Police search the street in Togane where Yukimaro Narita was found.

Investigators try to track last 30 minutes of murdered girl in Chiba

Thursday 25th September, 12:23 AM JST

CHIBA —

A 5-year-old girl, who died after being found unconscious and naked on a roadside in Togane, Chiba Prefecture, on Sunday afternoon, was spotted by several people around the crime scene prior to her death, police said Tuesday.

Yukimaro Narita, 5, was found on the street around 12:26 p.m. She was naked and her clothes were found at a car park about 100 meters from the crime scene.

According to police investigations, Yukimaro went missing after she left her mother’s workplace, a hospital, for her friend’s home Sunday morning around 10:30. Her mother had taken Yukimaro to the hospital on Saturday as she was on the night shift, police said. She was seen walking along the street near the hospital shortly after 10:30, but police said she never visited her friend who wasn’t at home that morning.

Yukimaro came back to the hospital around 11 a.m., asking a hospital staff member when her mother would finish work. She was last seen leaving the hospital around noon, according to police.

The next time Yukimaro was seen was when her body was found on the street about 300 meters from the hospital.

Police said that Yukimaro was strangled and that she had a bruise on her arm, indicating that she may have been held in a tight grip. Police believe she may have been grabbed by somebody, forced into a car and taken away before being brought back.

Police are appealing to the public for any information and on Tuesday released photos of Yukimaro and the clothes she was wearing.

According to police, there have been several reports about suspicious individuals in the area so far. A naked man was spotted at a nearby park in April, while another man chased female staff leaving a dental clinic.

Wire reports

Latest 15 of 45 Total Comments Show All

stanoue at 08:31 PM JST - 24th September

It's funny - in a Western style article reporting these types of details, it would also state whether the girl appeared to have been sexually assaulted or not - I mean it can be pretty easy to work out for a 5 year old. Is it not standard to give that information to the press here?
sangetsu at 10:47 PM JST - 24th September

I live only 100 meters from where the girl's body was found, and I'm still in shock over the whole situation. I've always thought of Togane as a quiet and crime free place. My only complaints about the place so far have been the noisy scooters which the teenagers around here love to ride. There are many children in the area, as there are several schools nearby. It wasn't at all unusual to see young children walking around by themselves, though that's all changed now. I truly hope they find the person responsible and punish him accordingly.
sangetsu at 10:53 PM JST - 24th September

LFRAagain "And then there's the third option: Find out why these criminals commit such horrific deeds. Delve deep into their childhoods, explore their experiences growing up, analyze the pressures they faced that may have driven them to do something so wildly outside of social norms, and take that data, analyze it, and develop some sort of system to ensure that others don't follow the same twisted path."

One isn't always the result of one's upbringing. There's nothing I dislike more than listening to a defence attorney digging up a defendant's past in order to justify or in any way excuse criminal behaviour. Some people are stupid, others are genuinely evil, and both types deserve punishment. Punishment will teach the stupid, and hopefully restrain the evil ones among us.
pizzaboy at 11:27 PM JST - 24th September

noborito:

5 years old and left to roam the streets. Japan isn't safe.

alright, then tell us where it IS completely safe in the world for a 5 year old to "roam the streets" on their own, I dare you.
pizzaboy at 11:31 PM JST - 24th September

I don't have to produce any witnesses. I'm sure the police will look into the mother's whereabouts. But I subscribe to the innocent until proven guilty theory and caution you and other readers not to let your imagination run away with you.

LOL
pizzaboy at 11:33 PM JST - 24th September

I live only 100 meters from where the girl's body was found, and I'm still in shock over the whole situation. I've always thought of Togane as a quiet and crime free place.

that's what they all say, when will people learn...
pizzaboy at 11:35 PM JST - 24th September

sangetsu:

Some people are stupid, others are genuinely evil,

yes, and usually that's a result of their upbringing and traumatic events they experienced etc. In essence, you just agreed with LFRAgain.
Philmoscowitz at 11:48 PM JST - 24th September

wow, letting a 5 year old girl wander the streets alone? that's just stupid! is the mother single?---is that why the girl was with her at the hospital? of course it's hard for single working mothers, but even then it seems irresponsible to let the girl go off on her own.
DBC at 05:55 AM JST - 25th September

RIP little one. I bet she was beautiful.
CavemanLawyer at 08:34 AM JST - 25th September

I don't have to produce any witnesses. I'm sure the police will look into the mother's whereabouts.

I was simply pointing out to you the fact that it is still possible the mother did it. You said she could not because she was at work. Faith that the police actually verified that she was in fact working is not very good proof. Witnesses would be better proof and the police have not told us there are any.

But I subscribe to the innocent until proven guilty theory and caution you and other readers not to let your imagination run away with you.

I have not contradicted the principle of "innocent until proven guilty". I think you may have focused too much on the word "innocent" while forgotten about the "proven guilty" part. Of course the mother cannot be said to be guilty at this time, but that does not mean she should not investigated.

--Cirroc
fatloser at 12:24 PM JST - 25th September

Yes, children can be beautiful when they are brought up by caring parents. But when neglected and uncared for they might not be very fun to be around. How can the mother be a nurse at work and a mother at the same time? Wouldn't you think it might be stressful. Wouldn't it cause bad feelings between the other nurses, administrators and patients?
WilliB at 12:42 PM JST - 25th September

fatloser:

" How can the mother be a nurse at work and a mother at the same time? "

Actually, the idea of stay-home-mom dedicated only to kids and making dinner is a relatively new idea, historically. Go a few generations back and you´ll find that everybody in the family had to work, while kids just kept popping up tagged along and started helping as they got bigger. My own grandma had 9 kids, and she was working on the farm. This women working in her parents hospital, with grandparents around and the kid running about is closer to the traditional model than the Norman Rockwell painting of a small core family that we sometimes imagine is ideal.
fatloser at 01:18 PM JST - 25th September

But she wasn't employed by a hospital. If she's taking care of her child there she isn't working. It is bound to cause friction.
LFRAgain at 01:36 PM JST - 25th September

If it's the mother's parent's hospital, I don't think it's going to cause much friction. In fact, this kind of arrangement is closer to traditional Japanese families that own a business of some sort. Having the children and grandchildren around isn't all that unusual.
Molenir at 02:50 PM JST - 29th September

Ya know, I'm kind of wondering if the woman has a boyfriend. If the guy feels that the girl is interfering between them, wouldn't be the first time I've heard of something like that happening... Not that that is the case, just a thought. I'm sure the cops have already checked that out though.