The burnt bodies of two people were found Tuesday on a riverside north of Tokyo and police are investigating the case as a suspected incident of corpse abandonment.
The bodies discovered in Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture, had their hands and feet bound, and their heads were covered in what appeared to be plastic bags and wrapped in adhesive tape, according to investigative sources.
One of the bodies was identified as that of a 55-year-old man Ryutaro Takarajima whose address and occupation are unknown, while the other body is yet to be identified, local police said.
The bodies were discovered at around 6:50 a.m. by a passerby who then told a local forestry cooperative that "there are what appear to be mannequins on fire," the cooperative and police officials said.
An official of the cooperative called the police, who rushed to the scene and confirmed they were human corpses.
The bodies were found in a mountainous area dotted with houses, some 10 kilometers from the center of Nasu. The vicinity also has a resort hotel and a golf course.
"Not many people come through here, so I am quite shocked," a local resident in his 90s said.
