OSAKA (Kyodo) A body found Monday inside an oil drum pulled from the bottom of Obama Bay in Fukui Prefecture is believed to be that of an 19-year-old Osaka youth missing since April, police said.
The Osaka Prefectural Police found the oil drum near the Aoto no Ohashi bridge in the town of Ooi based on a confession by a 26-year-old man who has allegedly admitted murdering the teen.
Osaka police said they will attempt to identify the remains and the cause of death.
According to investigators, the suspect, who has been arrested on suspicion of theft, reportedly said he and two others killed the victim and dumped his body from the bridge into the bay. The names of the victim, the suspect and his alleged accomplices have not been released.
The police located the oil drum Sunday. It was pulled up Monday morning.
Investigators said the suspect and his accomplices attacked the teenager in a parking lot in Sennan, Osaka Prefecture, in a money dispute.
The suspect said that after the boy died in the home of one of the attackers, he and the two others drove to Ooi and threw the oil drum containing the victim and sand bags from the bridge.
