HOKKAIDO (TR) – Police here are investigating a staff member of the popular Asahiyama Zoo in Asahikawa City after he allegedly confessed to disposing of his wife’s remains in the facility’s incinerator, reports TV Asahi (Apr. 25).
The person of interest, a man in his 30s, was brought in for voluntary questioning after his wife, also in her 30s, abruptly went missing.
Two days ago, police received a call from someone related to the man’s wife requesting a check on her well-being. When police questioned him, he reportedly made a statement to the effect that he had abandoned and burned his wife’s body in an incinerator at Asahiyama Zoo.
Investigative sources revealed that the suspect has also made statements hinting that he murdered her before disposing of the corpse.
Acting on the man’s confession, police launched full-scale, on-site inspections at the Asahikawa Zoo. Investigators extensively searched the incinerator and surrounding areas for two consecutive days starting Friday.
However, as of Saturday, the woman’s remains have not been located. Authorities are proceeding cautiously with the grim theory that the body may have been completely consumed by the flames.
Police are continuing their search and investigating the exact sequence of events that led to the woman’s disappearance and presumed death.
The zoo, which is currently closed to the public for the season, has reportedly seen a flurry of staff activity as workers carry out facility maintenance alongside the ongoing police probe.
