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Fukuoka police: Woman whose corpse found dismembered likely killed outside home

The dismembered body of Harumi Tonoike was found in a river in Kitakyushu City last September
The dismembered body of Harumi Tonoike was found in a river in Kitakyushu City last September (Twitter)

FUKUOKA (TR) – Fukuoka Prefectural Police revealed on Wednesday that a 29-year-old woman whose dismembered corpse was found in a river in Kitakyushu City last year was likely killed outside of her residence, reports NHK (Jan. 30).

In September, police working off a tip found a skull and several bones in the Yoshida River near a residential area in Kokuraminami Ward. An examination of the bones revealed that they had been cut, police said at the time.

Using a DNA analysis, police earlier this week confirmed that the body belongs to Harumi Tonoike, a resident of the town of Soeda.

The residence of Tonoike, who lived alone, is approximately 30 kilometers away from where her body was discovered. A missing persons report was not filed on her, police said previously.

In the latest development, police revealed that no bloodstains or signs of blood as a result of testing were found inside, leading investigators to believe that she was killed and her body dismembered outside of her residence.

Troubled past

According to TV Asahi (Jan. 31), Tonoike’s mother died when she was a child. She had been living with her husband and 3-year-old daughter. However, he disappeared about two years ago.

In January, 2016, Tonoike visited a child consultation center to report that she had no food to eat. The center is believed to have taken custody of her daughter. Tonoike was last seen in July of last year.

A male 47-year-old neighbor of Tonoike in Soeda told the Mainichi Shimbun (Jan. 30) that he saw her with her daughter last summer. “For such a thing to happen is dreadful,” the neighbor said.