6 Months Since English Teacher Murdered, Killer Remains at Large

Half a year has passed since the brutal murder of English teacher Lindsay Ann Hawker, and Japanese police are still trying to locate the man who killed her. While there are no important developments to report in the search for Tatsuya Ichihashi, the Hawker family and their supporters have been working hard to bring attention to this issue. As a result, the anniversary of her death was a top story on almost every Japanese TV news report last night. Here is a clip of NTV’s coverage:

The report is a great way of letting Japanese people know they should be on the look out for Ichihashi, but I couldn’t help but feel the police were putting on an elaborate act for the media. Perhaps I’m a bit cynical, but I really doubt that they frequently go door to door passing out fliers with Ichihashi’s picture on them. Another channel’s coverage of the police efforts included police confronting a man on the street who supposedly looked like Ichihashi and asking to see his ID (the man’s face was blurred out, so we’ll never know if he actually did look anything like the fugitive).

In any case, using such tactics are an indication of the fact that they are at a dead end in the search and desperately need information. If you see anyone who looks like Ichihashi, please contact the police:

Chiba Prefectural Police, Gyoutoku
047-397-0110
gyoutoku@police.pref.chiba.jp