The Osaka Prefectural Police have disclosed that they lost three pieces of evidence related to a woman's death case that had originally been discovered in 2009, without reporting the incident for 14 years.
The Osaka Prefectural Police announced on the 12th that the Nishinari Police Station had lost three pieces of evidence related to the death of a woman whose body was found in the Kizugawa River in Nishinari Ward, Osaka, in 2009. The investigation into her death has been ongoing since then, considering both accidental and criminal factors. The lost evidence includes a business card, a note with several names written on it, and a plastic bag, all of which were part of the woman's belongings that were voluntarily submitted by her family for the investigation.
The loss came to light when about 100 pieces of evidence were being consolidated at the Evidence Management Center in Naniwa Ward in July 2012, and the Nishinari Police Station failed to report this loss to the district headquarters at that time. The police department discovered another loss of a plastic bag in January 2016 during a routine inspection. Though a stamp that had been inside the bag was found, the bag itself was missing. It wasn’t until last April when a new detective chief contacted the victim's family that the missing items were confirmed and reported, but despite investigations, no trace of them has been found.
The Osaka police have since explained and apologized to the victim's family regarding this oversight. They asserted that the causes of the losses remain unknown but indicated that the likelihood of concealment or theft is extremely low. They also believe that since the items were photographed and are not critical to current suspects, the loss will not directly impact the ongoing investigation. Naoki Fukuyama, head of the Criminal General Affairs Division, emphasized a commitment to stricter management and transfer protocols for evidence to prevent future occurrences.
