An autopsy determined that Goken Yoneyama had been strangled with a rope sometime between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on May 17, the day he disappeared and shortly after he parted with friends near his home.

Police suspect he was put in a car, as police dogs failed to trace his scent at a park near his house, they said.

Police believe the boy was strangled at another location and his body was dumped near the river, as there were no signs of a struggle where he was found. A man out jogging found the body.

Police found multiple footprints and tire tracks near Yoneyama's body and are analyzing the samples to see if any can be connected to a suspect.

Police are investigating whether there are any links between the boy's death and the death April 10 of schoolmate Ayaka Hatakeyama.

The fourth-grader, who lived only two doors away from Yoneyama, was found dead in a tributary of the river about 2 km upstream from where Yoneyama was found. Police concluded at the time that she had fallen into the stream and died. She had disappeared the day before after leaving home, saying she was going to a friend's house.

Yoneyama left school around 3 p.m. May 17 with four friends and was last seen when he parted with the last of them near his home. He had told the children he was going home but would meet up with them later.

Although Japan has one of the world's lowest crime rates, it has recently witnessed a series of grisly attacks on children.

In December, the stabbed and naked body of a 7-year-old girl was found in Ibaraki Prefecture, just 10 days after a girl the same age was strangled in Hiroshima.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 27, 2006
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