The man arrested late Friday in connection with the murder in Osaka of 13-year-old Natsumi Hirata, whose body was found with multiple lacerations and whose head and face were bound with adhesive tape, likely acted alone, investigators said Saturday.
The suspect, Koji Yamada, 45, told police that a passenger beat her in his car and abandoned the body. But because security cameras had caught him visiting several places by himself on the day the girl's body was found, police are leaning toward the view that he acted alone, including when he allegedly abandoned her body, they said.
Meanwhile, authorities said the body of another victim, 12-year-old Ryoto Hoshino, was found after investigators tracked the suspect's car and searched a mountainous area elsewhere in the prefecture to which he had driven earlier Friday.