A body believed to be that of a child was found in the Edo River in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture, on Tuesday, leading police to investigate any connections with a 7-year-old girl who has been missing since Sept. 23, media reports said.
A passerby reported to police shortly past noon that something that looked like a body was in the river. When police pulled it from the river, it was a body that appeared to be that of a child, NTV reported, quoting investigative sources.
Police have been searching for the missing girl, Saya Minami, a first-grader from the city of Matsudo, after she disappeared last month. She was supposed to go to a park with her mother but left the house on her own at around 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 23, with her mother following after her around five minutes later.
Later that day, the kick scooter the girl had with her was found at another park in neighboring Nagareyama.
Her shoes and socks were then found the next morning on the banks of the Edo River, about 300 meters from the same park, according to the police. The girl's cap was found later in the river.
Police are looking into possibly connections and trying to identify the body, NTV said.