The body of a child was found Tuesday buried in a mountainous area of Osaka Prefecture after police began searching for a missing boy last seen about three years ago.
The police found the body at around 2:15 p.m. buried near a riverbed in the village of Chihayaakasaka.
According to investigative sources, the boy's father, construction worker Suguru Kajimoto, 35, had visited the area in the past for his work. The police believe the father had knowledge of the area, the sources said.
The police began searching for the body of Tatsuki Kajimoto, who was born in January 2012, earlier this month after his father told them he had abandoned his son's body in that area.
The 35-year-old construction worker from Sakai, in Osaka, and his 32-year-old wife, Chiho, had already been arrested on suspicion of defrauding a local government by continuing to claim a child-rearing allowance for their son.
The police later served further warrants on the father on suspicion that he beat his son to death and on the mother for negligence in her duty to protect the child.