The headless body of a man has been found at a hotel in Sapporo, with police continuing to search Tuesday for a person who was seen entering the victim's room with him.
The victim was found naked; police believe both the head and the clothes were taken away by the subject of the manhunt in a bid to prevent identifying the body, according to sources.
The victim, whose body was found Sunday, was identified by investigators on Tuesday as Hitoshi Ura, a 62-year-old resident of the city of Eniwa, situated south of Sapporo.
Security cameras at the short-stay "love hotel" recorded the two entering the premises at around 10:50 p.m. Saturday, with the suspect leaving the room alone around 2 a.m. Sunday carrying a suitcase and a backpack, according to the sources.
The person was small in stature and wore a wide-brimmed hat and women's clothing when entering the room, but was wearing black attire when leaving, they said.
An autopsy of the victim revealed that the cause of death was hemorrhagic shock and that his head was severed after death.
The police suspect Ura was killed in the bathroom, where his body was found by an employee on Sunday afternoon.
The incident occurred in downtown Susukino, where many love hotels are located.
A man in the neighborhood expressed shock Sunday, saying, "I have lived in this area for about 15 years, but I have never heard of an incident like this."
