38 —Wednesday, June 19, 1996 —- North Shore News NV RCMP files remain open for 3 BY ANNA MARIE D'ANGELO News Rerorter HIROKO Kobayashi vanished without a trace last June 20 in Lower Lonsdale. All police know is that the 38-year-old part-time inter- preter was probably at Lonsdale Quay sometime in the later part of last June. The Yokohama native was on medication for schizo- phrenia and depression. She had been living in Canada for eight years with the financial support of her father in Japan. “She came to Canada on a student exchange and just loved it and stayed," said Const. Glenn Stefureak, of the North Vancouver RCMP serious crime section. Kobayashi was in the process of moving from -her Angus Drive apartment in Vancouver to a basement suite in the Capilano area when she disappeared. Police don’t know why she was moving to the North Shore. ‘ She still had her apart- ment in Vancouver. Stefureak said no foul play -is suspected in Kobayashi’s disappearance. Police say there was noth- “ing =. unusual about Kobayashi’s 1989 Honda Civic when it was found on July 1, 1995, parked in the Seven Seas lot near Lonsdale Quay A worried close friend “‘ealled police four days after Kobayashi was last seen. . Kobayashi is a petite ‘Retail vacancy rate low NORTH Shore retail vacancy rates are below Greater Vancouver aver- “ages. Statistics from a CB Commercial retail report ‘show North Vancouver had a retail vacancy rate of 2.3% in the spring and West Vancouver 1.49%. The Greater Vancouver average is 3.2%. CB Commercial's spring 1996 report said the vacancy rate in West Vancouver has increased by 1% over the past six months. The upswing results from four new vacan- cies. The majority of avail- able space in West Vancouver is located along Marine Drive and in the Park Royal Shopping Centre. While the size of units has increased, the actual number of vacant units has not, said the report. Recent develop- ment.on the North Shore includes Edgemont Village's Highland ~ House | and Mountain View Village, at Mountain Highway and Main. ice need solve d sappearances POLICE have few new clues regarding missing Hiroko Kobayashi (left) and Lisa and Nick Masee. woman, 1.50 m (4°11") and weighs 45 kg (100 Ibs). Meanwhile after almost two years, the North Vancouver Mounties have been unable to identify a man who was discovered buried in a shallow grave in Cates Park in August 1994. The dead man was discov- ered by a municipal employ- ee who saw a foot sticking out of the ground in a heavily wooded area of the park. How the man died is still unknown. Police are not certain if the man’s racial origins are Asian, native or if he was of mixed race. “The anthropologist was having a tough time deciding because the type of skull for both is called mongoloid,.” said Stefureak. ’ The man is described as being of a slight build, 1.65 m (5°4” to 5°6") He was wearing green jeans and a Le Chateau label tweed sport jacket with a tank top underneath. He also was wearing an 18-inch gold chain. Police are leaning toward the theory that the man was of Asian descent and his death was involved in some way with the drug trade. Meanwhile the most high- profile of North Vancouver's missing peopie are VSE banking affiliate Nick Masee Sr, and his wife Lisa Masee. Nick Masee, then 55, and his 39-year-old wife disap- peared from their upper Delbrook house in August 1994, Stefureak said tips have stopped coming in the Masee case. Bui the American TV pro- gram Unsolved Mysteries has recently expressed interest in airing a segment concerning the Masecs. Stefureak classified the case as a missing persons with. “unusual — circum- stances.” Meanwhile the West Vancouver Police (WYP) are asking the public's assistance in identifying a man found dead on March 24 in a wood- ed area beside the 15th Street aff ramp of the Trans-Canada Highway. WYP investigators believe the partially decomposed body is that of a Caucasian man, about 60 years old. grey hairand beard, 1.75 m(5°9"), 70 kg (155 tbs) with an aver- age build. A man fitting that descrip- tion wearing a Save-On- Foods cap had been seen in the area collecting discarded cans, said police. WVP Sgt. Barry Nickerson described that man as a probable vagrant. Foul play is not suspected in the man's death although WYP say the cause of death had not been determined. Anyone with information is asked to call the North Vancouver RCMP at 985- 1311 or West Vancouver Police at 925-7300. arine Dr., North Van PERS fi Grouse Mountain The Peak of Vancouver KIDS SUCCESS CAMP '96 ® Sports ® Life Skills ® Adventure A fun summer day camp for boys & girls, 6-12 years old. Weekly sessions run july and August 1996 cat 925-0450 today PET NEWS — $17.8 million is spent annually on pets on the North Shore. where the readership is. NORTH SHORE — To reach this pet happy market, place your ads -