Body of 4-year-old girl missing for year found in Aomori home

Friday 28th November, 02:25 AM JST

AOMORI —

Police arrested a woman Friday on suspicion of abandoning the body of her 4-year-old daughter after the girl’s body was found in the home of a man they lived with in Aomori Prefecture, police officials said.

Before police found the body of the girl, Yuna, early Friday morning and arrested Haruna Kobayashi, 25, the man in his 20s was found dead Thursday evening after apparently committing suicide by burning briquettes in a small truck on a mountain in the prefecture, they said.

Kobayashi said the man had abused the girl, who the police believe died about a year ago, they said.

The woman is suspected of abandoning the body around Dec 20 last year after the girl died of unknown causes, according to police.

Officers found the body at around 1 a.m. Friday at the entrance of the man’s home in Shichinohe, Aomori Prefecture, covered by some cardboard.

Kobayashi and her three children, including Yuna, had lived in the man’s home since around the summer of last year.

Police began investigations after a local child welfare center told them that there were bruises on the body of one of Kobayashi’s other two children, a boy.

The boy said his sister went missing around January, police said.

Wire reports

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 23 Total Comments Show All

gogogo at 11:57 AM JST - 28th November

How sick is this woman, any motive?
romulus3 at 12:41 PM JST - 28th November

well that just proves that the cops did not even look for her. did not even try. did not investigate nothing. the woman and man are savages.
Disillusioned at 12:44 PM JST - 28th November

Sickening! And, the J-cops solve another case by proxy!
Spidey at 12:57 PM JST - 28th November

Let me get this straight...this girl was missing for a year, apparently at the hands of the 'parents' and nobody noticed!! No inquiries were made?!

"So how's your daughter? Haven't seen her for a while."

"Where's that little granddaughter/niece of mine...?"

The cracks in this society are very wide indeed.

S
smithinjapan at 01:00 PM JST - 28th November

Very sad, and very sick...

Worse yet, since the woman still has two sons the judge will probably give her a very light sentence (despite her involvement in murdering one of her children!). It's happened before, "...out of fear the children will be raised without their mother..." and it'll happen again.

Very sad.
elbudamexicano at 01:06 PM JST - 28th November

This a very sickening news article, and I agree completely with Spidey, how the hell can you not notice a cute little 3 year old is suddenly not around. I am not sure how backwards Aomori is but, usually these small town communities are quite tight nit so this to me sounds all the more strange! I hope these horrible people involved get the death penalty a.s.a.p!
mcheeky at 01:48 PM JST - 28th November

Many here have lost all reason and ability to read.

Details are thin. Stop jumping to unfounded assumptions.

(despite her involvement in murdering one of her children!)

We do not know how or why she died yet.

well that just proves that the cops did not even look for her.

It would seem she was not even reported missing. Why make it the fault of the police? I have seen them searching for missing kids many times. They got no magic spells to cast.

How could the police say them made a true investigation without questioning them intensely?

Maybe they did. In fact, I suspect the intense questioning raised enough suspicious that the man killed himself so he would not have to face justice.
mcheeky at 01:50 PM JST - 28th November

and nobody noticed!!

Says who? If a neighbor asks about the girl, and they say "she is living with grandma now.", how is the neighbor supposed to know any different?

If there is not contact with other family, how are they supposed to know?

Some people are great at making excuses and lies.
mcheeky at 01:52 PM JST - 28th November

It seems they weren't investigated.

It also seems the girl was not reported missing. I am just saying, if you do report your child missing, the fact that so many parents are involved in the death (like these two) means you will be investigated by the police, so don't be surprised.
dennis0bauer at 03:06 PM JST - 28th November

Another "normal" day in Japan, i thought things were less problematic here on the countryside but no.
bandogeek at 03:31 PM JST - 28th November

How does someone conceal a human body for a year? wouldn't the stench of decaying flesh alert people?
ptolemy at 04:30 PM JST - 28th November

Not just the stench, but the fact nobody reported it or looked for the cause of it. I just have to shake my head some times.
BBLeo at 04:42 PM JST - 28th November

Another day another yen. One murder after another. Now we will have to wait for a while to hear the rest of the story. I think this woman is another 'NUT' that should be locked up, or like yesterday with suspended sentence. What is going on suddenly in Japan? Are 'NUTS' realy growing with human brains?
Bogi at 09:34 PM JST - 28th November

I hate the society we live in. I want to vomit.
realist at 10:42 PM JST - 28th November

Sick, sick, sick. I know that there are similar cases in other countries from time to time - but this has almost become a dlaily occurence in Beautiful Japan. In this country, "social services" dont seem to exist, except in name only.