CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A Kadena airman was found dead Sunday in an off-base apartment building on Okinawa, according to Japanese police.

An acquaintance discovered the body of the 30-year-old male, who was assigned to the 733rd Air Mobility Squadron at Kadena Air Base. The airman was lying in a 4th floor apartment in Chatan near Camp Lester, a Japanese police spokesman said during a briefing Sunday afternoon. The Air Force requested Sunday evening that the name of the airman not be published until his next of kin could be notified.

According to Japanese police, the man was cut on the neck with a sharp object and lost a large amount of blood. Police said the incident most likely is a homicide, but they had not ruled out on Sunday the possibility of suicide.

The airman likely had been dead for about six hours when his body was discovered around noon, according to investigators.

Police said an autopsy was underway to determine the cause of death.

The death of the airman is being investigated jointly by U.S. military and Japanese authorities, the Japanese spokesman said during the briefing.

Military officials said Sunday evening that they could not release any additional information on the airman’s death.

For most of Sunday afternoon, the apartment building where the incident occurred, which sits above a tattoo parlor and other businesses, was taped off and surrounded by Japanese and U.S. military authorities, including the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

Japanese authorities draped a large blue tarp over balconies at the building to obscure views of the scene.

Sunset Beach and American Village, two popular spots for U.S. servicemembers, are nearby, and a Japanese professional baseball team was holding winter training on an adjacent field.

trittent@pstripes.osd.mil

sumidac@pstripes.osd.mil

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