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Emergency services received a call just after 1 a.m. Wednesday morning after a 36-year-old woman was found dead in her Hamamatsu City apartment by her sister and mother, police said.
Akemi Sugiura, a 36-year-old employee at a bar, had strangulation marks on her neck. She was found lying on her back beside her bed, and there were no signs of a struggle in the room or on her clothes, police said.
Sugiura’s mother received a call from Sugiura’s 5-year-old daughter’s kindergarten at around 2.30 p.m. Tuesday, saying that Sugiura had not come to pick her up. She and Sugiura’s younger sister later thought it strange that they were not able to contact Sugiura, and decided to visit her apartment. Sugiura’s sister told police that she had spoken with her on the phone at 11 a.m. and that there was nothing unusual about the conversation.
Police said Sugiura lived by herself in the fifth-floor apartment, and the building had an auto-lock security system. Her daughter lives with Sugiura’s mother, and Sugiura would pick up her daughter from kindergarten and take her to her mother's place before going to work at the bar.
© Wire reports
11 Comments
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nevarezga
JHansen, I was thinking about the same, some of us started reading japantoday.com and after a few days realized that there were murder news almost every day, and then we say "what the.." because it's something we didn't expect to be so common in a country like Japan. THe truth is that these things happen everywhere. Like you said, these things of news are so common in my city that they stopped publishing murder news on front pages long time ago, and sometimes the event is not worth the space in the paper.
nath
Very Sad! I only take heart in that in Japan this type of thing makes the news. In my hometown in the US, this type of thing is so common that it doesn't warrant even a word in the local press.
seesaw
dolphingirl: thanks. Let's hope the Police find the culprit(s) soon..sad news.
dolphingirl
seesaw: I agree. You would think that alarm bells would have gone off when they realized that she hadn't picked up her daugher from school. Well, it may have been to late anyway but still...
seesaw
Jason6: But, this is not an appointment, it's an obligation. If you are a parent, would you purposely forget to pick up your daughter from school?..:)
Disillusioned
If she lives in a secured apartment they surely have security cameras. It shouldn't take the key-stones long to figure this one out, hopefully.
Is the fact she was a bar worker relevant?jason6
seesaw: the mother usually picked her daughter up, took her to grandma's house house, then goes to work. they must have assumed she forgot to pick her daughter up. you don't immediately assume somebody is murdered when they miss an appointment, do you?
seesaw
The Grand daughter reported to the Grandma at 2.30 pm, and she found her strangled body at 1 am and reported to the Police. What happened in between those hours? A concerned Mother would have checked on her daughter all over the place.....seems strange to me that she didn't.
ninjohitokiri
bars and crime. its a sad situation.
ratpack
Feel real sad for the little 5 year old daughter. How do you explain a situation like this to her??
ninjohitokiri
BARS AND CRIME. HO HUM.