Man arrested after girlfriend’s body found in mountains of Miyagi Prefecture

The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested a 36-year-old man from Tokyo’s Nerima Ward on suspicion he abandoned his girlfriend’s body in the mountains of Kurihara in Miyagi Prefecture.

Takuya Miura, a bar owner, was arrested on Monday for allegedly transporting the body of Maho Muroga, 25, whom he had been living with, to Miyagi Prefecture and abandoning it in the mountains there on Sept. 28, the police said.

Miura has denied the allegations, telling police he doesn’t remember.

He told investigators during voluntary questioning prior to the arrest that he had traveled to Miyagi Prefecture alone to purchase alcohol for his bar and that he had received a message from Muroga saying she was going back to her parents’ house in a different prefecture.

Investigative sources said Miura had Muroga’s smartphone with him when he was arrested. He is suspected of using her smartphone to send messages to his phone while he was transporting the body to Miyagi, possibly to help make it look like she was still alive.

A photo supplied by an investigative source shows bar owner Takuya Miura, 36, being arrested. | JIJI

Muroga’s mother reported to police on Sept. 30 that she couldn’t reach her daughter, according to the sources.

Police searched for her using various means, such as by analyzing surveillance camera footage, and discovered her body on Sunday along a street near Lake Hanayama in Kurihara.

She did not have noticeable injuries, and her head was wrapped inside a plastic bag. An autopsy showed she is likely to have died due to suffocation. Police are investigating the case, believing Miura killed her in their home.

Muroga and Miura met in September last year and started living together.

According to police, three emergency calls were made between March and June in connection with arguments between the two. Muroga went to stay at her parents’ house for a while but moved back to live with Miura again after that.

She consulted with police in July, saying she had been beaten. The police referred the case to prosecutors on Sept. 2.

When police officers met with her on Sept. 25, Muroga told them she had made up with Miura and that they continued to live together.