[2] In reality, Konishi had become depressed after losing her job at a Tokyo travel agency which went bankrupt; not only was she unable to find alternative employment, she also began consuming alcohol.
It has been speculated that she came to Minneapolis because it was a place that she had previously visited with her former lover, a married American businessman whom she had met in Tokyo, but who had left her after taking another job in Singapore.
[5] An autopsy "found no sign of sexual assault"[5] or trauma, and there was no evidence of an "overriding medical condition"[5] that would have proven fatal.
Although the coroner "was unable to determine the exact cause of her death",[5] police investigators concluded that Konishi "was intending to commit suicide",[5] and that "exposure to the cold"[5] (perhaps exacerbated by drug intoxication) was the most plausible explanation.
[6] Konishi and the circumstances surrounding her death are the basis for Reel Bay: A Cinematic Essay by Jana Larson, published by Coffee House Press in 2021.