Police Find Body in Search for Missing Kyoto Boy

Nantan, Kyoto Pref., April 13 (Jiji Press)–During a search for a missing boy, Kyoto prefectural police on Monday found a body that may be that of a child in the mountains in the city of Nantan in the western Japan prefecture. The prefectural police will conduct an autopsy to confirm the identity of the body and the cause of death. Yuki Adachi, 11, a student at a local public elementary school, has been missing since March 23. According to the prefectural police, the body was small and wearing a dark blue fleece, beige pants and socks, but was not wearing shoes. Adachi was wearing a fleece and beige pants when he went missing. While conducting a search with a team of about 50 officers on Monday evening, the prefectural police found the body lying face up in the mountains about 2 kilometers southwest of the elementary school. It is believed that several days or more have passed since the death, and the gender and presence of injuries have yet to be identified. The body was spotted more than 10 km from Adachi’s home. The nearby road is paved and there are some houses, but there are no street lights and visibility is poor after dusk. The police surrounded the site with blue tarps, and investigators were seen preparing for forensic work. While searching the mountains in the city, with a similar number of officers on Sunday, police found a black sneaker of the same brand as the one he was wearing on the day he went missing, about 3 to 4 km north of Adachi’s home. According to police, Adachi went missing after his father dropped him off near the elementary school around 8 a.m. on March 23. The school held a graduation ceremony that day, and his homeroom teacher noticed his absence around 8:30 a.m. The teacher, however, did not contact his guardian until around 11:50 a.m., and his father filed a police report around noon. On March 29, a relative of Adachi found his yellow backpack in the mountains about 3 km west of the school. The prefectural police have deployed a total of 1,000 officers in the search for the boy. No significant clues were discovered after a search of a pond near the site where the backpack was found. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]