DNA testing confirms body to be that of missing girl in Japan

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:46 JST, October 6, 2022

DNA testing has confirmed that the child recently found dead in a river in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, is Saya Minami, an elementary school student who has been missing since late last month, the Chiba prefectural police announced Thursday.

A 7-year-old first-grader from Matsudo in the prefecture, Saya had been missing since Sept. 23. The prefectural police on Wednesday said that autopsy results indicated the possibility that she had drowned.

Saya’s body was discovered on Tuesday. She is believed to have been dead for one to two weeks and there were no noticeable external injuries, the police said.

On Wednesday, the prefectural police corrected the location where the body was found from the Edogawa River to the old Edogawa River.