Cash removed from account of woman found dead in car

TOKYO (TR) – Funds were suspiciously withdrawn from the bank account of a missing woman whose corpse was found inside a vehicle in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture earlier this week, police revealed on Tuesday, reports Fuji News Network (Dec. 11).

On Sunday, police found the body likely belonging to Natsuki Taniguchi, a 20-year-old student at a vocational school in Tokyo, in the back seat of a rental car in a parking lot in Iwaki.

The vehicle had been rented by Taniguchi’s boyfriend, 27-year-old Yoshinobu Kumazawa, of no known occupation. The following day, police accused him of abandoning a corpse. The suspect admitted to the allegations upon his arrest.

Taniguchi lived in a dormitory in Nerima Ward that is connected with the school. On December 6, a representative of the school telephoned her parents to tell them that their daughter had not attended class since November 29.

The following day, her father visited the dorm room and found blood on a bed sheet and alerted police. Security camera footage shot at the dormitory in the early morning on December 3 shows a man believed to be Kumazawa carrying a futon that likely covers the corpse of Taniguchi out of her unit.

In the latest development, police said that 60,000 yen in cash was withdrawn from the account of Taniguchi using an ATM machine not normally used by her at some point around when she went missing. The amount was the entire balance of the account.

Nine-page note

In locating the vehicle rented by Kumazawa in Fukushima, police used additional security camera footage. It is believed that the suspect used the vehicle to transport the body of Taniguchi to the parking lot.

In addition to confirming the identity of the body, police are continuing the investigation on suspicion of murder. An examination of Taniguchi’s body revealed undisclosed injuries. As well, a nine-page note left behind in the dormitory that is believed to have been written by Kumazawa hinted at involvement in the killing of Taniguchi.