Japanese police are questioning a zoo worker on suspicion of leaving a woman’s body in an incinerator at the animal crematorium at Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido, an investigative source said Friday.
The man has told investigators that he put the body of his wife in the incinerator, the source said. However, as no such body has been found there, police are looking into whether it may have burned to ash.
The man is a city employee in his 30s working at the popular zoo in Asahikawa on the northern main island, according to the source. A person close to a woman in her 30s contacted police this month after being unable to reach her since around late March.
The zoo has been closed for the past two weeks to prepare for the new season, which begins next Wednesday.
Police examined the area around the crematorium on Friday. The facility is used to cremate zoo animals after they die.
© KYODO
