Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007
British family demands more information on search for Ichihashi
CHIBA (Kyodo) The parents of slain Briton Lindsay Ann Hawker expressed frustration Wednesday, six months to the day since her body was found, that police have not apprehended the lone suspect.
"This man must be caught. We are very frightened that he will offend again," her father, William Hawker, said by telephone from England. He was referring to suspect Tatsuya Ichihashi, 28.
"I am sure that the Japanese police are doing their best," Hawker, 54, said, while urging them to provide the family with more information on the progress of the investigation.
"Initially, we had information coming from the police and we felt that we were more involved with the case," he said. "Now, we only receive a weekly report on what the police have done and where they have searched."
The victim's body was found in a sand-filled bathtub on the balcony of Ichihashi's apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, on March 26. Ichihashi fled from officers who went there after language school Nova Corp., her employer, reported it was unable to contact her.
Apparently frustrated by the lack of police information, the family set up a Web site and has obtained several reports of Ichihashi sightings from Canada, Thailand and other places.
A senior police investigator denied the possibility that he has fled Japan, saying he was put on the wanted list immediately after the murder.
Police have received more than 2,000 reports on him from 45 of the 47 prefectures and sent officers to roughly 20 prefectures so far. But they have developed few concrete clues on his whereabouts.
"It is difficult for us to carry on living a normal life," Hawker's father said. Still, "we don't blame Tokyo. We don't blame Japanese people. She just met an evil person."
Julia Hawker, the victim's 50-year-old mother, said that if Ichihashi is arrested, "it would enable us to remember her with more joy."
Japan Times
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