September 18, 1972. Aiko Koo, a delicately beautiful young Berkeley dancer, waited Thursday evening for the bus that was to take her [to her] ballet lessons in San Francisco. She never appeared at the class. And she has not returned home in the four tense days that have passed. Her mother and grandparents have put the case into the hands of Berkeley police and a private investigator, who is taking information at 421-9137. 

Miss Koo is only 15. She looks older. A Korean dancer, she has performed widely in the Bay Area and is scheduled to leave late this month for concerts in the Midwest.

Friends discount a runaway theory, saying she is a placid girl with no family friction. She was last seen by friends as she waited at Shattuck and University Avenue Thursday evening for the “F” bus to San Francisco.

She was seen talking to another girl, also an Oriental, between 7:05 and 7:10 p.m.

The bus she was supposed to take left the corner at 7:14 p.m.

The driver on that run remembers that two Oriental girls boarded the bus together a block beyond where Miss Koo was seen waiting.

Friends said the girl often hitchhiked and may have accepted a ride to the city.

The family hopes to hear from the girl to whom their daughter spoke.

A friend aiding in the search described Miss Koo “an extremely attractive Oriental. People are likely to remember her. She is a 15-year-old high school student but looks 18 or 19.”

Miss Koo is 5-4, weighs about 105 pounds, has long black hair worn either straight down or tied in a knot. When she left for the lesson, she was wearing a distinctive black turban-type hat with a colorfully striped band, green sweatshirt, blue denim jacket, blue jeans and brown shoes.

The family is seeking any information from witnesses who saw her Thursday evening. 

Source: “Young dancer missing,” Front page of the Berkeley Daily Gazette, September 18, 1972