Police investigate the site of the group suicide incident which left nine people dead.

Four charcoal stoves were found in the car, whose doors were locked and windows were sealed from inside, leading the police to suspect the three men and three women committed group suicide.

Four of them were identified to be in their 20s, and the other two, in their 30s and 40s. Sleeping pills and memos suggesting suicide were found in the car.

Separately, police in the town of Higashi-Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture, found a man and two women dead in a car parked in an area of holiday homes.

Investigators said they suspect it was a group suicide because charcoal burners were found inside the vehicle and some of its windows were sealed. The three were believed to have been in their 20s to 40s.

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 12, 2005
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