RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate Pref. — The elderly couple fled their home on foot as the warning sirens blared. But they could not keep up with their neighbors and fell behind as the tsunami rushed in.

Nearly a week later, 71-year-old Taeko Kanno and her husband are still missing.

"I think there is no hope," said Katsuo Maiya, Kanno's brother-in-law. "I can't find them. The only thing I can do is wait until the military collects their bodies."