A French judge on Tuesday indicted a Chilean man over the murder of his former Japanese girlfriend, who went missing in Besancon, eastern France, in 2016, local media reported.

The trial of Nicolas Zepeda Contreras, 30, could start in the fall. Zepeda has denied killing Narumi Kurosaki, whom he dated in Japan in the mid-2010s, saying he was not involved in her disappearance.

Photo taken Jan. 3, 2017, shows an emergency exit at a dormitory of the University of Franche-Comte in Besancon, eastern France, where Narumi Kurosaki, a 21-year-old Japanese woman, lived until she disappeared in early December 2016. Local media reported that some blood stains were found near the exit. (Kyodo)==Kyodo

Kurosaki, who was a student at Japan's University of Tsukuba, came to France as an exchange student in September 2016.

French authorities launched an official murder investigation after the suspect was extradited from Chile in July last year.

Kurosaki has been missing since she dined with Zepeda and returned with him to her university dorm in Besancon on Dec. 4, 2016. She was 21 years old at the time.

Shortly after Kurosaki went missing, Zepeda, who had also studied at the Japanese university, returned to his native Chile.

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