EXCLUSIVE: Shoes Possibly Worn by Missing Boy Found in Kyoto Mountains

Kyoto, April 12 (Jiji Press)–Police on Sunday found a pair of black sneakers of the same brand as those worn by an 11-year-old boy who went missing in late March in Nantan, Kyoto Prefecture, western Japan, investigative sources told Jiji Press. The Kyoto prefectural police found the shoes in the mountains in Nantan, at a location about 3 to 4 kilometers north of the home of the boy, Yuki Adachi, and are working to confirm whether they belong to him. They were of the same brand as those he was wearing on the day he went missing. The sixth-grade student in an elementary school in Nantan went missing after his father dropped him off near the school at around 8 a.m. on March 23. Adachi’s homeroom teacher noticed his absence at around 8:30 a.m. but did not immediately contact his guardians, doing so at around 11:50 a.m. The boy’s father called the police around noon. On March 29, Adachi’s relatives found his backpack in the mountains about 3 kilometers west of the school. The prefectural police have so far conducted search operations involving a cumulative total of about 950 personnel. The search on Sunday was carried out by a team of about 50 officers. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]