9 Jul 2014

CNMI tourist search suspended

4:08 pm on 9 July 2014

The search for two Japanese visitors missing in the Northern Marianas has been suspended.

26 year old Chinatsu Yamada and her 33 year old sister, Natsuki, were reported missing on June 30th after they failed to check in for their flight.

The two women are believed to have disappeared while night swimming at Wing Beach in Saipan.

The missing Yamada sisters

The missing Yamada sisters Photo: Supplied

Our correspondent, Mark Rabago, says an island wide search involving the police, home security, the United States Navy and coastguard has failed to find any trace.

"They just cannot seem to find where the sisters were and are not able to see their remains. They used a device to see where the waters go and it went south but there are a lot of crevices under the water and if someone gets trapped there it's going to be hard for it to come up."

Mark Rabago says the police are still investigating but the chances of recovering the bodies are low.