Japanese police have arrested an American working on a U.S. military base in Okinawa on suspicion of abandoning the body of a woman who had been missing since last month.
(FOX)- The arrest Thursday sparked outrage on Okinawa, where anti-U.S. military sentiment is already high because of the heavy American troop presence. The relocation of a U.S. air station on the southern Japanese island was recently stalled because of large protests.
Police said Kenneth Shinzato, 32, was arrested after he was questioned and investigators found the body at a location he provided.
Investigators determined that the body, found in a forest in central Okinawa, is that of a 20-year-old woman missing since April 28, when she messaged her boyfriend that she was going for a walk.
Police said they suspect Shinzato was also responsible for the death of the woman. He has not been formally charged.
They said the suspect works at Kadena Air Base and is believed to be former U.S. serviceman. Kyodo News service said Shinzato used to be a Marine.
In Washington, Defense Department spokesman Peter Cook said the man arrested was a U.S. military contractor. “This is an appalling tragedy,” he said. The U.S. military extends its “deepest sympathies to the people of Japan, and express our gratitude for the trust that they place in our bilateral alliance and the American people.”
Spokesman John Kirby said the State Department was aware of the arrest of a U.S. civilian citizen in Okinawa. He said the U.S. military was cooperating fully with local authorities in their investigation.