SHIGA (TR) – Shiga Prefectural Police are investigating what is believed to be a murder-suicide after the discovery of the bodies of a man and his daughter inside a construction equipment storage yard in Ritto City, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Feb. 27).
On Saturday afternoon, police found Toru Nakai, a 36-year-old carpenter, hanging by his neck from the arm of a backhoe inside the yard, located in the Kanoji area.
The body of his 6-year-old daughter, Nana Kubo, was found in the back seat of a passenger vehicle parked near the backhoe. Her neck contained markings consistent with strangulation by a cord.
Police believe that Nakai killed his daughter before taking his own life.
According to relatives, Nakai had been in a custody dispute with the girl’s mother. Since Friday evening, the whereabouts of Nakai and his daughter had been unknown.