The stepfather of a boy who went missing and was found dead three weeks later in Kyoto Prefecture, western Japan, was served a fresh arrest warrant on May 6 on suspicion of murder, an investigative source said.

Yuki Adachi, 37, was initially arrested on April 16 on suspicion of abandoning the body of his 11-year-old stepson, Yuki, in Nantan in the prefecture.

He was alleged at the time to have hidden the body in different locations before it was discovered following an extensive search.

Police suspect the stepfather strangled the boy in a public restroom located between their home and a local elementary school in Nantan around late March, according to the source.

Yuki was last seen on the morning of March 23, the day he went missing, according to police. His elementary school teacher told his mother before noon that he had not shown up for school, after which the suspect made an emergency call. KYODO NEWS