The search continues for a 7-year-old boy apparently lost in a wooded area in Japan. More than 150 police and rescue workers combed a wooded area searching for the boy on Mount Komagatake, the northern-most of Japan’s four main islands.
Yamato’s parents initially told police the boy was last seen picking wild vegetables on the island on Saturday.
But after further interrogation, the parents admitted they let the boy out of their car and left him as punishment.
They said when they returned “immediately” to the area, the boy was gone.
“The parents left the boy in the mountains as a punishment,” a police spokesman said.
“They said they went back to the site immediately but the boy was no longer there.”
Yamato’s father told a news reporter he was too afraid to tell the truth when he first contacted authorities.
Police are not considering charging the parents.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati police are considering whether to charge the parents of the 4-year-old boy who fell or jumped into a gorilla enclosure resulting in the shooting death of an endangered primate on Saturday.
Deonne Dickerson, 36, and Michelle Gregg, 32, face criminal charges in the death of Harambe, a rare gorilla who turned 17 the day before he was shot dead by the Cincinnati Zoo’s dangerous animal response team.
The zoo’s director admitted the little boy was not being attacked by Harambe, who was killed while he stood guard over the child.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters announced the investigation by the Cincinnati Police Department Tuesday.
Deters and the police will confer on “possible criminal charges” after the investigation is complete, according to the NY Daily News.
