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Japanese Authorities Urge Caution after Wild Bears Attack Several People

A train makes its way down the tracks along the Kanda river in the Ochanomizu area of Tokyo at sunset on May 17, 2024. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
A train makes its way down the tracks along the Kanda river in the Ochanomizu area of Tokyo at sunset on May 17, 2024. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
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Japanese Authorities Urge Caution after Wild Bears Attack Several People

A train makes its way down the tracks along the Kanda river in the Ochanomizu area of Tokyo at sunset on May 17, 2024. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)
A train makes its way down the tracks along the Kanda river in the Ochanomizu area of Tokyo at sunset on May 17, 2024. (Photo by Richard A. Brooks / AFP)

Japanese authorities have warned residents Saturday to be aware of wild bears in the country's northeast after several people were attacked, including police officers.
The bears, measuring about 50 centimeters in height, were seen in the area, including Akita and Fukushima Prefectures.
Two police officers were attacked Saturday in the city of Kazuno in Akita while recovering the body of a missing man, according to Japanese media reports. The man had gone hunting for bamboo shoots in the mountains a few days earlier where he was found dead in the area with gash wounds. It remains unclear if he died due to a bear attack.
The officers are in serious condition, though not life-threatening, reports said.
In response, some wooded areas have been closed off in Kazuno "for an indefinite time,” The Associated Press quoted officials as saying in a statement.
News footage showed police officers putting up signs warning people to stay out of mountainous areas where the bears were sighted.
Over the weekend, patrol cars were dispatched together with a helicopter search to locate the bears.
Akita Prefectural Police have urged people to keep bells and other noise-producing devices on hand to scare the bears away in case of an encounter, and not to go out at night.
Thousands of Asiatic black bears live in the wild throughout Japan. Attacks have risen as the borders blur between the bears’ habitats and people’s dwellings. The scarcity of acorns, berries and other food, possibly connected to climate change, is also blamed for the surge in bear encounters.

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Woman who Disappeared from Wisconsin More Than 6 Decades Ago Found Safe

A welcome sign stands at the entrance of the city of Reedsburg, Wis., in July 2020. (Erica Dynes/Reedsburg Times-Press via AP)
A welcome sign stands at the entrance of the city of Reedsburg, Wis., in July 2020. (Erica Dynes/Reedsburg Times-Press via AP)
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Woman who Disappeared from Wisconsin More Than 6 Decades Ago Found Safe

A welcome sign stands at the entrance of the city of Reedsburg, Wis., in July 2020. (Erica Dynes/Reedsburg Times-Press via AP)
A welcome sign stands at the entrance of the city of Reedsburg, Wis., in July 2020. (Erica Dynes/Reedsburg Times-Press via AP)

Sixty-two years ago, Audrey Backeberg disappeared from a small city in south-central Wisconsin after reportedly hitchhiking with her family’s babysitter and catching a bus to Indianapolis.
Nobody ever knew where she went or what happened to her.
All that changed last week when she was found alive and safe in another state, thanks to the fresh eyes from a deputy who took over the case in February.
Detective Isaac Hanson discovered an out-of-state arrest record that matched Backeberg, which triggered a series of investigative moves that led to finding her alive and safe in another state.
Turns out Backeberg chose to leave the town of Reedsburg on her own accord -- likely due to an abusive husband, The Associated Press quoted Hanson as saying.
“She’s happy, safe and secure; And just kind of lived under the radar for that long,” he said.
Hanson was assigned the case in late February and, after discovering the arrest record, he and other officials met with Backeberg’s family to see if they had a connection with that region. They also started digging through Backeberg's sister's Ancestry.com account, pulling census records, obituaries and marriage licenses from that region.
Within about two months, they found an address where a woman was living that Hanson said shared a lot of similarities with Backeberg, including date of birth and social security number. Hanson was able to get a deputy from that jurisdiction to go to the address. Ten minutes later, Backeberg, now in her 80's, called Hanson.
“It happened so fast," he said. "I was expecting the deputy to call me back and say, ‘Oh nobody answered the door.’ And I thought it was the deputy calling me, but it was actually her. And to be honest it was just a very casual conversation. I could sense that she obviously had her reasons for leaving.”
Most of the information he learned during that call he declined to share, saying that it was still important to Backeberg that she not be found.
“I think it overwhelmed her of course with the emotions that she had, having a deputy show up at her house and then kind of call her out and talk with her about what happened and kind of relive 62 years in 45 minutes,” he said.
Hanson described discovering her safe after more than six decades practically unheard of. And while he doesn't know what will happen next in terms of her family reconnecting, he said he was happy that she can reach out if she wants to.
“There's family living here, so she has my contact number if she ever wants to reach out or needs anything, any phone numbers of family members back here," he said. "Ultimately she kind of holds the cards for that.”