Society

Man arrested after missing woman’s body found in Ibaraki forest

Jun 19 (Japan Today) - Police in Tokyo have arrested a 33-year-old man on suspicion of illegally confining a 23-year-old woman and then abandoning her body in a forest in Ibaraki Prefecture.

According to police, Hiroyuki Sampei, 33, a company employee from Minamiashigara, Kanagawa Prefecture, is accused of confining Rina Arano, who lived in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, at his family’s vacation home in Hitachiota, Ibaraki Prefecture, for four days, and then dumping her body about one kilometer away in a nearby forest, Kyodo News reported.

Arano was last seen on the morning of June 5 when she told her parents she was going to meet a friend. On June 8, her parents filed a missing persons report. Her body was found on Saturday morning.

Police said Sampei, who was arrested on June 14, told them he met Arano on a social network site and arranged to meet her at JR Mito Station in Ibaraki Prefecture on June 5. Surveillance camera footage taken outside the station showed Sampei and Arano getting into a car and driving off in the direction of Sampei's home.

Police said Sampei has admitting taking Arano to his vacation home but denied confining her for days. He also admitted handcuffing Arano briefly but said he did so with her consent.

Source: ANNnewsCH

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