TOKYO (AP) >> Police arrested a Japanese man today in connection with the death of a 9-year-old Vietnamese girl near Tokyo, weeks after her naked body was found near a trench.

Chiba prefectural police said they arrested 46-year-old real estate salesman Yasumasa Shibuya on suspicion he abandoned the girl’s body in Aiko City. Police are continuing to investigate him in the girl’s murder and say he has been silent about the case. Autopsy results showed that she was choked to death, suggesting she was possibly strangled, according to police.

Shibuya headed a parents’ association at the school the girl attended, according to Japanese media. They say the suspect headed a neighborhood initiative to watch over children walking to and from school.

The body of Le Thi Nhat Linh was found on March 26, two days after she disappeared on her way to school. The third-grader was last seen alive in a security camera footage showing her carrying a red schoolbag on the back and wearing a hat, apparently a view just before she was captured.

She was loved by her neighbors, and her killing has caught attention in the nation.