The whereabouts of a 27-year-old prison escapee remained unknown on Sunday, with a weeklong search involving some 6,600 police officers on a small forested western Japan island failing to nab the convicted thief.
The whereabouts of a 27-year-old prison escapee remained unknown on Sunday, with a weeklong search involving some 6,600 police officers on a small forested western Japan island failing to nab the convicted thief.
Hiroshima and Ehime prefectural police have been pursuing Tatsuma Hirao on Mukaishima Island in the Seto Inland Sea since his escape on April 8 from a prison in the city of Imabari. Police searchers have come up empty despite Hirao leaving clues of his whereabouts including fingerprints on cars he has broken into and on trash left over from confectionary and milk products he has consumed. The unique geographical character of the island, which has a population of around 20,000, has thwarted police, its forest cover and hilly topography has prevented officers from making an effective search, they say.
