Shocking 20-Year-Old Secret Leads To Woman’s Arrest

Police recently arrested a 75-year-old woman after her decades-long secret came to light.

At 9:15 a.m. on September 30, Mori Keiko and an unidentified relative went to a police station in Ami, Japan. There, Mori confessed that she had been storing a body in her freezer for twenty years.

Officers went to Mori’s residence and discovered the body of a woman positioned upright with her upper body slumped forward inside the freezer, which measured 95 cm in length, 85 cm in width, and 60 cm in height. A blanket had been placed over the body, and several deodorizers were also found inside.

The deceased woman is Mori’s 30-year-old daughter, Makiko, who was born in September 1975. Mori managed to keep her daughter’s body a secret until her husband passed away in September this year. Relatives discovered the body while gathered at Mori’s home. Mori was initially arrested on suspicion of abandoning her daughter’s body. At the time of her arrest, investigators stated that an autopsy would be performed to determine the cause of death.

She died 20 years ago, and the smell filled the house, so I bought a freezer and put the body in it.

— Mori Keiko

On September 26, NHK reported that the cause of death appears to have been asphyxiation, and police are now investigating the possibility that Makiko was strangled to death. Marks were found on the deceased’s neck, along with marks on her head that indicate that she was struck with a blunt object.

At the time of Makiko’s death, Mori, Mori’s late husband, and Mori’s late mother-in-law were living in the home where Makiko’s body was kept. Makiko, however, was not a member of the household. She lived elsewhere.