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Saitama cops questioning boys after corpse found half-buried in riverbed

The body of a 16-year-old boy was found half-buried along the Toki River
The body of a 16-year-old boy was found half-buried along the Toki River

SAITAMA (TR) – Saitama Prefectural Police are grilling several teenagers following the discovery of the body of a 16-year-old boy half-buried in a riverbed in Higashimatsuyama City, reports TBS News (Aug. 23).

At approximately 8 a.m. on Tuesday, a 72-year-old man who was out fishing tipped police off about “what appears to be a body” partially exposed from the riverbed of the Toki River. Police arriving at the scene found the body, that of a male, with his left side and lower half buried in gravel.

The body did not contain any external wounds. Police later identified him to be Tsubasa Inoue, a resident of the town of Yoshimi, according to Jiji Press (Aug. 24).

After the discovery, two boys arrived at a police box to tell officers that one of their acquaintances, aged 15, told one of them via the smartphone application Line, “I killed a person.”

In checking a mobile phone of one of the juveniles, police have found video footage showing a person appearing to be Inoue being assaulted after he was forced to swim naked in the river, according to the Sankei Shimbun (Aug. 24).

Police will use the results of an autopsy, expected to be conducted on Wednesday, to determine the cause of death.