The Kanagawa Prefectural Police have found the bodies of two people packed in separate bags in the woods along a road in Hadano and are trying to determine if they are Chinese sisters who lived in Yokohama and vanished on July 7.
The police also said they are investigating a man in his 30s who used to dine at a restaurant where the elder sister works. Security camera footage from their apartment in Naka Ward showed the man entering on July 6 and leaving the following day carrying a bag or bags.
The apartment building's management company alerted the authorities on July 7 that it was unable to get in touch with the 25-year-old woman and her 22-year-old sister. Both lived in the same apartment.
An acquaintance of the siblings lost contact with them on social media after July 6, police officials said.
The apartment was locked and the sisters' money and purses were still in the dwelling, which showed no signs of a struggle, the police said.
On Thursday, the police searched areas around Hadano after determining that the man drove there and subsequently found the corpses. They will conduct autopsies to identify the deceased. The sex of the victims has not been disclosed.
The bodies were found in the woods some 6 km north of Hadano Station on the Odakyu Odawara Line.