75-Year-Old Japanese Woman Arrested for Keeping Daughter's Body in Freezer for Two Decades

Japanese authorities have taken a 75-year-old woman into custody after she allegedly admitted to preserving her daughter's corpse in a freezer for approximately 20 years.

On Tuesday, police discovered the remains of an adult female in a deep freezer at the residence of Keiko Mori, located in Ibaraki prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, according to a local police representative who spoke anonymously.

Mori identified the deceased as her daughter Makiko, who was born in 1975 and would now be 49 or 50 years old if she were still alive, the spokesman stated.

"The body showed significant signs of decomposition," he added, mentioning that an autopsy would be performed to determine how she died.

The case came to light when Mori voluntarily appeared at the police station with a relative on Tuesday to report that she had been keeping the body in the freezer.

When officials visited the home with Mori, they found the corpse dressed in a T-shirt and underwear, positioned kneeling face-down inside the freezer, according to the spokesman.

Mori has been arrested on charges of improper disposal of a body.

She explained to investigators that she purchased the freezer and placed her daughter's body inside because the odor was pervading the house, the spokesman reported.

While authorities confirmed that Mori had multiple children, they did not specify the exact number or what information these siblings had provided regarding Makiko.

The suspect had been living alone since her husband passed away earlier this month, according to police.