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Police: 20-year-old local scholar missing

The Madison Police Department reported a student of the Wisconsin English as a Second Language Institute is missing. According to a Monday release from the MPD, Kenji Ohmi, a 20-year-old student from Japan, was reportedly last seen at 6:30 a.m. Jan. 28.

Police said they have started an investigation, but have no reason to believe foul play was involved in Ohmi's disappearance.

"We are not aware of anything new yet," Capt. Mary Schauf, MPD, said Monday afternoon. "We've just taken the preliminary steps."

According to the police report, Ohmi does not speak English and was last seen wearing a black jacket, jeans and white sneakers.

Ohmi is reportedly five feet tall, 120 pounds and resides on the 200 block of North Hamilton Street.

Schauf said she did not want to "speculate" about Ohmi's whereabouts, as police are only gathering "initial information."

"It's hard to lay out every eventuality," Schauf said. "Every case is different depending on the information."

Schauf said a detective will be assigned to the case and that officers will attempt to contact Ohmi's family in Japan.

Wisconsin English as a Second Language Institute representatives did not return phone calls as of press time.

The institute is located at 19 N. Pinckney St. and offers English-language courses for students from more than 40 countries, according to the institute's website.

Police ask anyone who might have information regarding Ohmi's whereabouts to contact the Madison Police Department.