STORRS, Conn. (WTNH) — A Storrs wife and mother remains missing in Japan as search efforts for Patricia Wu-Murad enters their third week.

Her husband, Kirk Murad, said the support from back home in Connecticut to strangers across the globe has been uplifting, but the outcome for him and their three children remains devastating.

“We are all very distraught,” Murad said. “We are hoping for a miracle obviously. Everyday you wake up and say today’s the day, today’s the day, and every evening, you’re disappointed.”

The 60-year-old went missing April 10 after she never arrived at her next hostel and didn’t meet a hiking friend for dinner.

Her husband was notified three days later.

“She said ‘I’m going to do the Kumano Kodō,'” he said. “‘I may not have good service, but I’ll talk to you in four days.'”

The two married in 1990. This month will mark their 33rd wedding anniversary.

Wu-Murad retired in 2020 and fell in love with hiking, going on numerous solo pilgrimages for up to two months at a time.

“She made a lot of new friends,” Murad said. “So, when she decided to do Japan, I didn’t think twice about it. [It’s] one of the safest countries in the world. She did her research.”

The 60-year-old was last seen a quarter mile from the Kumano Kodō trail. Teams have searched thousands of miles so far.

Murad said people from the hostel his wife was staying at were on the trail 30 minutes after she left, but never saw her. Murad thinks she either got on the wrong trail, or took a wrong turn and fell. 

“The U.S. team is going as deep as the can into canyons,” Murad said. “These are the highly skilled people, so no one has been able to go all the way down where we hope there is water. If Pattie survived we know she’s smart enough to go find water.”

Among the volunteers looking are her brother-in-law Emmanuel Scigiliano, who spent 10 days searching mountains in southern Japan. He would search for eight to 10 hours a day.

“It was tough to leave,” he said.

Scigiliano returned to Connecticut a couple of days ago.

“I went out in the field most days, on the trail,” he said. “I walked the trail multiple times with them. We did a grid area search on the town of Montecito where she departed from that last day she was hiking. Something happened to her we just don’t know what.”

Thursday’s search came up empty. It was the final day for the 21 members of the U.S. search team.

A GoFundMe page has raised $180,000. Murad said most of that money is spent on flights, lodging and food for the search teams. He he won’t come back to the U.S. without her.

“We love you Pattie,” he said. “We miss you and we are going to do everything we can to try and find you.”

Local police interviewed the last people who saw her, and said there are no signs of foul play.