Hyogo Prefectural Police are questioning a 35-year-old man on suspicion of killing a 34-year-old woman whose body was found buried near a mountain road in Kasai City.

According to police, the victim is Eri Umemoto, who lived in Himeji City, Sankei Shimbun reported. Umemoto’s mother visited a police box in Himeji early on the morning of Oct 24 to report that her daughter had failed to come home after saying she was going to meet a male acquaintance the day before.

Police said Yosuke Sekiguchi, a company employee who was an acquaintance of Umemoto, was initially arrested on suspicion of confining the woman in his car. He has also been charged with abandoning a corpse and is being questioned about her death.

Police said Sekiguchi has admitted to meeting Umemoto on Oct 23 and driving her around the city but he denied confining her. He was quoted as saying, “We kissed and flirted in the car but I don’t think you could say I confined her.”