The body of a 22-month-old boy who had disappeared from an arcade was found early Sunday morning in waters off a beach in the town of Mito, Aichi Prefecture, police said.
Sho Murase of Mito had disappeared earlier Sunday after his father, Jun Murase, 25, left him in a parking lot at the arcade in nearby Toyokawa, police said.
A 57-year-old man from Toyohashi, Aichi Prefecture, who had gone to the beach to catch crabs found the body about 4 km from the amusement center.
The boy apparently drowned because there were no conspicuous wounds on his body, police said, adding they will conduct an autopsy Monday.
According to police, Murase went to the arcade at around 10 p.m. Saturday with his son. He left the boy sleeping in the arcade while he played with his friends, but put him in the car around midnight. The boy's mother, Yukari, had gone out with others.
Murase realized his son was missing about 1:20 a.m. and contacted police around 2:05 a.m., they said.
