A missing 9-year-old boy was found dead in the city of Saitama on Wednesday on the premises of the apartment complex where he lived, with his body showing signs he had been strangled, police said.
The body of Ryosuke Shindo was found inside a space near stairs in the apartment building at around 12:40 a.m., hours after his 42-year-old mother reported to police that he had gone to attend class at an English conversation school but not returned.
The police, who have launched a murder investigation, said they subsequently found the boy had never arrived at the school.
They also determined that the state of his body indicated that hours had passed since his death.
He was wearing a T-shirt and shorts but had no shoes on at the time his body was found. Other than the marks indicating strangulation, there were no other injuries to his body, they said.
The apartment complex is a housing facility for teachers located about 4 kilometers east of JR Omiya Station.
The mother, a teacher, came home from work and was told by her 32-year-old husband that their son had gone to the English school. She called the police at around 8:20 p.m. after he failed to return home at the time expected, according to the police.
