he dead body of an unidentified woman was found curled up in a suitcase in a Tokyo hotel room, a day after the foul smell of her body prompted the evacuation of dozens of guests, police said Saturday.
Police are looking for the owner of the suitcase and the person who booked the room on the 24th floor of the Shinjuku Washington Hotel where the body was found Friday night, a Tokyo police official said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.
The body was that of a trim woman in her 50s or 60s who was dressed in a polo shirt and trousers. Her body was curled in the fetal position inside a plastic bag within the suitcase, the official said.
The woman had no visible injuries and the cause of death was not immediately obvious, he said, adding that it wasn't clear how long she had been in the room or how long she had been dead.
Guests staying on the 23rd and 24th floor of the hotel had complained about a nasty odor and were briefly evacuated Thursday while firefighters, police and hotel staff investigated. But it wasn't until Friday that an employee found the suitcase, which a police investigator later opened to discover the body.
The hotel room guest's identity was not disclosed. Police were investigating the cause of death.
9/6/2008 8:52 AM
By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press Writer
TOKYO
he dead body of an unidentified woman was found curled up in a suitcase in a Tokyo hotel room, a day after the foul smell of her body prompted the evacuation of dozens of guests, police said Saturday.
