The body of a nine-year-old boy was found early Wednesday on the premises of the Saitama City apartment complex where he lived, police said, adding that he had been strangled to death.

According to police, the body of Ryosuke Shindo was found at around 12:40 a.m. in a storage space for meter boxes near stairs at the multi-housing complex in Minuma Ward, Fuji TV reported.

Police said the boy’s 42-year-old mother had been at work and when she got home at 8:20 p.m., she called 110 to report that her son had not returned home from a lesson at an English conversation school.

The boy’s 32-year-old unemployed father, who was at home, said his son had left for his English lesson as usual that afternoon but the school said he never showed up.

Police said the boy had been dead for some time when his body was found. He was wearing a T-shirt, short pants and socks but his shoes were missing.

© Japan Today