Body Believed to Have Passed 15 Years Since Death Found in Freezer

Kobe, June 22 (Jiji Press)--A severed body believed to have passed nearly 15 years since death has been found in a freezer in an apartment in Kobe, the capital of Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan.

The Hyogo police department said Monday that the body, discovered on Saturday, has been identified as Yutaka Nishiguchi, who lived in the apartment.

An autopsy revealed that Nishiguchi died around December 2011, when he was 42 years old.

The police department has set up an investigation headquarters for the possible case of body abandonment. It will also investigate the possibility of murder.

According to police sources, a resident of the apartment building called the police via the building's management firm on Friday afternoon, reporting a strange smell.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]