Ishikawa prefectural police said on Saturday that they had found a woman's body in a forest in Awara, Fukui Prefecture, after a man arrested on suspicion of confinement told them he had killed her and abandoned the body. Police are now investigating him on suspicion of murder and abandoning a corpse as well.
The suspect is Koji Utsunomiya, 49, unemployed, of Kawauchi 6-chome, Asaminami Ward, Hiroshima, according to Hakusan police. The confinement charge covers the period from around 5:15 a.m. to around 2:30 p.m. on October 30, when he is alleged to have held a woman in her 20s from Ishikawa Prefecture inside his car.
He has admitted putting the woman in the car but denied forcing her, telling police: "I did put her in the car, but I didn't make her get in." He separately told investigators he had "killed the woman and left her in the mountains."
Search finds body in Awara
About 60 officers began searching the area on Saturday morning and found the body in the mountains of Awara at around 10:20 a.m. Her clothing was not disarranged. Police believe the body is that of the missing woman and are working to confirm her identity.
The investigation began after the woman's family filed a missing-person report on the night of November 5, saying they could not reach her. Footage from security cameras and other evidence pointed to Utsunomiya. Police located him in Hiroshima, took him voluntarily to a police station there, and arrested him on the night of November 6.
Earlier call to police
On the night of July 28, the woman phoned Ishikawa prefectural police headquarters and said she wanted to cut off relations with her partner, according to the force. Officers from Hakusan police visited her and told her to call 110 if anything happened.
Police believe the partner was Utsunomiya and are investigating what trouble arose between the two.