NEW YORK -- New York state police have launched a manhunt for a convicted hedge fund fraudster, Samuel Israel, who failed to report to prison this week, officials said Wednesday.

Israel was sentenced to a hefty 20-year jail term in April after pleading guilty to defrauding investors out of over $450 million tied to the now-collapsed Bayou hedge funds.

The missing hedge fund manager was meant to report to prison to begin his jail term on Monday, but he failed to show up.

A sport utility vehicle (SUV) belonging to Israel was found abandoned on Monday near the Bear Mountain Bridge which spans the Hudson River in New York state.

The words "suicide is painless" were scrawled in dust across the front of the SUV, according to a photograph of the vehicle released to the media.

A warrant has been issued for Israel's arrest and as of Wednesday afternoon, the convicted fraudster had still not been located by the police.

"No new developments," a New York state police official said.

Press reports say that dozens of people have committed suicide from the Bear Mountain Bridge since the 1980s, but police usually find the bodies of people who have jumped to their deaths off the bridge.

No witnesses have come forward so far to say they saw Israel jump from the high bridge.

"We are looking for Samuel Israel and haven't foreclosed any possibilities," a spokeswoman for the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York said.

The Southern District office prosecuted Israel who pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud and mail fraud charges in late 2005.

Israel's case marked one of the largest hedge fund fraud cases prosecuted by US authorities.