Fukuoka police arrest woman, 29, over deaths of two newborn sons
Version 2: Follow-up reporting added that the woman gave a statement to the effect that she dumped the body so her mother would not find it, and further national coverage confirmed the arrest and the details of the two alleged killings.
In short
Fukuoka prefectural police said a 29-year-old woman from Okawa City has been arrested on suspicion of murder and corpse abandonment over the deaths of two newborn sons she delivered at home. Police allege one boy was killed in mid-June 2025 and his body dumped in an irrigation canal, where workers found it on June 27, 2025, and that the second was killed on July 25, 2026 and hidden in a closet. Police said she admitted the killings and was quoted as saying she did not want her mother to find out.
Read the full story 3 min read
Fukuoka prefectural police said on Oct 5 that a 29-year-old woman from Okawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture, had been arrested on suspicion of murder and corpse abandonment over the deaths of two newborn sons she gave birth to at home. Mainichi Shimbun named her as Mia Umezaki, 29, of Ichiki, Okawa City, and described her as a dispatch-type sex-industry shop employee; Livedoor News and Nippon TV News also named her. Asahi Shimbun described her as a sex-industry shop employee without naming her and reported she was re-arrested that day, while Tokyo Shimbun reported in a headline that a 29-year-old mother in Fukuoka was arrested on suspicion of killing two children soon after birth. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 6 , 7 ]
Police allege the first boy was killed in mid-June 2025 at her home, where she squeezed his chest with her thighs until he suffocated, and that the body was hidden in a closet before being put in a plastic bag and dumped in an irrigation canal near her home. Workers cleaning a water gate in Shinden, Okawa City, called police on June 27, 2025, reporting what appeared to be a baby's body; officers found a newborn boy with his umbilical cord still attached and no clothes, and confirmed his death at the scene on a canal flowing into the Chikugawa River. Mainichi Shimbun reported the body was kept in the closet until around 10:30 a.m. that day. [ 1 , 2 , 6 , 7 ]
The second boy, according to police, was killed at her home on July 25, 2026, between 7:20 p.m. and 8 p.m., in the same way, and hidden in the closet wrapped in a jacket. Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun reported the case surfaced after the woman fell ill shortly after that birth and was taken to hospital by ambulance; because there were signs of childbirth but no newborn, the hospital notified police, and investigators found the infant's body in the closet the next day. [ 6 , 7 ]
Police said she admitted the killings, describing the July 2026 case as “no mistake” and the June 2025 case as “largely correct”. Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun reported she said she did not want her mother to find out, and TBS NEWS DIG reported she gave a statement to the effect that she went to dump the body so her mother would not find it. Livedoor News and Nippon TV News reported that on the June 2025 abandonment charge she said: “There is no mistake that I gave birth, but I became anemic and do not remember well.” Mainichi Shimbun said she initially told police she had not given birth. [ 1 , 2 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]
Mainichi Shimbun reported that police arrested her on suspicion of corpse abandonment on Aug 4, 2026, after she left hospital, and re-arrested her on murder suspicion on Aug 25. Asahi Shimbun reported that the Fukuoka District Prosecutors Office had already indicted her over the second case on murder and other charges, and that the boy found at the water gate in 2025 had been confirmed to be her biological child, which led to the Oct 5 re-arrest over that death. [ 6 , 7 ]
Why it matters
The case became known because a hospital reported to police that a woman showed signs of having given birth but had no newborn with her, according to Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun. Prosecutors had already charged her over the second death before the Oct 5 re-arrest extended the case to the infant found in the canal in 2025, Asahi Shimbun reported. The documents describe no official response beyond the police investigation and the prosecution.
Key facts
- Fukuoka prefectural police announced on Oct 5, 2026, the arrest of a 29-year-old woman from Okawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture, on suspicion of murder and corpse abandonment. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 6 , 7 ]
- Police allege the two male infants she gave birth to at home were killed, one in mid-June 2025 and one on July 25, 2026. [ 1 , 2 , 6 , 7 ]
- Workers reported finding what appeared to be an infant's body at a water gate on an irrigation canal in Okawa City on June 27, 2025; police confirmed the newborn boy was dead. [ 1 , 2 , 6 ]
- The second infant's body was found in a closet at her home in July 2026 after a hospital reported a birth with no newborn present, according to Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun. [ 6 , 7 ]
- Police said she admitted the killings, describing the July 2026 case as “no mistake” and the June 2025 case as “largely correct”. [ 1 , 2 , 6 , 7 ]
- She was quoted as saying she did not want her mother to find out. [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]
- She was arrested over the second case in August 2026 and re-arrested over the first case on Oct 5, 2026, according to the reports. [ 6 , 7 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Fukuoka prefectural police announced on Oct 5, 2026, that a 29-year-old woman from Okawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture, had been arrested on suspicion of murder and corpse abandonment over the deaths of two newborn sons. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 6 , 7 ]
- Police allege the first boy was killed in mid-June 2025 at her home and that his body was hidden in a closet, then placed in a plastic bag and dumped in an irrigation canal near her home. [ 1 , 2 , 6 , 7 ]
- Workers reported finding what appeared to be an infant's body at a water gate on an irrigation canal in Okawa City on June 27, 2025, and police confirmed the newborn boy was dead. [ 1 , 2 , 6 ]
- Police allege the second boy was killed at her home on July 25, 2026, between 7:20 p.m. and 8 p.m., and hidden in a closet. [ 1 , 2 , 6 , 7 ]
- The case surfaced after she fell ill shortly after the July 2026 birth and was taken to hospital; the hospital notified police because there were signs of childbirth but no newborn, and investigators found the body in the closet the next day. [ 6 , 7 ]
- Police said she admitted the killings, describing the July 2026 killing as “no mistake” and the June 2025 case as “largely correct”; Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun reported she admitted both charges. [ 1 , 2 , 6 , 7 ]
- She was quoted as saying she did not want her mother to find out. [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]
- She was arrested in August 2026 over the second case before being re-arrested on Oct 5, 2026 over the first case. [ 6 , 7 ]
Still unclear
- Whether she admitted the corpse-abandonment charge in full. Livedoor News and Nippon TV News quote her as saying about the June 2025 abandonment that she gave birth but does not remember well because she became anemic, while Asahi Shimbun and Mainichi Shimbun say she admitted both charges.
- Her motive. The documents give only the reported statement that she did not want her mother to find out, and two Nippon TV News headlines word the remark differently, one saying she did not want to be found and the other that she did not want her mother to find out.
- The current status of the prosecution against her. Asahi Shimbun says the Fukuoka District Prosecutors Office had already indicted her over the second case on murder and other charges, while Mainichi Shimbun reports only the August arrests.
- Her name, occupation and address detail. Mainichi Shimbun names her as Mia Umezaki, 29, of Ichiki, Okawa City, and describes her as a dispatch-type sex-industry shop employee; Livedoor News and Nippon TV News name her without giving an occupation; Asahi Shimbun describes her as a sex-industry shop employee without naming her.
- What she said about the births themselves. Mainichi Shimbun reports she initially told police she had not given birth and then quotes her after the word “crying” before the text breaks off, so what follows is not available in the document.
- Police said the newborn found at the water gate still had his umbilical cord attached, wore no clothes, and was found on a canal that flows into the Chikugawa River. Reported by a single source so far
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- On June 27, 2025, the first infant's body had been kept hidden in a closet until around this time and was then dumped in an irrigation canal near her home, Mainichi Shimbun reported; police say workers reported finding the body at a water gate in Shinden, Okawa City, that day. [ 1 , 2 , 6 , 7 ]
- On July 25, 2026, police allege the second infant was suffocated at the woman's home between 19:20 and 20:00 and hidden in a closet, wrapped in a jacket. [ 1 , 2 , 6 , 7 ]
- On Oct 5, 2026, Livedoor News and Nippon TV News reported the police announcement of the arrest. [ 1 , 2 ]
- Nippon TV News published a follow-up report headlined with the suspect's reported remark that she did not want to be found. [ 4 ]
- Nippon TV News reported that the woman was quoted as saying she did not want her mother to find out. [ 5 ]
- Asahi Shimbun reported the police announcement, including her re-arrest over the June 2025 case and the earlier indictment over the second case. [ 6 ]
- Mainichi Shimbun reported the arrest and the timeline of the August 2026 arrests. [ 7 ]