KAGOSHIMA (TR) – Kagoshima Prefectural Police have arrested two men in connection with the death of a 67-year-old woman who had gone missing earlier this month on the island of Amami Oshima, reports Nippon News Network (Dec. 23).
On Wednesday morning, police discovered the fully nude corpse of Kyoko Yamada buried at a depth of approximately 60 centimeters in a forest about five kilometers southeast of the center of Amami City. The body did not contain any external wounds.
Police allege that Hidekazu Yokoyama, 41, and Hirotaka Yoshida, the 66-year-old common-law husband of the victim, dumped the woman’s body during the night of December 18 and the morning of the following day.
Yokoyama, who has been charged with abandoning a corpse, admits to the allegations, telling officers from the Amami Police Station that he and Yoshida transported the victim’s body to the crime scene and buried her. Yoshida, who lives in Yamada’s residence in Amami, denies the charges.
Starting around December 12, a relative had been unable to contact Yamada. A missing persons report was lodged with the police on December 20. Two days later, both suspects emerged as persons of interest.
After determining the cause of death through the results of an autopsy, police may seek to apply murder charges to the suspects.
