A head that appeared to have been deliberately severed from its body was found near the coast close to the town of Kujukuri in Chiba Prefecture on Tuesday, only several kilometers away from where a limbless body of a woman was found last month, investigative sources said.

Chiba Prefectural Police are investigating whether the head and the body are of the same woman, and have set up a special investigation team at the neighboring Togane Police Station.

The body was found floating near the mouth of a river in Oamishirasato City, just next to Kujukuri, on Saturday morning by a person who was fishing. Based on an autopsy, it is believed that the body was of a woman between her 40s and 60s, the police announced Monday, adding that she seems to have died within the past week.

The head, legs and hands are likely to have been severed after she died, the police said. The body did not have other notable wounds. The police suspect that her body was abandoned near the area where it was found.