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As diplomats in Beijing discuss reopening the investigation into a string of unsolved kidnappings of Japanese citizens by North Korea, families of the abducted anxiously wait and hope. Yaeko Taguchi was 22 when she vanished on June 12, 1978. Courtesy Iizuka Family
According to the Japanese government, North Korean operatives kidnapped at least 17 Japanese citizens in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Yaeko Taguchi was working as a hostess at Tokyo's Cabaret Hollywood when she went missing. Courtesy Iizuka Family
Yaeko Taguchi, left, was a divorced single mother and was working to support her two young children, a son and daughter. Courtesy Iizuka Family
At a summit in Pyongyang in September 2002, former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met with now-deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. North Korea admitted to kidnapping Japanese citizens for the first time. File video
In October 2002, five Japanese abductees were allowed to return home after 24 years of detainment in North Korea. Information on the remaining abductees was sketchy at best. File video
Tokyo's Cabaret Hollywood is one of the last places where Yaeko Taguchi was seen before she was abducted in June, 1978. Will Ripley/CNN
