Convicted rapist Marcellus Jacob is being sought by police, after walking away from his halfway house in B.C.'s Lower Mainland a week ago, just a day before the end of his sentence.

Whitehorse RCMP Sgt. Mark Groves said today Vancouver's high-risk offender unit was immediately notified when the 26-year-old former Whitehorse resident breached his probation conditions on April 1.

Officers have not been able to locate Jacob, and the Whitehorse RCMP were notified today of Jacob's absence.

Groves said there is no indication Jacob has any interest in returning to the Yukon. In fact, he pointed out, there are indications he is still in the Lower Mainland, though the sergeant said he is not free to discuss what those indications are.

Given Jacob's criminal history and his connection to Whitehorse, the RCMP felt it necessary to put out a public advisory.

Police are also asking anyone who sees or has information about his whereabouts to contact the detachment at 667-5555.

Jacob was scheduled for mandatory release April 2, subject to the conditions of a two-year peace bond imposed by the B.C. Justice department.

Groves said he has no evidence suggesting why he breach his probation just a day before he would have been free to leave, though still subject to the conditions of the peace bond.

Jacob was sentenced on Feb. 27, 2002 to seven years for raping and torturing a Whitehorse woman for several hours after he broke into her home late in the night.

He was denied early parole when the National Parole Board found Jacob did little to seek help for the obvious emotional and mental problems he was gripped by.

He was first released Oct. 17, 2006, on the mandatory release date after two thirds of his sentence.

He was picked up just months later for breaching his release conditions, and sent back to jail until May 30, 2008.

After his release last spring, he was re-arrested for another breach last August, and sent back to jail until Jan. 15, when he was directed to reside at a halfway house until is statutory release date of April 2.

At the time of his sentencing , then territorial court judge Barry Stuart described the crime as brutally violent and despicable, and one that shredded the emotional state of the victim.

Stuart also found that Jacob had a harsh and troubled youth, though he fell through the cracks of the territory's social system, and the justice system.