Police investigating Lucie's disappearance find remains
Police searching for missing British bar hostess Lucie Blackman say they have found the remains of a woman's body on a beach near Tokyo.
They are trying to ascertain whether the remains are those of the 22-year-old who has been missing since July.
Investigators have been looking for Lucie after she told a friend she was going on a drive to the ocean with a client and disappeared.
A police spokesman said the remains were found near the seaside apartment of a Japanese businessman who was arrested in October and accused of drugging and raping several women including a Canadian hostess and another Briton.
He added that police have not yet linked the discovery on Miura Beach in Kanagawa Prefecture, just southwest of Tokyo, to Lucie, from Sevenoaks, Kent.
Lucie was working as a hostess in Tokyo's Roppongi entertainment district to fund a trip round Asia after giving up her job with British Airways.
Joji Obara, 48, has been charged with raping four women since 1996 after inviting them to his Miura condominium and incapacitating them with drugs. He has yet to be charged in relation to Lucie, however.
In a statement provided to the media by his lawyer after his arrest, Obara said he met the British hostess only once at a bar but denied responsibility for her disappearance.
Lucie's father Tim Blackman said: "They have told us that something has been found but they haven't been able to confirm who it is."
Mr Blackman, 47, a property developer, said he had no immediate plans to fly to Japan.
