“Yuki-kun Loved His Mother” — Insights Into the Victim’s Family in the Kyoto Case

Yuki, a mother’s boy

In the case in which the body of sixth-grade elementary school student Yuki Adachi (11) was abandoned in a mountainous area in Sonobe-cho, Nantan City, Kyoto Prefecture, the Kyoto Prefectural Police arrested his adoptive father, company employee Yuki Adachi (37), on April 16 on suspicion of abandoning a body.

According to interviews with people familiar with the Adachi family, Yuki’s mother originally worked at a hair salon in Tokyo, where she met a man and married him. She gave birth to Yuki, but divorced when he was around one year old, and returned to her hometown in Nantan City, Kyoto Prefecture.

“At the Adachi home in Sonobe-cho, Yuki lived together with his mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother across four generations. The suspect Adachi also lived there. He had essentially married into the Adachi family,” said a source.

Yuki, whose life was taken by the suspect’s selfish crime, is remembered by a woman familiar with the Adachi family:

“Yuki loved his mother very much. There were reports saying he was raised by his grandmother instead of his mother, but that’s not true. It is true that his grandmother sometimes took care of him when his mother was away for work, but the person mainly raising Yuki was his mother.

Yuki was a very bright and well-behaved child. When I met and spoke with him, he was always smiling. This incident is just too heartbreaking.”

Possible involvement in the killing as well

Four days after the arrest of suspect Yuki Adachi, the full picture of the case that drew nationwide attention is finally beginning to come into focus.

“After Yuki went missing on March 23, his school backpack was found on March 29, and his shoes were discovered on April 12. Then on April 13, Yuki’s body was found in a mountainous area about 2 km from the elementary school. During questioning, the suspect Adachi has admitted the charges, saying, ‘There is no mistake in what I did,’ and has also reportedly made statements to the effect that he strangled him to death.

On April 18, forensic investigators examined a public restroom near the suspect’s home. It is believed that the suspect may have temporarily disposed of Yuki’s body there. Police are continuing their investigation on the assumption that the body was moved between multiple locations before being found in the forest,” said a reporter from a national newspaper’s social affairs department.

The suspect has also made statements admitting to the killing of Yuki.

“In voluntary questioning before his arrest, the suspect reportedly stated that he took the child to another location within the city and killed him. It has also been revealed that before being informed by the school that Yuki was absent, he had already contacted related parties saying that the child has gone missing.

Meanwhile, part of the footage from the suspect’s car dashcam is missing from just before Yuki disappeared. Police are continuing their investigation, including efforts to restore the footage,” said the same reporter.

In order to bring justice to Yuki and his bereaved family, early clarification of the full truth is awaited.