Japanese authorities have arrested a 75-year-old woman after she allegedly admitted to storing the body of her daughter in a freezer for two decades. The shocking discovery was made on Tuesday, September 23, in Ibaraki prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, according to a police spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Investigators found the remains of an adult woman inside a deep freezer at the home of the suspect, identified as Keiko Mori. Police said Mori confessed that the body belonged to her daughter, Makiko, who was born in 1975 and would now be around 49 or 50 years old if alive.

“Decay was advancing,” the police spokesman noted, adding that an autopsy would be conducted to determine the exact cause of death.

The case unfolded after Mori went to police on Tuesday, September 23, accompanied by a relative, to report that she had been keeping her daughter’s body inside the freezer. When investigators accompanied her to the residence, they discovered the body kneeling face-down in the freezer, dressed only in a T-shirt and underwear.

Mori was subsequently arrested on suspicion of abandoning a body. During questioning, she reportedly told investigators that a foul odour had begun to spread throughout the house, prompting her to purchase the freezer and place the body inside to contain the smell.

Authorities confirmed that Mori had several children but declined to provide details about them or disclose what they may have told investigators regarding Makiko.

The elderly woman had been living alone since the death of her husband earlier this month, police said.

The disturbing case has raised many unanswered questions about how and why the body was kept hidden for so long, with investigators now working to piece together the circumstances surrounding Makiko’s death and the decades-long concealment.