A body found beside a Kobe river Thursday morning was later identified as that of an 8-year-old girl missing since Sunday, police said.
The body, found beside the Arino River around 8 a.m., is that of third-grader Saki Miyazaki, who was reported missing after she left her house around 10 p.m. Sunday, police said.
Blood was found on the body, and police are investigating the case as a possible accident or crime. An autopsy performed later Thursday showed that the girl had sustained injuries consistent with those resulting from a collision with a motor vehicle.
As the river is a long way from any roads and there is no place upstream where a child could fall in, investigators said it is highly likely that she was left at the riverside after being hit by a car.