An 8-year-old girl and her 5-year-old sister found dead Sunday in a mountain forest in Okayama Prefecture, 17 days after they disappeared, apparently froze to death and were not spotted in a massive search because their bodies had been covered by snow, police said Monday.
Okayama Prefectural Police suspect Akise Haruna and her younger sister, Rise, froze to death after becoming lost in the forest Jan. 23 less than 2 km from their grandparents' home.
Three local hunters found their bodies side by side on a wooded slope about 100 meters off a mountain path near the village of Higashiawakura. The girls' identities were confirmed by their 36-year-old mother, Mariko Haruna, of Saku, Nagano Prefecture.
There were no noticeable external wounds on the bodies and they were wearing the same clothes as when they disappeared, police said.