When 7-year-old Yamato Tanooka of Hokkaido, Japan, went missing, it wasn’t because he ran away from home. He didn’t get lost while playing in his neighborhood. He didn’t even get kidnapped.
Instead, his parents abandoned him in a forest after his parents believed he was misbehaving and throwing rocks.
Yamato’s disappearance set off a massive search by 180 people and dogs, all searching for the child whose parents made him get out of their car in a reportedly bear-filled forest in the northernmost part of the Japanese island.
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According to Dave Urbanski of TheBlaze, “Apparently walking for several kilometers, the boy found the empty hut in a military drill area and entered a door that had been left open. The longhouse-style hut had no heat or power and no food, but Yamato huddled between mattresses on the floor and drank water from the solitary faucet outside the hut for several days, local media reported.”
A soldier, who was not a part of the search team, found the boy seven days after his parents abandoned him, and quickly took him to medical personnel who transported the boy to the hospital.
Yamato’s father, Takayuki Tanooka, told reporters, “We have raised him with love all along…I really didn’t think it would come to that. We went too far.”
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Tanooka apologized, bowed deeply, and thanked everyone for his rescue.
Boy abandoned in Japan for being naughty found alive, unharmed https://t.co/ZY9b6FfgwG pic.twitter.com/rwYLKNRU3D
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) June 3, 2016
Published reports say the boy was dehydrated and had minor scratches on his arms and feet, but otherwise in good condition. He was also in good spirits, giving the peace sign and a smile when photographed by reporters.
The father has not been arrested and is not being criminally investigated. CBS News reported the parents initially lied about their son’s disappearance to authorities because they were embarrassed.
Parent educator Mitsuko Tateishi told reporters Japan is behind the West in protecting the rights of children and doubts very seriously if any legal action will be taken against the parents.
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