Take our user survey and make your voice heard.
Police arrested a woman Friday on suspicion of abandoning the body of her 4-year-old daughter after the girl's body was found in the home of a man they lived with in Aomori Prefecture, police officials said.
Before police found the body of the girl, Yuna, early Friday morning and arrested Haruna Kobayashi, 25, the man in his 20s was found dead Thursday evening after apparently committing suicide by burning briquettes in a small truck on a mountain in the prefecture, they said.
Kobayashi said the man had abused the girl, who the police believe died about a year ago, they said.
The woman is suspected of abandoning the body around Dec 20 last year after the girl died of unknown causes, according to police.
Officers found the body at around 1 a.m. Friday at the entrance of the man's home in Shichinohe, Aomori Prefecture, covered by some cardboard.
Kobayashi and her three children, including Yuna, had lived in the man's home since around the summer of last year.
Police began investigations after a local child welfare center told them that there were bruises on the body of one of Kobayashi's other two children, a boy.
The boy said his sister went missing around January, police said.
© Wire reports
23 Comments
Login to comment
spiderman
can't believe they're hiding the body for almost a year.. sick!
mcheeky
If you report your kid missing, you will be investigated, and here is why.
mindovermatter
Unbelievable....
What is wrong with these people....
mindovermatter
Just wonder how many more missing little girls and boys are out there in this country, when they can afford to waste so many police resources toward cracking down on stupid and idiotic things like bicycle registration and a plethora of other totally ridiculous activities....
taiko666
Let's hear it for the keystones for clearing up this mystery! Their diligence and perseverence in sitting around in the koban waiting for somebody to inform them of the whereabouts of this child('s body) must be commended.
It seems they weren't investigated.
indiboy
The mother of three kids was living with 20~ years old guy. Isn't it little strange. It seems they love become pregnent but have no idea how to raise their kids
memyselfI
That's gruesome and scary ! ! They probably didn't want the birds and other animals eatting it. So they covered it up with cardboard.
I guess love is really blind in her eyes. She cared about the boyfriend to much she didn't care if her baby lived or died ! Scary
Bartholomew Harte
In any police search for amissing child TheNumberOne "persons of interest are TheParents. How could the police say them made a true investigation without questioning them intensely?I think a few heads should Roll in this all too sad case.
gogogo
How sick is this woman, any motive?
romulus3
well that just proves that the cops did not even look for her. did not even try. did not investigate nothing. the woman and man are savages.
Disillusioned
Sickening! And, the J-cops solve another case by proxy!
Spidey
Let me get this straight...this girl was missing for a year, apparently at the hands of the 'parents' and nobody noticed!! No inquiries were made?!
"So how's your daughter? Haven't seen her for a while."
"Where's that little granddaughter/niece of mine...?"
The cracks in this society are very wide indeed.
S
smithinjapan
Very sad, and very sick...
Worse yet, since the woman still has two sons the judge will probably give her a very light sentence (despite her involvement in murdering one of her children!). It's happened before, "...out of fear the children will be raised without their mother..." and it'll happen again.
Very sad.
Elbuda Mexicano
This a very sickening news article, and I agree completely with Spidey, how the hell can you not notice a cute little 3 year old is suddenly not around. I am not sure how backwards Aomori is but, usually these small town communities are quite tight nit so this to me sounds all the more strange! I hope these horrible people involved get the death penalty a.s.a.p!
mcheeky
Many here have lost all reason and ability to read.
Details are thin. Stop jumping to unfounded assumptions.
We do not know how or why she died yet.
It would seem she was not even reported missing. Why make it the fault of the police? I have seen them searching for missing kids many times. They got no magic spells to cast.
Maybe they did. In fact, I suspect the intense questioning raised enough suspicious that the man killed himself so he would not have to face justice.
mcheeky
Says who? If a neighbor asks about the girl, and they say "she is living with grandma now.", how is the neighbor supposed to know any different?
If there is not contact with other family, how are they supposed to know?
Some people are great at making excuses and lies.
mcheeky
It also seems the girl was not reported missing. I am just saying, if you do report your child missing, the fact that so many parents are involved in the death (like these two) means you will be investigated by the police, so don't be surprised.
Dennis Bauer
Another "normal" day in Japan, i thought things were less problematic here on the countryside but no.
bandogeek
How does someone conceal a human body for a year? wouldn't the stench of decaying flesh alert people?
ptolemy
Not just the stench, but the fact nobody reported it or looked for the cause of it. I just have to shake my head some times.
BBLeo
Another day another yen. One murder after another. Now we will have to wait for a while to hear the rest of the story. I think this woman is another 'NUT' that should be locked up, or like yesterday with suspended sentence. What is going on suddenly in Japan? Are 'NUTS' realy growing with human brains?
Bogi
I hate the society we live in. I want to vomit.
realist
Sick, sick, sick. I know that there are similar cases in other countries from time to time - but this has almost become a dlaily occurence in Beautiful Japan. In this country, "social services" dont seem to exist, except in name only.