Two men arrested in connection to woman’s body abandoned on mountain in Shizuoka Prefecture

SHIZUOKA – Two men have been detained in connection with the abandonment of a woman’s body, which was confirmed Tuesday to be that of a nurse who went missing last month, police said.

The men, one in his 20s and another in his 40s, were arrested on suspicion of illegally confining Mayuko Uchiyama, a 29-year-old nurse from Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture.

Security camera footage showed Uchiyama being abducted by several men in a gym parking lot in the city on May 26 as she was getting into her car, which was also driven away, according to investigative sources.

The man in his 40s, who turned up at a police station in Nagoya on Monday, has admitted to the allegation of abducting a woman he did not know in Hamamatsu, the investigative sources said.

Uchiyama’s body was found Saturday on a mountain in Fujieda, Shizuoka Prefecture, police said, adding there was no sign of major injury. She appeared to have died about two weeks earlier.

Police tracked the record of the car navigation system in Uchiyama’s car, which was found in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, about 100 kilometers northwest of Hamamatsu.

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