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Niigata police confirm body found on property is missing man

NIIGATA (TR) – Niigata Prefectural Police have confirmed that the corpse found buried on the grounds of a vacant house in the town of Seiro earlier this month is that of an elderly man who went missing two months before.

On Tuesday, police announced that the body is that of Hideo Kosugi, a 78-year-old resident of neighboring Niigata City, reports Kyodo News (Dec. 24).

Kosugi’s family issued a statement regarding the confirmation of the identity of the body: “Right now, we cannot accept this fact, and we are filled with disbelief and sadness at the loss of a family member, and we would like to ask that we, the family, be left alone.”

According to those involved in the investigation, there is information that a large amount of money was withdrawn from Kosugi’s account after he went missing.

It has also been revealed that residents living near the vacant house saw multiple people entering and leaving the house and heavy machinery being operated around November.

Kosugi lived alone. On October 16, newspapers were found piling up at his Niigata City home on October 16. Five days later, a relative filed a missing persons report.

The body was found on December 16. The following day, police began an investigation on suspicion of abandoning a corpse.