue pants and Vans style shoes.

If you have any information, please contact Investigator John Shannon with the Yavapai Sheriff’s Office at 928-777-7293