The body of a slain 19-year-old youth was found June 18 beside the Tama River in western Tokyo after a man called police to say his son and some friends had killed another of their friends, officials said.
Police were alerted by a telephone call at around 10 a.m. from a man in Tachikawa who said his 16-year-old son had told him that he and his friends had murdered a youth near the Tama River. After searching the area, police found the body some 1.5 km south of JR Nishi Tachikawa Station. The victim was wearing a shirt that was covered in dirt, the officials said.
Investigators suspect the young man was killed by four or five people, who apparently struck him repeatedly with sticks and other weapons. There have been no arrests announced so far, and the identity of the victim and the man who called police have not been released. According to the man who contacted police, his son came home early June 18 and said that he had done something terrible.