Woman's body found beside Route 428 in Kobe

Crime Jan. 05, 2012 - 01:00PM JST ( 14 )

KOBE —

Police said Wednesday that a woman’s body was found lying beside a national highway in Kobe.

Police said they received a report from a driver traveling along Route 428 in Kita Ward at around 11:40 a.m. on Tuesday, saying that there was a woman lying beside the road, TV Asahi reported. Police rushed to the scene to discover the body of a woman lying face up beneath the guard rail.

Police, who have identified the woman as Tokiko Kawamoto, said she was 37 and lived around six kilometers from where she was found. According to police, she was wearing a red jumper and her clothes were in disarray. Her wallet, containing money, was not touched.

Investigators said Thursday that an autopsy showed the victim had been strangled.

Police said that Kawamoto was last heard from on Jan 1. She had gone to a restaurant in Kobe with a friend and then called her husband to say she was on her way home.

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14 Comments

-8

Elbuda MexicanoJan. 05, 2012 - 10:01AM JST

Foul play?? Sounds very, very foul to me! Poor lady. RIP
2

zichiJan. 05, 2012 - 12:16PM JST

I live within a 10 minute walk of the R428 but it's a very long road?
0

Samantha Zoe AsoJan. 05, 2012 - 01:06PM JST

Poor woman. Hope they find out what happened. RIP.
0

HimajinJan. 05, 2012 - 01:29PM JST

It's in Fukuchi, north of Yamada-shougakko, zichi, where the body was found. NHK says she was home on Jan. 1st and got a phone call to go out with some friends to an izakaya. She called her husband to say 'I'm on my way home' and she never made it. She lived in Suzurandai, so near Yamada Sho is far away from any route she'd take home.
1

HimajinJan. 05, 2012 - 01:36PM JST

Here's a link to a more detailed story-

http://www.nhk.or.jp/lnews/kobe/2025056431.html
0

zichiJan. 05, 2012 - 01:58PM JST

Himajin, thanks, yes I thought it must have been in Kita Ward since there are not so many houses before then. That's a very dark road even though most of the time busy with traffic which makes me think the crime happened somewhere, and the body dumped.
0

HimajinJan. 05, 2012 - 02:26PM JST

It's awful. The news helicopters were buzzing around for two days. I hope they find out who did it.
1

HimajinJan. 05, 2012 - 03:02PM JST

WilliB, this article is very vague. NHK has included many more details from their first article two days ago....that at first sighting marks were not apparent on the body, but were at the autopsy the following day (the bruises took time to show?). No stab woulds or obvious blunt trauma. It was only found on autopsy that her neck bones were broken, that she was strangled. It's already listed as a murder investigation in other news sources.

Moderator: The story was updated earlier this afternoon after the results of the autopsy were known.
0

zichiJan. 05, 2012 - 03:30PM JST

There are CCTV camera's on the R428.
-1

HimajinJan. 05, 2012 - 03:53PM JST

I wouldn't think there would be on the stretch that goes up the back of the neighborhood above the school.

Hi Mod! I hadn't noticed the update...
-1

zichiJan. 05, 2012 - 03:58PM JST

I think there are CCTV camera's at every major junction.
-1

HimajinJan. 05, 2012 - 09:26PM JST

There are! I never noticed them! They are checking the video...I guess I never realized how ubiquitous cameras are.
-1

Darren BrannanJan. 05, 2012 - 09:45PM JST

I remember the police catching a serial arsonist in Suita city with normal redlight cameras.They just kept finding his plate number in the areas of the arson.With something as horrid as this though..what an awful way to bring in the New Year.Too close to home.Suzurandai is a big student area yeah, Zichi? Pretty sparsely populated in comparison with other areas in Kobe.I hope they find the killer soon.
-2

HonestDictatorJan. 06, 2012 - 04:51PM JST

Barely 7 days into 2012 and how many murders have there been around the world? Its been insanely ridiculous and it seems like a ton of people have just gone stark raving mad or demonic.