The body of a 23-year-old woman has been found in Hitachiota, Ibaraki Prefecture, with police investigating a 33-year-old man who had been texting her before she went missing as the prime suspect.

The woman, identified as Rina Arano, a resident of Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward, had been missing since June 5, and her family reported to police three days later. Police arrested Hiroyuki Sanpei of Minamiashigara, Kanagawa Prefecture, last week on suspicion of kidnapping and confining Arano.

Arano’s body was found Saturday on a slope about 6 meters below a forest road near Sanpei’s villa.

Part of her upper body was decomposed, but there were no noticeable external injuries on the body. Investigators believe that the perpetrator dumped her body in an inconspicuous place.

Investigators suspect the two met at Mito Station in Ibaraki Prefecture on June 5 after they contacted each other by private message on Twitter, with the texts having been found on Sanpei’s smartphone.

After picking Arano up at the station, Sanpei drove to his villa in Hitachiota, they said. A drive recorder installed in Sanpei’s car captured images of the car driving along a forest road that appeared to be near the place where the body was found.

Sanpei has denied the allegations, saying he took Arano with him to the villa and then dropped her off at a nearby store later on. On Monday, investigative sources said police found Arano’s smartphone at Sanpei’s villa.