Uncle May Have Organized Dumping of Kobe Boy’s Body

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:11 JST, June 26, 2023

KOBE ― The uncle of 6-year-old Nao Hosaka, whose body was found in a suitcase in Kobe on Thursday, is suspected by the Hyogo Prefectural police of organizing the disposal of the boy’s body, it has been learned.

Daichi Hosaka, 32, one of four suspects arrested on other charges, is thought to have organized the transportation and dumping of the child’s corpse. The boy’s grandmother reportedly told the police that her son had instructed his siblings to hide her grandson’s body in a suitcase.

Daichi was arrested Thursday along with his oldest sister Saki, 34 — Nao’s mother — and his younger twin sisters, Tomomi and Asaka, 30, on suspicion of confining and injuring the boy’s grandmother, Yumiko Hosaka, 57. Nao had lived with the four suspects and his grandmother in an apartment building in Kobe.

The child’s body was discovered inside a suitcase at a grassy area near the apartment block on Thursday. An autopsy revealed that he had died around June 19. Security cameras at the apartment building reportedly filmed four people carrying suitcases around 5 p.m. on that date.

According to investigators, Yumiko told the prefectural police that Daichi had prepared the suitcase — thought to be his personal property — on June 19 and instructed his siblings to hide the body.

Saki reportedly said the four suspects had removed Nao’s body from their home inside the suitcase, according to sources.