NARA (TR) – Mie Prefectural Police on Saturday announced the arrest of a 37-year-old company employee after the discovery of two female corpses in the mountains of Nara City.
One of the corpses is that of his girlfriend, 44-year-old Sonomi Ikeda, a resident of Iga City, Mie Prefecture, who went missing earlier this year, reports the Asahi Shimbun (July 18).
On July 17, the remains of two women were discovered on a riverbank in a mountainous area near the Nabari River. Police later identified one of the victims as Ikeda.
Police have accused Takahiro Imakita, a resident of Nara, of dumping Ikeda’s body in early February. During questioning, he stated, “I transported both bodies in my private vehicle and disposed of them alone.”
Second body believed to be daughter
According to police, Ikeda and her 20-year-old daughter, a university student named Rion, both vanished after February 10. Authorities are currently hurrying to confirm the identity of the second body found at the scene, which is strongly believed to be the daughter.
Investigators have since uncovered Imakita’s earlier attempts to deflect suspicion. When questioned by a police officer regarding Ikeda’s whereabouts on the day she went missing, Imakita played dumb. “I can’t get in touch with her either,” he reportedly claimed at the time.
In what appears to be a calculated move just three days prior to that inquiry, Imakita had even contacted police himself, reporting that his girlfriend seemed to have been caught up in some sort of trouble.
Police are now scrutinizing the timeline of events and investigating the exact circumstances that led to the grim double discovery.
Police also plan to investigate the matter with a view to potentially bringing murder charges regarding the two women.
