A 7-year-old Japanese boy who was left in the woods by his parents as a punishment was found on Friday (local time) after going missing for six days, according to local authorities. Yamato Tanooka walked into a military training facility roughly 2.5 miles north of where he disappeared and indentified himself. Local authorities said he appeared to be unharmed.
The news of Yamato Tanooka’s disappearance made international headlines this week, after his parents left him on the side of a mountain road in bear-inhabited woods in northern Japan. Hundreds of rescue workers combed the mountainside and surrounding forest for days looking for the lost boy. After nearly a week with no luck and hope fading, the rescue team was on the verge of being scaled back.
Tanooka’s parents said they were punishing the boy for misbehaving and they left him only briefly to make a point, but when they returned he was gone. “His parents originally told the police that he got lost while the family was walking in the area to pick wild vegetables, but later admitted they were angry after he threw stones at cars and people and they had tried to teach him a lesson,” according to the Japan Times. When he went missing Tanooka did not have any food or water and had only the clothes on his back.
Japanese police say the parents could still face negligence charges.
