Kurosaki disappeared in the city of Besancon, where she had been studying French, on the night of December 4,2016
Narumi Kurosaki disappeared in the city of Besancon, where she had been studying French, on the night of December 4,2016.
Local prosecutor Etienne Manteaux said that determining the exact cause of death was difficult because investigators had not found her body despite extensive searches involving divers and dogs.
But he confirmed that no blood had been found in her room in a university residence in Besancon where terrified cries and the sound of a physical struggle were heard by fellow students at around 3:30am.
“Was it by suffocation? Probably. That doesn’t leave blood,” Manteaux told reporters in Besancon.
He said Kurosaki’s ex-boyfriend Nicolas Zepeda, who posted videos online threatening her before her disappearance, was “more than ever considered the main suspect in this killing”.
Zepeda left France and returned to Chile soon after Kurosaki was last seen dining with him in a restaurant a short drive from Besancon. He has denied responsibility for her death.
Chilean authorities have so far declined to arrest him, despite an international arrest warrant issued by France, and Manteaux admitted that there had been a “certain reticence” to take action.
