KAGOSHIMA (TR) – A 28-year-old man in custody for allegedly dumping the corpse of a missing woman in Tarumizu City last year met the victim online, police have revealed, reports TBS News (Jan. 9).
According to police, Yuya Tabata, of no known occupation, dumped the body of Mihayu Iwakiri, 35, along a vegetated embankment near National Route 220 on around September 16.
Upon his arrest on Saturday, Tabata generally admitted to the allegations. “There’s no question that I abandoned [her],” the suspect was quoted by police. “But I don’t know whether [she] was dead.”
Iwakiri was an office worker living in Kanoya City. She met Tabata on a social-networking service.
On the night of September 16, she went left her residence and did not return. Her family then filed a missing persons report with police. On October 29, police found her decayed body near the highway.
Oita Prefectural Police first arrested Tabata for allegedly confining another woman at knifepoint inside a vehicle in Beppu City. During that investigation, his involvement in the death of Iwakiri emerged.
Police are continuing the investigation on suspicion of murder.
