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Edogawa Jane Doe, alternatively known as the Shinozaki Pumping Station Dismemberment Case in Japanese media, was a teenager or young woman whose dismembered body was found floating in a water tank at the Shinozaki Pumping Station in the Higashishinozaki neighborhood of Edogawa, located in the Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. Additional remains were later discovered in Koto, Tokyo, Japan, on 12 September and 13 September.
Case[]
Discovery[]
At around 3 pm on 9 September 1988, maintenance employees within the Eastern Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Sewerage, which was responsible for the Shinozaki Pumping Station in Edogawa, discovered the body of a woman in the No. 4 sewage sedimentation tank on the second underground floor. The discovery occurred when the body was caught on an iron grate and lifted on a conveyor belt alongside other waste. The body had been noticed on the water's surface the previous evening by a worker doing rounds. However, as it was floating along with various waste, such as a volleyball, an oil drum, and driftwood, they initially believed it to be a mannequin and didn't investigate further.
Investigation[]
The decedent's remains only contained the upper torso upwards, including both arms. She had been dismembered with a sharp tool just below the chest, about 10 centimeters above the navel. She was estimated to have been dead for at least one to three weeks, leading to her scalp peeling off and all her hair falling out.
The sewer in question had no inflow from general rivers, suggesting that the perpetrator most likely killed the woman, dismembered her, and disposed of the body into the sewer system through an opening such as a large manhole, roadside U-shaped gutters used for rainwater, or a sewage construction site. The pumping station processed 2 tons of garbage that had accumulated since 27 August on 5 September, indicating that the body had entered the pumping station after that date.
Police began to scour local missing persons records and also conducted searches for the lower half of her body, with a particular focus on the sewer system connected to the pumping station. They also contacted dental clinics within Tokyo to inquire about any records that may relate to the dental work on the victim's molars.
An autopsy was conducted, and it was revealed that her spine had been severed with a saw-like blade. The flesh beneath the ribs had been cut with a knife, and the bone of the second lumbar vertebra was also severed. It was also established the dismemberment had occurred post-mortem. Her cause of death could not be determined.
On 12 September at around 5:40 pm, an employee working in a pit at the waste incineration facility in the Mixing Plant of the Eastern Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau of Sewerage, located in the Inner Landfill area of Central Breakwater in Koto Ward, opened the grab bucket of a crane containing waste and discovered a dismembered right leg with foot attached. It had been severed below the knee, and the foot measured 23.5 cm. A severed left leg and foot were discovered in the same pit the following morning, on 13 September. Both feet were later linked to the woman found at the Shinozaki Pumping Station. A reconstruction of the decedent has never been uploaded online in a resolution that allows easy reading and recognizability.
Professor Kazuo Suzuki, an expert in forensic dentistry from the Tokyo Dental College, conducted a dental examination. He believed she was between 19 and 21 years old and had an oval face, prominent nose and large eyes. Professor Suzuki played a notable role in identifying the victims of Japan Airlines Flight 123.
In the following years, law enforcement continued to post flyers with her reconstruction and information. They also visited all prefectural police departments from Tohoku to Kansai trying to find a link between missing persons and the decedent, but had no luck. Investigations were also conducted along major sewers in Edogawa and Katsushika wards, which were considered possible locations where the body was dumped. Dental clinics in Chiba and Saitama Prefectures were also contacted in hopes of finding patients matching the description, and law enforcement also attended large dental conferences when possible.
After the woman's remains were cremated, they were stored in a cemetery in Nerima Ward for five years. Around 1993, her remains were buried alongside other unidentified bodies.
On 16 March 2002, a taxi with its security lights on was discovered at the Shinozaki Pumping Station, where the driver was found in the trunk. His murder also remains unsolved, and it is unknown if the two cases are linked.
Characteristics[]
Flyer distributed about her case including sketches.
- Type A blood.
- Pink manicure on both hands.
- Prominent nose.
- Large eyes.
- Oval face.
- Piercing holes in both ears.
- Shaved armpits.
- Undergoing treatment on an upper right molar.
Sources[]
- Tokyo Metropolitan Police (Japanese) (archived case file)
- Tokyo Metropolitan Police (Japanese)
- Rokusaisha (Japanese)
- Wikipedia Japan (Japanese)