Body parts found in a boating pond in Meguro Ward, Tokyo, have been identified as those of an 88-year-old woman who lived in the area, police said.
The victim was Tokiko Abe, who lived alone in an apartment about 600 meters away in neighboring Setagaya Ward, investigators said Monday.
Last Thursday, a cleaner spotted a human leg floating in the pond at Himonya Park. A head, arms, legs and parts of a torso were subsequently recovered from the water.
A security camera at her apartment building showed Abe seeing off her son's family after a visit at around 8 p.m. June 19, four days before the discovery in the pond, the investigators said.
The following morning, a worker from a house cleaning company, who had an appointment at her apartment, received no response at the door and no answer on her phone. On Sunday, the company told the police that efforts to contact her had failed.
Police officers who visited her home later Sunday found it unlocked. They said there were no signs of blood.
A 56-year-old male nursing care staffer who regularly visits Abe said she had been in good health recently and in good spirits.
"She always has a cheerful greeting," the man said. "She didn't appear to have any health problems; she has been well."
The police believe the body was dismembered with a knife.
The park is located in a residential area near Gakugei Daigaku Station on the Tokyu Toyoko Line.
Police are investigating the case as one of abandonment of a body, a criminal charge that typically develops into one of murder.