Police on Thursday served a fresh warrant to an American man for the murder of a Japanese woman whose body was found off the coast of Kanagawa Prefecture.

Gregory Gumo, 41, was arrested Aug. 6 on suspicion of dumping the body of Mariko Akitaya, a 42-year-old temp worker from Tokyo's Meguro Ward. He has denied the charge, according to the police.

After tracing the path of Gumo's car just before the discovery of Akitaya's body, investigators at the Misaki Police Station suspect Gumo killed Akitaya at somewhere within the prefecture before dumping her body in Koajiro Bay in Miura, the source said.

Gumo is suspected of dumping the body into the sea around July 28. It was found floating 20 to 30 meters off the shore by a local man on the morning of July 29, according to the police.

The body of Akitaya, clad in a dress, was wrapped in rope was attached to a concrete block, the police said.

The police suspect Akitaya may still have been alive when she was thrown into the sea, because an autopsy found water in her lungs.

Gumo was stopped by investigators at Tokyo's Haneda airport on the evening of July 29 when as he was about to leave for the United States.