A female body found off the coast of central Japan is being investigated as possibly that of a 14-year-old girl who went missing during record heavy rain in Ishikawa Prefecture.
Coast guard officials in the neighboring prefecture of Fukui say the body was found about 40 kilometers off the coast of Sakai City on Monday afternoon.
They say the woman was about 150 centimeters tall and wearing a dark-colored tracksuit with a tag bearing the name “Kiso.”
Third-year junior high school student Kiso Hanon from Wajima City in Ishikawa Prefecture has been missing since the downpours in late September.
Officials are contacting her family and investigating whether there is any link.
Police and prefectural officials say that 13 people have died in the deluge and one person from Noto Town remains missing as of Monday afternoon. They also say the safety of three people from Wajima City has not yet been confirmed.