A Japanese Nobel-winning chemist has been found wandering in rural Illinois and his wife found dead nearby, some nine hours after they had been reported missing from their home 320km away.
Nobel Prize winner Ei-ichi Negishi (82) was transported to a local hospital for treatment after he was spotted walking near Rockford in northern Illinois, at 5am on Tuesday (local time), the Ogle County Sheriff's Department officials said.
Deputies later found the couple's car and the body of his wife, Sumire Negishi, at the nearby Ochard Hills Landfill, the sheriff's department said.
Rockford is about 160km west of Chicago.
A post-mortem was pending on the body of Sumire Negishi but foul play was not suspected in her death, the sheriff's department said.
No information was released on the condition of Ei-Ichi Negishi.
The couple was reported missing to the Indiana State Police about 8pm on Monday (local time).
They were last seen at their home in West Lafayette, near the Purdue University campus where Ei-Ichi is a professor of chemistry.
The scientist was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 2010.
