Overview
- On Feb. 9, Kochi Minami Police arrested Yorihisa Sugio, 46, a company employee from Nakanosho-cho in Shikokuchuo, on suspicion of abandoning a corpse.
- Police say the body of Seiko Otani, 47, a restaurant worker from Kochi City, was found on Jan. 31 beside a mountain road in Shikokuchuo at a location the suspect identified.
- Kochi Prefectural Police classified the matter as a murder and corpse‑abandonment case and established a special investigation headquarters.
- According to police, Sugio acknowledged the abandonment allegation and indicated he killed Otani, and investigators are considering a murder charge.
- Otani disappeared in late September, relatives filed a missing‑person report in November, her car was later located in Okayama, and Sugio was arrested in January on suspicion of fraud for using her smartphone payment app on Sept. 24.