AICHI (TR) – Aichi Prefectural Police on Wednesday arrested a man, 40, and a woman, 41, for dumping the body of an elderly woman who went missing in Shinshiro City last year, reports NHK (Oct. 12).
Police have charged Yasuhiro Kokubo and Tomomi Kageyama, who are acquaintances, with concealing the body of 71-year-old Sakuko Ogino in a detached house located about 150 meters from her residence in the mountainous area of Nanasatoisshiki.
Ogino, who lived alone, went missing at the end of December of last year. In June, relatives consulted with the Shinshiro Police Station. Since there was no apparent reason for her disappearance, police launched a criminal investigation.
The involvement of Kokubo and Kageyama in the alleged crime emerged after the pair were arrested in August for stealing cash from a donation box at a shrine in Tahara City. During questioning, it emerged that the suspects had received fees for meals and transportation to take care of Ogino, according to TV Asahi (Oct. 13).
Police subsequently found Ogino’s body on October 7, according to Jiji Press (Oct. 12). An investigation is now underway to determine how Ogino died.