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Pictures released by Chiba Prefectural Police show Tatsuya Ichihashi, left, and a man believed to be Ichihashi when he visited a clinic in Nagoya late last month. (Photos courtesy of Chiba Prefectural Police)

ICHIKAWA, Chiba -- Police have released a picture believed to be that of a 30-year-old fugitive wanted in connection with the killing of a British woman taken shortly before the suspect underwent cosmetic surgery late last month.

Chiba Prefectural Police's Gyotoku Police Station released on Thursday what is believed to be the latest picture of Tatsuya Ichihashi, wanted in connection with the killing of Lindsay Ann Hawker, 22, an English language teacher whose body was found on the balcony of his apartment in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, in March 2007.

A man resembling Ichihashi underwent cosmetic surgery at a clinic in Nagoya on Oct. 24, three days before the clinic reported the sighting to police, investigators said.

According to investigators, the picture was taken prior to the cosmetic surgery. The man had a beard and mustache in the picture, but police intentionally erased the features in the released picture to avoid confusion. The man had apparently undergone cosmetic surgery several times, turning single-edged eyelids into double-edged, uplifting the nose and thinning down both sides of his lips.

Following the photo, the man underwent an operation to uplift his nose by several millimeters, but the surgeon reportedly told police that there was not much change in his appearance after the surgery.

However, since the man in the latest picture -- taken only about 10 days before its release -- looks much different from the previously released picture due to repeated plastic surgery, investigators expect it could help them find the fugitive through witness information.

The clinic reported on the man to Chiba Prefectural Police on Oct. 27, saying, "A man resembling Ichihashi visited us." The clinic reportedly did not realize during the surgery that the man resembled Ichihashi because he "appeared completely different from the man in the wanted picture," according to police.

It was only after the clinic was sorting out clinical record pictures after the surgery that it found traces of a mole having been removed from the man's left cheek and that the man resembled Ichihashi, a clinic official told police.

The man was scheduled to visit the clinic again on Oct. 31 to have stitches removed, but he never showed up. Tokyo Dental College, which was commissioned to examine the photo, confirmed that the man in the picture can be deemed to be Ichihashi.

For any information on the man, call Gyotoku Police Station at 047-397-0110, or e-mail: gyoutoku-police@docomo.ne.jp or gyoutoku@police.pref.chiba.jp