AICHI (TR) – Aichi Prefectural Police have launched an investigation following the discovery of a woman’s corpse in an irrigation channel in Toyota City, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Mar. 24).
At around 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, a female passerby returning alerted police after seeing “what seems like a person’s foot” in the channel, a narrow ditch adjacent to a rice paddy field in the Unebe-Nishi area.
The woman, later identified as Rie Ochi, a 34-year-old part-time employee from the town of Kamigo, was found by officers from the Toyota Police Station with the upper half of her unclothed body submerged beneath the water. She was confirmed dead at the scene.
According to police, her body did not exhibit any external wounds. The cause of death is under investigation. No personal articles were found at the scene.
On Wednesday, Ochi’s family reported her missing to police. The case is being treated as a result of foul play.
