27th May 2018
SHIMANE – Prosecutors have dropped charges against a 72-year-old man who was arrested earlier this month after a 19-year-old woman who had been missing for nine months was discovered at his apartment in Hamada, Shimane Prefecture.
Prosecutors gave no reason for their decision not to proceed with the case against Kaoru Saito who was arrested on May 4, Fuji TV reported Saturday. Sasamoto had denied the allegation that he kidnapped the woman, who has a mild intellectual disability, last July when she was 19.
The woman’s family did not report her disappearance to police until September.
The woman, now 20, was found at Sasamoto’s apartment after another building resident called police on May 3 to report that a woman could be heard crying.
In April, a neighbor reported to police about noise from Sasamoto’s apartment and an officer visited there, but he was refused entry by Sasamoto, the police said.
