Last month, a 5-year-old boy went missing at a hot spring facility in Kirishima City, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. On Friday (17th), rescuers found the nude body of a young boy about 700 meters downstream from the hot spring resort where the incident occurred. The body’s characteristics closely match those of the missing boy, and police believe it is indeed him.
The boy’s parents, who had anxiously been waiting for news at the scene, broke down in tears upon receiving the tragic news. Local police are now confirming the identity of the body and investigating the cause of death.
The missing boy, Tanaka Reito, was from Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture. On June 21, he went with his father, mother, and 2-year-old younger brother—a family of four—to Karekinoyu Onsen beside the Amorigawa River in Kirishima City. They used a family hot spring room with both an indoor bath and an open-air bath. When his parents left the bathroom first to go to the changing room, the boy suddenly disappeared.
Police and firefighters deduced that the boy may have left the bathroom by himself and walked toward the river, then unfortunately been swept away by the current, which led to ongoing search and rescue efforts.
On the morning of the 17th, around 70 rescuers from the local police and fire department mobilized and conducted a full-scale search along the river near the hot spring facility. At about 9:19 a.m., the search team discovered a boy’s body, buried under driftwood and gravel, about 700 meters downstream from where the boy went missing, along the Amorigawa River. Police stated that the deceased was not wearing any clothes and was about 115 centimeters tall; as this height roughly matches that of the missing boy, they believe it is him.