HOKKAIDO (TR) – A rescue team on Thursday found the body of a man on a mountain after he is believed to have engaged in a suicide pact with a teenage girl who backed out, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Jan. 4).
At around 11:20 a.m., the team found the body of the man collapsed on the snow on Mount Asahi about 1.5 kilometers northwest of Sugatami Station on the Daisetsuzan Asahidake Ropeway. He was confirmed dead at the scene.
The day before, the girl told police that she climbed the mountain with a man, aged in his 20s and living on Honshu, that she met on a social-networking service. She said the pair discussed committing suicide together.
On Tuesday, they ascended the mountain together. The following morning, the girl backed out after finding the man motionless and descended, police said.
Police are attempting to confirm the identity of the man and the cause of death.
