On October 22, a skeletonized body believed to be that of a woman in her 60s who had been missing for four years was found in a field in Yachiyo town, Ibaraki Prefecture.

On Friday, police said a man being detained at a police station in Chiba Prefecture for another case said, "I buried it using heavy machinery several years ago at the request of the woman's son,” Sankei Shimbun reported.

The skeletonized body was wrapped in a blue tarp. The woman in question went missing in 2020 in Koga City, Ibaraki Prefecture.

The man being detained by Chiba police since July told police about burying the body in the field. Police began using heavy machinery on Oct 15 and a week later, found the body buried about two meters deep.

The body was clad in a long-sleeved fleece jacket and long pants. An autopsy was unable to determine the cause of the woman's death.

According to investigators, there appears to have been some kind of trouble between the woman and her son, who is serving time in a prison in another prefecture for another crime.

Police said he is being questioned about what happened to his mother but has so far given no details.