Photo/Illutration The accused abductor and 12-year-old Osaka girl likely got off a local train at East Japan Railway Co.’s unmanned Otabayashi Station, which operates about one to three trains an hour for each outbound and inbound lines, in Yuki, Ibaraki Prefecture. (Mayo Tomioka)

OSAKA--The suspected abductor of an Osaka schoolgirl contacted her through Twitter using a false name and took her to his home in Tochigi Prefecture through a jumble of local and subway trains, according to police sources.

Osaka prefectural police on Nov. 25 sent papers to prosecutors on Hitoshi Ito, 35, on suspicion of abducting and confining a minor.

Sources said that Ito, who was arrested on Nov. 23, is suspected of abducting the 12-year-old girl of Osaka’s Sumiyoshi Ward. He is believed to have used the name “Setsujiro” on Twitter when messaging the girl, an elementary school sixth-grader.

According to the sources, Ito contacted her through the social networking site's closed direct message function around Nov. 10, saying, “Konnichiwa" (hello).

Afterward, Ito asked her in another message: “There is a girl who came to my home half a year ago to live. I would like you to become her companion. Would you like to come to my home?”

In a message exchange with Ito asking about the destination, the girl recalled him saying, “in the direction of Tokyo,” according to sources.

The girl told police that Ito asked her name, address and age but didn't disclose his real name or age, just identifying himself as “Setsujiro,” according to the sources.

When the girl met Ito at a park in Osaka’s Sumiyoshi Ward for the first time at around 10:30 a.m. on the morning of Nov. 17, she was called by her name and acknowledged that he was the person with whom she exchanged messages with via Twitter, according to the sources.

ABDUCTOR USED LOCAL TRAINS TO RETURN

According to police sources, when Ito brought the girl from Osaka to his home in Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, he repeatedly transferred between subway and local trains, taking half a day, and got off at Otabayashi Station, an East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) unmanned station, at close to midnight.

Osaka police believed that Ito deliberately tried to avoid drawing attention to himself and used the mix of trains to avoid having the girl know the location of his house.

Prefectural police confiscated what appears to be a few bullets from Ito’s house where the girl was kept. As police suspect that Ito could have threatened the girl with them, it will analyze the projectiles.

Three SIM cards were also found in his house and one is likely to have been taken from her smartphone. Her shoes and backpack have not been found yet.

MEETING IN OSAKA

Police quoted Ito as saying that he traveled to Osaka, about 430 kilometers from his home, by Shinkansen train.

The nearest station to Ito’s house is JR East’s Oyama Station, which is located about 2 km to the west. Bullet trains stop at the station, which is heavily used by passengers.

The unmanned Otabayashi Station is located about 2.3 km east of his house.

According to sources, Ito walked straight to his home with the girl, trying to avoid contact with anyone along the way.

Around 10 a.m. on Nov. 23, the girl escaped from Ito’s house wearing socks but no shoes, and arrived at a "koban" police box around 1:30 p.m.

After the girl showed up at the koban seeking help, she was quoted as saying, “I didn't know where I am now.”

According to sources, the girl also told police, “While looking for a koban, I noticed for the first time that I am in Tochigi Prefecture.”

The girl went missing after her mother gave her breakfast at their home around 7 a.m. on Nov. 17. Police released the girl's photo and name nationwide from Nov. 19 while searching for her.

The girl was reunited with her mother on Nov. 24.