An escaped inmate managed to elude a massive manhunt, conducted by police for over three weeks on an island in Hiroshima Prefecture, by hiding in the attic of a vacation home, investigative sources said Tuesday.
Tatsuma Hirao, 27, fled last month from a low-security prison in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, and was caught in Hiroshima on Monday, ending a search that had involved a total of 15,500 personnel.
Hirao said he had hid in a vacant house on Mukaishima island, a part of the city of Onomichi, evading detection by officers of both the Hiroshima and Ehime police forces who had targeted the building in their search.