MIYAGI (TR) – Miyagi Prefectural Police have arrested a 61-year-old woman after the decayed bodies likely of her mother and brother were found in their residence in Sendai City, reports Kyodo News (May 18).
On May 17, a local welfare officer and a relative of Atsuko Hayasaka discovered the body of the mother, aged in her 90s, on a bed on the first floor in the residence, located in Aoba Ward. Meanwhile, the body of the brother, aged in his 60s, was found in the living room on the same floor.
According to the Sendai-Kita Police Station, neither body exhibited signs of external wounds. The following day, officers accused Hayasaka of abandoning a corpse.
During questioning, the suspect said that after the passings of her mother last December and her brother in March she failed to report the deaths to police.
According to police, the mother had been receiving living assistance through a day care service. After Hayasaka cancelled the service in December, a welfare officer was denied access to the residence. The brother was last seen alive in January.
In addition to confirming the identities of the bodies, police are seeking the causes of death.
