SAN JUAN, Argentina, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- A man rescued after spending months high in the Andes fled Chile to avoid charges of molesting an 8-year-old boy, Chilean authorities said Tuesday.
An arrest warrant for Cincunegui Raul Fernando Gomez, 58, has been sent to Argentina by Interpol, Diario de Cuyo, a newspaper in San Juan, Argentina, reported.
Fernando-Gomez was discovered Sunday at a shelter by a team sent to measure snow depths in the Andes. He said he had been trying to walk across the mountains during the southern hemisphere winter after his motorcycle broke down in May in Petorca, Chile.
The story at first seemed a survival miracle. Fernando-Gomez said he had brought some provisions with him and found more supplies in the shelter but also melted snow and ate rats he captured in traps.
Investigators now say Fernando-Gomez, a native of Uruguay who was reported missing in May, embarked on the dangerous journey in order to leave Chile unnoticed. He was under a court order to remain in the country.
