In this June 2015 file photo, a brown bear is seen in the Hokkaido town of Shari. (Mainichi/Hiroaki Homma)

       HAKODATE, Hokkaido -- An unidentified body has been found in bushes in a Hokkaido town in what appears to be a bear attack, police said.

       The remains, of unknown sex, were found in the Hokkaido town of Fukushima at around 10:20 a.m. on July 2. As it is severely damaged with some parts missing, Hokkaido Prefectural Police's Matsumae Police Station suspects that the person was attacked by a brown bear. A woman in her 70s in the neighborhood is missing, and police believe the body may be hers. They are working to identify the body.

       According to the police station, the woman left her home on the morning of July 1 to work in her farm field. She did not come home that evening and her relatives contacted police the following morning. The body was found approximately 30 meters from the field during a search by officers and town hall staff.

       (Japanese original by Kohei Shinkai, Hokkaido News Department Hakodate)

       Font Size S M L Print Timeline 0