American in Custody After Severed Head Is Found in Japan

An American man is in custody in Japan after authorities found a severed head in a suitcase left in a lodging facility.

Japanese investigators said the 26-year-old American was seen on security footage with a 27-year-old woman who went missing, The Japan Times reported. Police were investigating the woman’s disappearance when they came upon what appears to be her missing head, still inside a suitcase in an Osaka lodging facility, they said.

Police believe the American man confined the missing woman in another Osaka location he was using as a location rental, the Times reported. Security footage captured the man and woman entering together, according to the report, but the woman was not seen leaving.

The woman was reported missing by her mother on Feb. 17, after she wrote on Instagram was going to “meet Jay,” which is believed to be a reference to the American man she was seen with, the Times reported.

The man was arrested in Nara Prefecture on Thursday, according to the report.