Hundreds of Japanese police searched on Thursday for a convicted thief who escaped from prison and was believed to be on a small island with abundant hide-outs — about 1,000 houses made vacant by an aging and shrinking population. Tatsuma Hirao, 27, has been at large since Sunday, when
Hundreds of Japanese police searched on Thursday for a convicted thief who escaped from prison and was believed to be on a small island with abundant hide-outs — about 1,000 houses made vacant by an aging and shrinking population.
Tatsuma Hirao, 27, has been at large since Sunday, when he fled from a low-security prison in Ehime Prefecture while serving a 5 ½ year sentence for theft.
Police suspect he drove a stolen car along a 70-kilometer bridge and highway system connecting several islands near Ehime and got off on the island of Mukaishima, near Hiroshima, which has a population of about 16,000.
