AICHI (TR) – Aichi Prefectural Police are investigating what is believed to have been a group suicide following the discovery of three corpses in the mountains of Toyota City, reports Kyodo News (July 2).
At around 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, a man conducting an environmental study alerted police after noticing a “strong smell” coming from inside a vehicle parked on vacant land along a forest road in the Habucho area.
Due to the stage of decay, the age and gender of the persons are not known. Burned charcoal briquettes — whose carbon monoxide fumes can be inhaled by persons intentionally taking their lives — were also found inside the vehicle, the Asuke Police Station said.
When police arrived at the scene the doors of the vehicle were locked and the windows taped shut. One officer smashed a window to reveal the three bodies lined up on the seats, which had been laid down.
The location of the discovery is about 2 kilometers southeast of of the office for Habu Dam.
