NANTAN, KYOTO PREF. ¨C Dashboard camera footage was partially deleted from a car driven by a father who was arrested after his son¡¯s body was found in a forested area in Kyoto Prefecture, investigative sources said Friday.

Portions of the footage from March 23, the day 11-year-old Yuki Adachi, an elementary school student from the city of Nantan, went missing, had been erased, according to the sources.

The Kyoto Prefectural Police believe the 37-year-old suspect,?Y¨±ki Adachi, may have deleted the footage to conceal his movements.?

The suspect told investigators he had dropped his adoptive son off near Sonobe Elementary School, the victim¡¯s school, at around 8 a.m. on March 23, after which the boy¡¯s whereabouts became unknown.

Analysis of the remaining recordings showed that the father drove to a location near the school on March 23, the sources said. But the boy¡¯s presence in the vehicle could not be confirmed and he was not seen on the school¡¯s security cameras.

The investigators have confirmed that the boy was alive until at least the morning of March 23. His body was found on Monday in a forested area about 2 kilometers southwest of the school.

While the cause of death has not been determined, he is believed to have died in late March. No visible external injuries were found.

The suspect has admitted to abandoning the body and has also made statements acknowledging involvement in the killing of his son, the sources said.

He is believed to have moved the body multiple times within the city. The victim¡¯s school backpack was found in a mountainous area about 3 kilometers west of the school, and sneakers thought to be his were found in a different mountainous area about 6 kilometers to the southwest of the school.

Kyoto Prefectural Police have set up a large task force to trace the suspect¡¯s movements and establish a motive.