Overview
- Emergency responders found a 17-year-old high school girl collapsed on the Sagami River bank and she was later confirmed dead at hospital early Thursday morning.
- The girl left home Wednesday afternoon saying she would meet an acquaintance and her family reported her missing late that night, prompting a police search.
- Police say the condition of the body at the scene led them to treat the death as likely foul play and to launch a murder investigation.
- A 19-year-old man described as the girl’s acquaintance and ex-boyfriend was arrested on suspicion of murder, has been questioned by police, and has acknowledged the allegations according to investigators.
- Investigators say the suspect was linked to a vacant site in Sagamihara where the killing is alleged to have occurred and they are using the victim’s phone GPS and collecting forensic evidence to establish cause and motive.