Overview

• Police found a body at about 10:10 a.m. on Oct. 8 in a mountain forest in Kitakami, Iwate.
• Officers had been searching for a 73-year-old from Kanegasaki who was reported missing after going mushroom picking on Oct. 7.
• A light vehicle linked to the missing person was discovered parked roughly 150 meters from the site where the body was located.
• The remains showed extensive damage with wounds resembling claw marks, and police are treating a bear attack as a working hypothesis.
• An on-site investigation is ongoing, and the city recorded a fatal bear mauling in a private home in July.