The 46-year-old suspect lives near the home of the girl, Le Thi Nhat Linh, in Matsudo. His DNA matched a sample police collected at the crime scene. Nhat Linh was in her third year of elementary school in Matsudo in Chiba prefecture.
Linh’s family reported her missing to police after they failed to find her when the teacher phoned to inform that she had not shown up at school on March 24 morning.
Linh reportedly usually went to school by herself as the school is near her house. While she was unaccounted for, the body of a girl without clothes or other items that could be her belongings was found on March 26 morning at a site near a drainage ditch which is about 10-12km from the school.
Police confirmed the dead girl as Nhat Linh.
