As an autistic person who has felt like a fish out of water in my entire life I can't help but think that sky probably just figured that she would be happier in the culture that had created her comfort interest which was anime. Maybe she thought that her life would be better or simpler if she just moved to Japan and started over, even though the reality of living in a different country is a lot different than just watching TV shows about that country and she probably didn't realize that until she got there. I genuinely hope that Skye is still alive and is just living as an illegal immigrant in Japan, God knows there are thousands of people who are homeless in that country who live in internet cafes and similar inappropriate accommodations to fly under the radar. It's not without possibility that that's exactly what she's doing. I just hope that she's still alive and that she's healthy and safe.
@@ifredbenson What the person is implying is that to do that does not take in consideration the feelings of your loved ones- how they will forever be emotionally affected and most likely traumatized by the ordeal. Autism is a spectrum and so it manifests very differently for people and, subsequently, cannot account for every autisic person; under your assumption that all Autistic people don't have a degree of understanding for others' emotions to, at the very least, know how disappearing would hurt your family's feelings. Especially when, judging from Skyes writing, she does have a decent sense of self awareness and emotional intelligence, but also the degree of neurodivergency/depression. Having Autism can be a diverse and isolating experience, so I feel for Skye, but I equally feel for her family who will not get closure or understanding of their daughter's disappearance. And that is something that is quite easy to condemn as being hurtful to do. Idk, all in all, empathy is real useful for productive conversations about cases with moral ambiguity. People are complicated, man.
Me too. I’m autistic as well. I think everyone can relate to the general feelings towards working nowadays, but we just have a vastly different and triggered experience than most. It sucks all of us, autistic or not, are being forced to suffer just to support ourselves
Megan Lebron (Skye’s sister) is so grateful for this coverage! She said there’s some stuff she’d like to clarify/correct, so you should speak to her! 🖤
@wafaa7361 if it were my missing sister I'd be a lot happier that someone posted a video letting people know she was missing that 100000s of people watched rather than be hung up on a few qrong details which judging from OPs comment sounds like she is.
I genuinely think that Skye is alive and well in Japan. I’m a late diagnosed autistic woman and I had similar experiences to Skye growing up. I hope she’s happy and I hope her family can find peace. It would be wonderful if Skye could just give them a small “hey I’m alive and thriving” sign.
well i hope she knows she fcked her family up leaving them her tuition debt. forget about the emotional responsibility, that amount of money along with the payments they had to make to search for her plus all the wasted resources from police must be absolutely nerve wrecking for her family and if skye knows about it, that's so damn selfish. so if she fr knows she's being looked for and still hides, cant bring myself to wish her well. being autistic doesn't make her unaware of her actions and their impact.
@@Ella-vh5qhmmm idk about that, sometimes people who are on the spectrum can be oblivious to things neurotypical people wouldn’t think twice about. If she is alive maybe she doesn’t know all of the aforementioned things listed above, or the impact some of that has. Not the full extent, they said she is like a 16 year old at 21.
@@kristinicole2055as an autistic person, stop painting us like we aren’t able to be responsible. she really messed her family up and if she is indeed alive and well (which i pray is the case and not something more sinister) i can’t imagine how she wouldn’t have reached out to them. stop using autism as an excuse or a pass for people to do disrespectful things. hold people accountable, this is a huge reason why autistic people (not all, i’m still unlearning some stuff as well) use their autism as an excuse to not do better.
@@aurababy I’m not painting anyone as anything. Nor am I justifying anything. Just expressing a reason as to WHY the previous hateful comment could have been more empathetic.
this story is so devastating and scary. the fact that someone can just disappear without a trace is bone chilling. I can't imagine what the family is and has gone through
This was also 15 years ago. It would be even scarier for people nowadays to disappear without a trace, with how far we’ve come with technology, accessibility, etc. I’m hoping that she was actually okay and just wanted to live a new life, because she would’ve had access to pay phones to call family if need be. We all had numbers memorized back then, and she didn’t have her own phone so she most likely had them memorized as well (although, if she did have autism, sometimes it comes with memory loss and she would’ve needed to have it written down)
It wasn't without a trace. lol. They had plenty of traces. They just dried up. Some people don't wanna be found. As hard as that is to believe for some people.
She didn't exactly disappear without a trace. She's in Japan doing her own thing living her life. For whatever reason, she didn't want to tell anybody.
Skye was a friend of mine. I remember waking up to my friend Courtney messaging me on AIM telling me she has suddenly gone to Japan. We still miss her and have pictures of us in cosplay together that we cherish. I miss our adventures and our late night chats at sleepovers.
@@anntunaley9974 She went to at least one down in southern CT. It was an overnight cosplay meetup. We even went to the casino to play the games in the arcade.
I live in Japan and my guess is she didn't fulfill the requirements for study abroad and so she searched for other groups or people that would bring her out there. Believe it or not there are cult like groups here that prey on foreigners nativity and desperation to come. My guess is the cult offered her lodging/ food etc and she took them up on the deal, deleted the messages and left. That's why she didn't go to Tokyo. I think she probably guessed that she could leave the group when she wanted but they took her debit card so she couldn't leave. American debit cards do work on about 60% of atms and all 7/11 atms. So it's suspicious that she never used it. I emailed this to her sister but haven't gotten a response. Anyway, if she comes to Japan I'd be happy to help in any way I can.
99% of the time debit cards dont work in foreign countries unless you call your bank beforehand and tell them. They lock ur acc for security reasons, she probably forgot to call
I fully believe this. Unfortunately, I've seen many cases in Japan where a foreigner went missing. It's a very big issue and why I won't go alone if I ever get the chance to visit the country.
having a happy, tight knit family does not make it "unlike" someone to run away. my mom would describe our family dynamic as loving and tight knit when I was depressed but I still had ideation of running away
The fact that she went to Japan and actually knew very good Japanese was actually very surprising since their alot of memes of "anime fans going to japan but their no subtitles". It show how intelligent and dedicated she was to this dream. Because of this, I don't think Skye is dead, just don't want to be found. Hope maybe one day we could get more information about this case even though its very unlikely. and If she is alive, I hope she liking the new anime since then, Jujutsu Kaisen is really popping off right now
Knowing anime and manga doesnt mean you can speak japanese😅 trust me i have studied it for 10 years, married to one and been living in japan for over 10 years. From her history her japanese was basic,but do note hokkaido has a whole different dialect than standard japanese.
@@IOPE_ sorry bud, but I think you got understandably confused. Ik all that and never said or implied that watching anime help you learn one of the hardest languages in the word. I merely said I was surprised that Skye actually knew very good japanese and glad she didn’t end up like those memes where foreigners go to Japan with no real knowledge of the culture beside their main source of entertainment and everything they learned from it. Sorry for the misunderstanding
@@IOPE_why do people like you just make entire assumptions about things, the original commenter said nothing about “knowing anime and manga = speaking japanese” like you js want an excuse to talk about yourself 😭
I really hope that Skye is just living a good life out in Japan. If she is, it sucks that she won’t let her family know. It’s been 14 yrs, so who knows. It’s very sad though.
As for somebody that lives with a visa in japan and bank acount etc it is even hard, imagine not being able to get any lf that , she cant get housing since you need a japanese bank to get housing, to get japanese bank you need a visa. Then with black money you need to speak japanese, as in also hokkaido accent which isnt easy. Also police check foreigners ID all the time to see you not overstay your visa. I get checked about 3 times a year, especially if you ride a bike. There is a very guarded system here, and living on the street also isn't an option since it gets very snowy from december till March ...crossing by boat is also impossible without using your ID.
@@IOPE_yes I also live in Japan and I personally would not be able to do it illegally, but if she found a great guy who took her in or even went into certain grey industries it’s possible, I guess. I just know that I personally could not do it, even though I speak Japanese. But where there’s a will there’s a way. With the black market you need fluent Japanese yes, maybe she learned. Maybe she found her soul mate and he or she is taking good care of her. I have never had an ID check.
As a half Japanese who has lived in japan and in the west, I got to meet many people like her, suicidal who idealized Japan… I think like many other people who thought japan would cure their depression, she committed suicide… I mean.. it’s the most common way to die for foreigners in japan.
@@KantoCafe715I’ve had one ID check but I also don’t really look suspicious. Someone actually here illegally will show more signs of suspicion for sure. Especially for someone who, according to her family, has pretty bad anxiety.
Nah, it's not possible. She would be on a 3 month tourist visa. No legal work for her there, even the hostess clubs usually want at least a working holiday visa. Those that wouldn't are the seediest sex-based places and not way would she would be offered work in one of those, she didn't look the part at all. Foreigners stand out massively in Japan so she would be noticed if itinerant, and getting any form of housing requires a lot of paperwork and upfront deposits of money, which she didn't have.
I hope Skye is still alive living a good life in Japan and hope one day her family can get closure. My uncle actually disappeared when he was 18. Things were rough for a variety of reasons in my family at that time and he had his own personal struggles. In a very happy ending, his wife (in Japan, ironically) encouraged him to reach out to let his family know that he was okay several years ago when he was 48. Now he and my aunt and cousins come visit every Christmas and he was able to be there for my grandmother after my grandfather passed. And my grandfather got to see his son and meet his daughter in law and three more grandchildren before he passed. So I hope one day Skye and her family can have the same reunion.
Sad case, it’s also crazy that the family is still being forced to pay the college tuition. I’m at work listen to my 5th mystery/murder/ missing person video and everything is really common I listen to these cases all day everyday . Cops don’t listen. Partners are abusive. But for some reason that comment about the tuition still being paid stood out to me. Corporations don’t care if your missing or dead. They still want their money. SMH.
I can listen to True Crime podcasts and videos all day, but I usually have to limit the ones where people just disappear into thin air. I'd imagine the worst feeling is having a loved on out there not knowing what's happening to them. I watched a show where a mom lost her son for 12 years and she said she'd rather have his body, even if he was "gone", rather than not knowing what could be happening to him and can't help him😢
Skye was ahead of her time with the anime stuff. Nowadays Anime has gotten more mainstream and is being recognized now by the majority. Naruto, Dragonball Z, Pokemon, Yu Yu Hakusho, Inyuasha, Sailor Moon, really brought anime to the mainstream in the 2000s, and now in 2020s, anime is really popular now. 2 times in a week Hailey, you are too good to us friend!!
Theres a Japanese word, “jouhatsu,” which literally translates to “evaporation” but is used go describe people who disappear without leaving a trace. It describes people cutting ties with their old lives without letting a single person know.
Yeah, but it's not a thing for foreigners to do IN Japan. They stand out like sore thumbs, constantly and forever, You are always a gaijin if you live there 50 years and work for a J-company and speak Japanese well and marry a Japanese. This girl was a naive tourist. If found wandering without means to support herself after the 3 month tourist visa period had ended she would have been quickly noticed, scooped up, stuck in front of a judge and deported back to the US. They don't tolerate illegal immigration there.
It's really heartbreaking how close her family thought they all were to the point where they couldn't imagine she would do something like this. It just goes to show how islolated people with, not just neurodivergency but forms of mental illness as well, are. My friend behaves similarly to this, where she has never felt like she could be emotionally open and honest with her family, and she says they only know she's hurting when she cant muster up the courage to bottle things up anymore. I can understand the feeling of just wanting to leave everything behind and start anew. I hope she is living a more peaceful life there.
I get it - I did something similar. Took off as soon as I was 18 and lived in a van for a few years. Then after I got my degree I traveled all over the world… and I know it’s been hard for my family to accept my life choices. I get it why she never wants to go back to the states, cuz I don’t wanna go back there either. However, I don’t understand why she would completely abandon all contact with her family for so many years. It seems like something must have gone tragically wrong for her, at some point.
I think maybe not... After disappearing like that many would feel embarrassed and guilty and would not reach out. The would prefer to ignore it and pretend it never happened.
I never miss an upload but thank you for sharing Skye’s story. I hear nobody talk about it. This is what I think: 1st off, I definitely think Skye is still alive. I cant imagine the pain her family feels. The reason I feel like she’s still alive is because, I can relate a lot to Skye. I completely understand her actions. I’m not autistic but I am still neurodivergent. Her poems are so.. raw.. i never related to something more in my life. customers are yelling at you, being overworked, you got rejected from a program you applied for, you’re already dealing with depression and anxiety, etc - it’s miserable. But Skye loved anime and japanese culture. That’s her comfort and escape from reality. I understand why she bought a plane ticket and went there, she thought she would be happier there. I think she is living her life. actually, i’m not even sure if Skye wants to be found. I hope she is fine but i hope her family gets closure, even if it’s just an email. i can’t help it but i feel like Skye knew it would be easy to leave. i’m not sure how her parents didn’t notice her being gone for the past 3 days. ik they’re stressed and they’re dealing with their other daughter but personally, that would make me feel even more unwanted tbh.. and little things build up. i think originally, Skye wanted to visit all of japan and then, she never wanted to leave again. but that’s just what i think
I think she married a local or is working under the table somewhere. At first I thought it was a suicide, but hearing that she was charismatic with the locals and only broke down during the train change (which from what I heard is terrifying/stressful). I think she found a place to live and thrive.
I agree with you. It's actually not that uncommon, people leaving their identity and family behind to start a new life. Yes, it can seem selfish and horrible but the problem is that in society no one really want to accept you totally, people always have to try to put down your ideas, your dreams, your goals... Society mows you down so much that sometimes you lose all the light you have. Family can be the worst at it too. I'm sure she's living happily and doesn't want to be found.
As an autistic person this story resonates with me, I always wanted to do what she did, I sometimes also made plans to actually do it (but never went through with it) I felt that when her parents said “she’s 21 years old, but has a 16 years old’s mentality” and then find out that on her own she had learnt a whole new language and organized her whole escape, which went well! (Apparently) I hope she’ll reach out to her family someday, they deserve closure, but I’ll still kinda look at her story with dreamy eyes… I hope someday I can find something that makes me happy too
Just know that Japan is not some anime wonderland and anime dans going there often end up disappointed as most peoppe there also find an adult anime fans weird and cringey.
I need to finish watching this, but after reading comments here and on reddit, I think a lot of people misunderstand how unbelievably easily it is a foreigner to just vanish in Japan. I lived there for a couple of years, you can get away with not talking to many people or seeing other westerners. You'll stick out but people mostly mind their own business. If she had managed to meet a Japanese national it'd be relatively easy for her find basic work and just blend in.
@@tyegordon livable would be debatable. But if she knew a japanese national, and people that were willing to hire her unofficially. More likely in a smaller town.
I think the opposite , after 20 years living here in Japan , but maybe I’m just not as astute and on the ball as other people 😅I’m really starting to think so. I just feel like Japan is a place where you couldn’t do those things, but I guess with the right mindset and connections and definitely if the right person fell in love with you, then you could be hidden , for sure.
@@KantoCafe715 Yeah my position on that hinges pretty heavily on the idea of having made the right connections. Without that it'd be next to impossible. 😅
Rubs me the wrong way that her family was insisting based on some self-diagnosis they made, that she isn't "mentally an adult" and shouldn't be treated as one. Even if she is autistic, she's clearly not the kind who has the mind of a child. They're babying her. Maybe that's why she cut her losses and left. Her family was suffocating.
@Reggiezombie I don't need to have met her to know a grown woman who charted a plane to Japan and learned the language and has eyewitness accounts of her being well-spoken, friendly, and happy by herself abroad is proof she is not so severely autistic she needs to be brought home to her family like a child.
It’s really sad that she went there to pass out missing person flyers and all the people there started yelling at her. That’s messed up. More people need empathy in this world.
People out there don't like to be involved in others business/problems. They are usually polite but they aren't kind and wouldn't go out of their way to help you like alot of people in the states/other parts of the world.
@@macilakYou can critique a culture without hating on it. It’s true that it was wrong of them to yell at them and kick them out without the proper information. (Looking at the papers for example.)
10:30 This..Skye, you absolute angel. I've NEVER related to a human so deeply, not even someone Ik personally. I'm also an autistic female working in retail/food service for 12 years&it's caused me to attempt suicide/constant depression. I've studied at least 3,000 true crime cases&this is now in my top 5 most impactful. Skye, I'd do anything to be your friend!🤍 I pray you're alive
@@sleepygirl8005 Maybe she did. I tried comitting as a child because i thought i would no longer be a bother to my close ones, maybe that was how she felt? When people leave, whether its by starting a new life or ending the one they have going on. Half of the time they believe its for the good of everyone, including their family. People who hold your opinion do not know how it is to struggle with fitting in, it feels like you are the one at fault and everyone who is trying to help you is wasting their time, you start feeling guilty for waisting their time and worrying them.
It rubs me the wrong way that the family didn't know Skye was so smart. Shes austistic, not stupid? As someone who is neurodivergent I struggled my whole life with people thinking I'm stupid. :(
No your not stupid. Trust me. I had alot of people call me stupid in school but I think they were just jealous of me because I was so smart. And yes I'm also autistic.
I know. If she is fluent in a whole other language and was able to confidently travel alone, she is clearly not “mentally 17”. Honestly, her family reminds me of my own. When I went to another country alone for two weeks, they infantilized me, they wouldn’t leave me alone and were convinced I couldn’t handle it. And from the sounds of it, her parents wouldn’t respect her boundaries if she came back either. I saw in a different video that she did have a phone, and blocked them after a while. The other video also said that she didn’t leave her email open, they purposely kept trying to log in and guess her passwords to see her conversations.
@beanqueen1243 her family are actually amazing and are heading back to Japan as they haven't given up 15 yrs later. This video is full of incorrect information.
@beanqueen1243 her family have said if she's alive and have seen their videos to just call and say I'm alive and im ok and hang up. They haven't stopped searching for 15 years.
Also, it just seems like her family didn’t really know her or care about her interests. They said the verbage in the email wasnt like her and was too formal! Her writing was obviously really good! and they didn’t even know she spoke Japanese. I hope she found a community or family in Japan who made her feel like she could share her interests.
Poetry and writing normal is different, I use to make poetry about my feelings, very different then how I normally talk or write, I also spell very bad and have dislexia so my normal writings are very messy and out there, my “poetry” is always proof read and I put in correct punctuation and spelling because I want that writing to look perfect but my normal texts or writings are not the same . So I can see where they are comming from .
They did know she could speak Japanese as she was studying it at college- but her professor said she was actually failing the class. Her sister has spoken about this on TikTok 😊
Skye’s poetry hit me hard. I could relate to her feelings so much. I’m pretty sure I’m also autistic, I just can’t afford a diagnosis at this time. I hope she’s okay out there, I hope she’s found peace. It’s really sad no one noticed her absence for days, too.
I am autistic and my birth family was horrifically abusive despite giving the impression to the world that they were loving and caring schoolteachers. Meanwhile calling me retard when no one was watching, stealing my money I was earning, and driving away potential friends who called them out on abusive or inappropriate behavior. I have found a spouse in another country and havent looked back. I visited my family for Christmas 2019 and they didnt even pick me up from the airport and tried to make me do all their dishes and laundry while i was there. I hope that like me Skye is happy and living free. I assume she left her life and family for a reason.
Wasn’t that when she was at a friends house for a few days? And the parents were at the hospital with the other child? I’m sure the parents thought she was safe at the friends house, in the day where cellphones weren’t as prevalent?
@@thegrimlooperthis was 2008, people had house phones no way my daughter is at a friend house and i don’t even check if she’s okay in 4 days that’s insane
Right? I hate to blame them but skye knew that she could leave because her parents would disregard her. I know Megan got sick but skye knew she would be able to leave without them stopping her.
@@thegrimlooper She said she was staying the night at her friends. “The night” not “a few days” not “the week” THE NIGHT. I get they have other children but that doesn’t mean you forget one.
their other daughter was sick and in and out of the hospital, so they were focusing on her. i have siblings, and when one of us is hurt or sick, its very easy for the others to naturally just fade into the background until the issue is resolved. have an ounce of empathy lol
Symbolic Rain was incredibly relatable. It made tears come to my eyes. I relate a lot to her. It’s sad that there are so many people on this planet and yet there are so many people who feel alone and who get left out and used(abused) at their places of work
As someone on the spectrum with a similar, introverted personality and backstory to hers, I’m not surprised in the slightest by any of this. It’s so easy for people like us to hide things from our family and friends. I’ve done plenty of things like this when I was younger. My family had little idea of anything; my special interests were of no interest to any of them, I thought. And as a teacher for many years, I have to chuckle every time I hear a parent say things like “my child would never” or “this is just so unlike him/her”… Parents generally have no idea what their kids are doing/into. This mom is a common case. Of course she didn’t know her daughter was secretly learning Japanese. Of course she didn’t know her daughter was planning all of this. I’m just surprised this girl didn’t consider her visa problem. After 90 days, her visitor visa will be up and she’ll be in the country illegally. It caught, she could be sent back to the US and subsequently banned from entering Japan again. Quite a gamble from my perspective.
I felt so out of place in America, and as someone on the spectrum I can definitely relate to Skye. She could have done all the research beforehand and had the ability to set up a whole new life. It isn’t hard… Personally, leaving America was super easy, and setting up my new life in a foreign country (with a language I barely know) was entirely manageable. And if I didn’t feel like talking to my family, they’d have no idea where I am. 🤷🏻♀️ She obviously doesn’t want to be found… which is understandably sad and painful for her family. But hopefully one day she’ll reach out to them and explain why she did it so secretly.
I can’t shake the sad feeling about hearing all the cries for help she expressed but she was just marked as a good child. She expressed that she will say she was fine, but so many cries for help and her family didn’t even check her in few days, because she’s a good child. I was a good child and trust me, I struggled. Check on you good kids! It also saddens me that they had no idea she learned Japanese. This is not to shame the family, what is done is done, they probably didn’t have bad intentions. I hope she is doing ok and I hope she is happy.
As an autistic girl, I never share information to my family without being directly asked for it. But that's not how relationship works, you're supposed to share naturally what's on your mind while being around... i think that was the same, maybe she just didn't reailzed they will suffer if she was gone
It sounds like Skyes family disregarded her and she knew she could leave without a trace and that what she did. I’m not trying to blame the family because they obviously love her desperately but I’m hopeful that she happy and safe and living a life that she wanted.
Yes indeed, it's just weird they didn't hear from her in 3 days and didn't think that was off? I know the sister got sick, but still, it's strange you forget about the other daughter completely.
@@AlineBooneMusic Do you really not remember the times, when not everybody got a phone? It wasn't that common for everybody to have a computer either... The family was at the hospital, probably in pannic mode and a 21yo in college is not in touch with them for 3 days. I get your point but it also sounds like you haven't experienced pre-internet-in-your-pocket life😅
@@dariadarusiadaria In 2008 majority of people had a cell phone and computers were very common. I even had a FB in 2009. Windows XP was almost done and 7 came almost out. The late '00s weren't the Middle Ages...I did experience a less connected world in my early childhood but even then, at the start of the 00s, while definitely not the majority yet but still not few people either, people started having those Nokia phones. But that's kinda not important to the story here. The fact that it was very out of the ordinary for their daughter and the fact they were aware she had trouble functioning in the world , should've all been red flags when not hearing from her for a long time. Also, why not let her know that her sister was pretty ill. I'm not blaming anyone, just can't wrap my mind around their thinking.
yeah no. let’s not blame the parents here. i’m sure they’re already guilty enough as it is. i mean yeah, there is more they would’ve should’ve could’ve done but hindsight is 2020, amirite?
This case breaks my heart, I hope is Skye is okay. I’ve experienced moments of spontaneity and genuine happiness before trying to attempt. I hope she’s alive and well ❤
I feel like she didn’t because suicidal people tend to tie up loose ends before following through. She left her parents with her tuition. I don’t see how she tied any loose ends. I hope she just went and started a new life and nothing happened to her. My heart aches for her because I used to/still do sometimes feel exactly the same as her. I just know from experience that this is temporary, but poor girl was still living with the people that made her feel that way. I can totally see how moving to Japan was her way out
I'm autistic, diagnosed as an adult female in my 30s. Hearing sky's thoughts and story makes me think she probably was autistic. Too much of her inner thoughts are relatable and sounds like she was in my head at various points in my life, especially before being diagnosed and just thinking i was a weirdo for not being a follower.
A big factor this video leaves out is that she had told her sister in the past that she wanted to go to Japan and end her life there. Unfortunate as it is, the chances of her still being alive today are not good. Hopefully her sister can find something with a private investigator, but with the trail going cold fifteen years ago it is going to be a very uphill battle.
You should have sent this to Skyes sister to fact check because theres incorrect information in this video and Megans dedicated her life to finding out what happened to Skye.
@@jgfirgdgj If one of my siblings disappeared I would want to think they're just out there living their best life. I would hate to think that they ended up like Grateful doe. I'd rather not know if that was the case as that's much more painful, hope is a nice thing. :)
Most likely dead within a week or two of arrival. You cannot just bum into Japan on a tourist visa and settle in and get work. They tolerate very little immigration. She would have been deported from the country after overstaying her tourist visa. Japanese men are not in the habit of letting large white American women live in their tiny apartments, if she found one he was probably a lunatic. You cannot work without proper visas and sponsorships from Japanese companies as a foreigner. She went there most likely to off herself in her dream landscape. The funny thing is how autists think Japan welcomes difference. It does not. The fact you are gaijin is amusing sometimes and thus tolerated. but it is a HIGHLY conformist country and has a huge bullying problem in schools and workplaces, You conform or you are tormented in Japan. Anime is a fantasy the way Hollywood movies portray a fantasy USA.
I understand her feeling soo well. I myself have kept widthdrawn from my family and have a deep urge to just pack up and disappear, never to contact them again. To get away from the preceived source of all my pain and feelings of unbelonging. If i did such a thing, i know i would be happy living my quiet new life well away from the things that caused me pain.
I saw skyes sisters tik tok on this video. She said some things in here just weren’t true and seemed to be made up. Aside from that, this video brought so many new people to her actual tik tok page where she talks about this so that’s amazing!!
I'm actually disappointed and thinking of unsubscribing bc there's multiple comments stating this and she's clearly ignoring it. Megan, Skye's sister even made s video on tiktok about it. It doesn't sit with me when RU-vidrs dramatize real people's stories or just make sh*t up. It's disrespectful to the families and victims. And it makes me wonder about other cases she's covered😐
@@_kaneyhoneyshe’s been called out for spreading misinformation before. It’s really frustrating because when she gets called out she just ignores it and doesn’t seem to care at all. Her subscribers always defend her too. I honestly think I’m done watching her.
I’m a late diagnosed autistic afab person and Skye’s poetry resonated with me so much it made me cry. Every word she wrote I identified with, i wish people tried to understand us better. It is so difficult trying to navigate this world as a high masking person because you almost get stripped of your own identity and because you have been masking for so long you really are just a living contradiction, wanting so bad to be real but being so scared of being perceived as your true self which you kind of lost in the process of masking.
As an autistic person I felt so bad listening to her poems... I completely believe she was autistic & it must've been so hard for her going her whole life unable to know why she's so different from everyone but "normal" enough for no one to notice. I've felt that way before. I really hope she's doing alright or at least resting peacefully.
Im glad that you are bringing attention to skye. You narrative made her family see neglectful and heartless. Maybe reach out to her sister who is VERY open about her sisters case. Your info is not all thete also. These comments are pissing me OFF.
I mean if she got the information from the internet.. and she read what was there. Wouldn’t that be a reflection on them though… ? And this is the idea that came from it?
Idk if its an autism or neurodivergent trait, but again, Skye is very relatable to me as an autistic adult. Even though I love my kids and husband, at times I feel so trapped inside my own head and body. When I get overwhelmed with too many stresses and a mountain of things I just struggle with, that others say should be easy, I often just wanna run away somewhere and be alone. I don't wanna see anyone I know or talk. I just want to be in my own reality. But this is not a sensible thing to do, which I know at my age, so I will never do it. Yet, in my 20s, I didn't know I was autistic and there was a reason for these struggles. And back then, I did do spontaneous, unusual things, took risks that probably could have gotten me trafficked or killed. And I was oblivious to the dangers I put myself in. Nonetheless, I still fight the urge to just disappear one day when I get tired of repeating myself and dealing with my endless analytical thoughts. Thankfully, I'm not rich enough to pull it off successfully. But it's not unusual for someone with autism to pretend they are a certain type of person to fit in (masking) while we are a completely different person within our heads and with ppl we trust 100% not to judge us.
Every time I hear this story I get the feeling she met someone online. The first time she backed out meeting them cause she got bad vibes. When she finally met the person “they” did something to her. But what do I know. I just want her family to have closure one day.
Considering she’s a fan of japan I wonder if she knew about the suicide forest, I mean it’s on Mount Fuji as well, and went there. Go to a place you’ve dreamed of, tour around, enjoy your final days, and then.
the symbolic rain piece she wrote was so real, “i want to be seen, but i also don’t. i crave to be the centre of attention, yet im afraid of attention”, even with the work ethic note im the exact same.
I’m trying to get evaluated for autism, I also have other diagnosed learning disabilities. I find this story painfully relatable. Sometimes when I’m upset I’ll write sad stuff like that online like a public journal. I have trouble making friends & I’m mostly a homebody too. I’m too anxious to live on my own, let alone in a new country, but I understand feeling different from others. I really hope that Skye is okay.
Aokigahara - she purchased a one way ticket. She knew that she would not return and considering her poetry I could imagine that the Aokigahara Forest was her final destination. She sold most of her belongings and her family described her as more happy the last few days she was with them. This often happens when people with suicidal tendencies make a decision about ending their life. It's sort of a relief for them. And also the forest might be 17 hours away from the place she was last seen I still think that this doesn't rule out the possibility of this being her plan. Maybe she wanted to go on one last trip, see her favorite country up close. She was seen buying a bus ticket and she was described as being in distress while doing this.
Oh no! I missed a few videos and I have some catching up to do! I only realized because your new setup behind you. I like it! Edit, as an autistic adult with ADHD and real trauma, I’m really blown away by the things she wrote. It’s like a look into my past and the things I wrote at that age. I still feel that way at times, but I have autistic kids who mostly understand me now, and I’m able to guide them, and I don’t have to deal with the work world anymore. That helped.
I really relate to a lot of what she wrote. Its a good example of someone being so intelligent but its more of a burden than a gift, which is often true for me as well. One way it can be hard is that we're constantly analyzing everything & it can be a struggle to deal with how few people do that, they don't know why they do things or say things, but they also think we're just weird for thinking so seriously about everything. I really feel for her. I hope she's ok out there. One mistake in this video tho, Japan is not one of the biggest places in the world its pretty small, its really a bunch of islands with 5 main islands where people live. America is a huge country compared to many, & Japan is about 26 times smaller than us. But in terms of this case, of course it would be daunting to try to navigate the language, the & the culture if you had no education on it.
Youre doing a terrific job with your show set, time management, developing all the technical skills, and so much more. Empowering for your glimpse into your world dont forget to always remember to have a great time!☆ proud of you dreaming and grinding the gears. 🎉😊
I have a feeling that she felt really alone considering the fact that her parents didn’t care to know about her for 3 days while she was supposedly at a sleepover, then they didn’t even know she learned Japanese. It’s like they really just didn’t know their own daughter. It’s sad to think that she must have felt like she wasn’t important at all and she just left to Japan without saying anything and they didn’t even notice until it was too late. If they knew that she was around the spectrum why didn’t they get her the help she needed or at least a therapist? She wasn’t fully diagnosed either. But thats just my opinion, I hope she is alive and thriving in Japan. As a fan of Anime myself I would love to visit Japan as well. Just hoping that she is doing well and has a better life over there than the U.S.
Funfact: Autistic women/people born female are usually diagnosed later in life, while autistic men/people born male are often diagnosed in infancy/much younger.
Megan's podcast dedicated to Skye is a labor of love . I pray that Skye is living her best life somewhere, and her family will one day find the answers they need for a peaceful resolution.
I hope her family finds closure sometime soon, I can't imagine that long without my sibling... I also can't imagine how the parents must feel, hopefully she's okay, but things like this always seem very grim...
Loved that first text you read from her blog, I agree with her. She is talking about people that dont question the bigger questions or just pass trough life without living so they can have the bless of the ignorance. Its actually a ND superpower that we dont have, she just dont understand that. edit: Symbolic Rain is SO autistic coded, oh my god. It screams undiagnosed and its so sad that so many people go trough that.
I just balled when I heard the police were being so cooperative 😢😢😢😢 as a mom myself, it feels like your world crumbles every time someone reminds you of the situation you're in involving your children 😔😔😔 I hope Skye is doing amazing, I hope she accomplished her dreams and wishes and that she is well and happy... also hope she contacts her family ❤❤❤
i'm so glad you made this video, skye's story deserves so much more attention! i've been following her sister megan on tiktok pretty much since she started. megan is truly a wonderful person and has so much valuable wisdom to share. i hope one day she and her family find answers and peace
Her writing ... 🥺 I 100% empathize with her feelings. The wanting to be seen and heard, but at the same time being terrified to be seen and heard. 😢 poor girl ❤ so sad.
Ngl, as an anxious and often nihilistic person I relate quite a bit to Skye’s poems and personality. I also like anime a lot, and honestly during my darkest times, I’ve had intrusive thoughts of going to Japan and logging off after fulfilling my dreams of visiting there. I really wholeheartedly hope this is not the case for her, that she is healthy and living a fulfilling life.
Im not autistic but as a person with Bipolar disorder and bpd i 1000% can relate to sky’s poem. Its like she stole my thoughts right outta my brain. I hope she’s at peace now. ❣️
she could be perfectly fine. i could be wrong, but i once heard that if someone intentionally disappears, and the authorities do find them, that they have to respect the person's wishes to have "disappeared", and not inform their family of their well being. but correct me if i am wrong, because i very well might be.
i think about this case a lot, i think about her a lot, that facebook post hits so close to home everytime i see it bc it’s way too relatable. whatever happened to her i hope she found herself in the end
I don’t think being on the spectrum amounts to not having an adult mind at an adult age. Depending on the person, of course. But many of us struggle with executive function or stim openly or info dump a lot so they may seem childish however, we often feel like old souls.
Skye sounds just like me, with the way she writes her feelings and how she acts; I hope she is living a happier life with people who truly care for her Honestly with the way she is, I wish I could be friends with her, she sounds like an amazing and sweet person
I'm glad you covered this case as I don't see many people have. Megan's efforts on tik tok have brought this case its much needed attention. When I first stumbled across Megans tik toks the story immediately drew me in and I've listened and read details about this case soo many times. I can't bring myself to believe Skye harmed herself I know a lot of people believe that but I don't. For a while I believed Skye had lined up a job for herself but got met with people that had no intention of giving her the job she signed up for. However there was just no evidence of her contacting anyone in Japan or meeting up with anyone. After watching this video I'm starting to realize that Skye did not have much of a game plan when going to Japan. I still don't believe she harmed herself but because she had no set plans in Japan maybe she fell a victim to some bad people since she was so vulnerable and alone. I wish there was more coverage on this case and I believe a private investigator in Japan will really do a lot to find out what happened to her.
This is honestly devastating. Seems like we can never really predict how certain things will happen in this world. We appreciate how well you've articulated your insights on this. Keep up the good work.
Your contour is good every video, especially this one. It amazes me how youre able to use the cream i think its the type its called? It looks beyond perfect when its blended in. I still use the original Kat Von D contour palette no matter what it just doesn't look right to me. Honestly 💯 props to doing your makeup beautifully perfect while telling this story 💙💙💙
Soooo close to 1mil!!! I love to see it 😍. You definitely deserve it. I watch you when I need a good true crime binge but also when I can't sleep bc you have the best damn voice & will knock me right out lol
Out of curiosity, is there any reason why the GoFundMe isn't linked in the description? I feel it would be incredibly helpful to the family if you provided a link, that way your audience could also donate money to support the cause. I also think it would be a nice idea to donate this videos revenue toward that cause. Just a thought! Edit: I think I'm going to unsubscribe for now... There's something weird going on here. I've read a myriad of commenters saying that you got information wrong and that the family would like to speak to you, so you can correct it. Yet, there's been no attempt, from what I've seen, to inform your audience that you're aware of these mistakes. I'm incredibly uncomfortable that the GoFundMe to help the family has still not been linked as of November 14th, 2023. I could absolutely be wrong in assuming that you are pocketing the money from this video instead of donating it to the family. But since it was not stated otherwise, that's what I'm forced to believe. To anyone reading this, I encourage you to search for the GoFundMe and donate, if you're able.
To be fair, the video immediately rubbed me the wrong way from 3:49 onwards. The way she spoke about Skye's interest in anime felt very patronizing. Furthermore, her exposition of events felt like she was almost gossiping about a playground rumor, all whilst nonchalantly putting on her makeup. It felt incredibly reductive and exploitative. This was the first time I watched this channel, and definitely the last.
this story worries me. i don’t know how high the prevalence of sex trafficking is but autistic women are at a higher rate of being sexually abused. i hope that she’s okay.
Unfortunately I don’t think things ended well for Skye. I feel like she was a bit naive and thought moving to a different country would solve all her problems. I know, because I’ve been there, and in the end I was still me and my problems didn’t magically disappear just because I changed the scenery. I’ve never been to Japan but others have told me it’s not easy to find your place, fit in and integrate into society there as a foreigner. I don’t think Skye was prepared for that. Sadly I think she met with foul play at some point and is no longer alive, I would love to be wrong though. I hope her family finds closure eventually, my heart goes out to them.
I hope she at least reaches out to her family. She doesn’t have to come back to America. Just call home. Send a letter. Let the family know she’s okay and happy and thriving. But I think her cocktail of undiagnosed mental disorders (depression, anxiety, autism) is probably preventing her from doing that.
Why would she? She’s a glass child. They didn’t notice they hadn’t talked to her nor seen her for full three days, they never got her diagnosed or into therapy, even though they knew she is on the spectrum, they actively played a part in the misery she experienced her whole life. Therapy could’ve done so much to help her navigate friendships, new social constructs like work, school, etc. they never made any recourses accessible to her. They didn’t care enough about her. Why should she care? I also strongly believe she learned Japanese, her family probably didn’t have any interest in her passions, they didnt talk to her about anything she loved enough to learn that she had started getting into the Japanese language and customs. Just a speculation.
as an undiagnosed autistic girl in a family of people that dont respect me, i would love to be able to vanish far away without a trace. i know my family would involve the police, so I would never reach out if this happened. I see myself as her and believe she is ok.
it lowk just sounds like the family didnt value her. like they call her the "easy child", it takes them 3 days to realized they haven't seen/ spoken to her, they did know she knew a whole nother language. Like im obvi not blaming them but i understand why Skye felt like she wanted to move w/o a trace.
It's hard for autistic childs, personnally I don't ever talk about myself or reach for help, then people don't pay attention to me because i don't share anything, and I resent them deeply for it, and it looks like they don't care.
If you need a researcher or anything, let us know! I’ve seen a lot of comments where people have mentioned you get info wrong. It’s understandable to be upset but you are only human. Let us know if you need help.
@@minakiel2930 yes and this is said with positivity. She obviously does this for a good reason, but it comes off bad if the things are ignored or not worked on properly.
@@thegrimlooperI find a lot of creators mispronouncing stuff, usually names! I always wonder, they never heard family members saying it the right way when researching a case? Or use Google to figure out the proper pronunciation 🤔😅
Lmfao mispronounced words isn’t that big of a deal. And I have not seen a video where the script had poor clarity. If she says or does something wrong she normally corrects herself. Would you know the videos where this happen? I’d like to check them out
