A man arrested for abandoning the body of his stepson who had been missing for weeks allegedly hid the corpse in different locations before police discovered it following an extensive search in Kyoto Prefecture, local police said Thursday.
The arrest on Thursday morning of Yuki Adachi, the 37-year-old stepfather of 11-year-old Yuki, marked a dramatic turn of events after police sought clues in the search for the boy who went missing on March 23.
The cause of the boy’s death has yet to be determined. An autopsy found no obvious external injuries on the body, while the death is estimated to have occurred in late March, roughly coinciding with when his whereabouts became unknown.
His body was found Monday in a rural area in Nantan in the prefecture.
His stepfather, whose name is also Yuki Adachi in English despite a small pronunciation difference in Japanese, told the police he dropped the boy off near Sonobe Elementary School that morning.
A teacher noticed the boy had not come to school and notified his mother. The stepfather then made an emergency call around noon that day.
The boy’s shoeless body was not found until Monday alongside a farm road in a wooded area, about 2 kilometers from the school.
His school backpack and a pair of black sneakers matching those he was said to be wearing were also found in separate locations away from both his home and where the body was discovered.
During a press conference, the local police said that the boy was alive on the morning of March 23, the day he was reported missing. They had not received any reports of abuse or assault involving the boy.
After a police search, the stepfather was arrested on suspicion of abandoning the body in Nantan between March 23 and Monday. He has admitted to the allegation, reportedly saying, “I did it.”
Editor: Story has been updated with more information about suspect.
© KYODO
