Mother missing as body of infant boy found floating in lake

The Mainichi Shimbun
April 2, 2008
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080402p2a00m0na008000c.html

YAMAKITA, Kanagawa -- A woman is missing and the body of her infant son was found floating in a lake here early Wednesday morning, police said.

Local police are searching for the boy's mother, who had reportedly hinted to relatives that she would commit suicide, and are poised to conduct an autopsy on the child's body to determine the cause of his death.

At around 5:40 a.m., police officers patrolling areas around Lake Tanzawa in Yamakita spotted the boy's body floating near the shore. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The boy has been identified as 1-year-old Yuta Suzuki. A car belonging to his mother, 37-year-old Yasuko, was found near the scene.

Suzuki had left her house in Yamakita with Yuta in the car at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday after telling her family she was going to the bank. After the pair failed to return home that night, Yasuko's younger sister submitted a missing person's report to local police.

Suzuki had suggested to relatives that she might take her own life, investigators said. "Please look after my child if something happens to me," she was quoted as telling one of her relatives.

(Mainichi Japan) April 2, 2008