TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 48-year-old woman for allegedly concealing a corpse likely belonging to her mother in their residence in Katsushika Ward, reports TBS News (Jan. 29).
On Friday, police accused Yumi Yoshino of abandoning a corpse. “I hid the body because I wanted to continue living in the apartment, whose contract was in my mother’s name,” Yoshino told police.
A member of a cleaning crew alerted police after finding the body inside a refrigerator on the first floor on Wednesday.
About one year ago, Yoshino stopped paying rent. The cleaning crew arrived at the residence on Wednesday after an eviction order had been issued.
At the time of the discovery, Yoshino was not present. On Friday, police found her at a hotel in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture.
Yoshino added that one day about 10 years ago she found her mother dead inside the apartment. “I bought the refrigerator to conceal the corpse,” she said.