Japanese authorities have arrested a 75-year-old woman after she allegedly confessed to storing the body of her daughter in a freezer for nearly two decades.
Police in Ibaraki prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, said on Tuesday they discovered the remains of an adult woman inside a deep freezer at the home of Keiko Mori. A police spokesman, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Mori identified the body as that of her daughter, Makiko, who was born in 1975 and would now be about 49 or 50 years old.
“The body was in an advanced state of decay,” the spokesman said, adding that an autopsy will determine the cause of death.
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Mori, who came to the police with a relative, told investigators she placed the body in the freezer because of the smell that began spreading in the house. Officers who accompanied her to the property found the body dressed in a T-shirt and underwear, kneeling face-down inside the appliance.
She was arrested on suspicion of abandoning a body.
Police confirmed that Mori had multiple children, but declined to disclose how many or what information they provided about Makiko. Investigators also noted that Mori had been living alone since the recent death of her husband earlier this month.
The case has shocked the local community, raising questions about how the body remained undiscovered for so long. Authorities said the investigation is ongoing.