OSAKA -- A man whose dismembered corpse was found in a mountainous region of Osaka Prefecture in January has been identified as a transport ministry worker who lived in the same building as a man arrested on suspicion of abandoning his body.

Osaka Prefectural Police on Feb. 5 identified the corpse as that of Takamitsu Kamioka, 52, of Osaka's Chuo Ward.

A police officer found the dismembered body during a search in the mountains in the city of Higashiosaka on Jan. 25, and police had been working to identify the victim through DNA analysis. Following an autopsy, police determined the victim had been murdered, possibly by strangulation, around Dec. 28 last year.

Based on security camera footage, 28-year-old Hiroto Oki surfaced as a suspect in the case, and police arrested him Feb. 3 on suspicion of abandoning the corpse. Oki lived in the same apartment complex as Kamioka, and police suspect he was also involved in killing Kamioka and mutilating his body.

Oki told police that he abandoned Kamioka's body and left his head in another location. Based on this explanation, police conducted a search at an abandoned apartment in Osaka's Chuo Ward about 1 kilometer from the suspect's home. On Feb. 3, they found the head on the first floor. A cooling bag that had apparently been used to contain the head was found nearby.

Kamioka had worked as an accounting manager at the Aeronautical Safety College in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture, which trains air traffic controllers. After finishing online work at home at about 3 p.m. on Dec. 27 last year, he had planned to take time off work to visit his wife overseas, but did not appear at the destination. His wife contacted Osaka Prefectural Police on Dec. 29, reporting that she was unable to contact him, and police began searching for him.

Prefectural police investigators said there was no evidence of a struggle in Kamioka's home, and they had not been able to confirm any trouble between him and Oki. Police are probing the connection between the two in detail.

Colleagues shocked

One of Kamioka's co-workers who learned of his death said with a wavering voice, "He wasn't the kind of person to get in trouble."

Kamioka was an accounting manager at the Aeronautical Safety College since the spring of 2022, and handled contract work with vendors. He reportedly approached his work with a serious attitude, and a colleague commented, "He was a person who did his job properly. He was good with people and took good care of his subordinates."

This colleague learned though another worker at the end of 2024 that Kamioka had gone missing. He failed to show up to work in the new year, and people were concerned for his safety, only to hear that the corpse was that of Kamioka. Another employee, looking downcast, said, "I was hoping it was some kind of mistake and that it was someone else."

(Japanese original by Mizuki Hayashi, Tomoe Saito and Mie Omokawa, Osaka City News Department)