​Missing Chinese sisters died from suffocation in Japan

The two Chinese sisters whose bodies were dumped in woodland in Japan died of suffocation after being strangled, according to a police autopsy report.

It also noted that the color of parts of their skin was unusual, the reason for which remains unknown.

Their bodies of the sisters were discovered on Thursday in luggage abandoned in a forest in the Kanagawa Prefecture, according to Kyodo News Agency reports.

Chen Baolan and her sister Chen Baoling had travelled to Yokohama to work in restaurants. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

Chen Baolan, aged 25, and 22-year-old Chen Baoling worked in restaurants in Yokohama, and reportedly went missing on July 6. A friend said they had tried to get in touch with Baolan but received no reply. Later in the day a friend of the younger sister, Baoling, said that she had been absent from work without reason.

Acting on their suspicions, they reported the two missing, and called on the police to check surveillance video.

It's reported the cameras picked up a man wearing a cap and face mask entering Chen Baolan’s house with a key at around one o’clock in the early morning. He came and went several times. On one occasion a rope he was holding in his arms fell to the ground. He was seen to pick it up and conceal it again.

The younger sister went home at 5 a.m. but never came back out. Five hours later, the man left with a big bag.

It's understood the police are interviewing a man in his thirties, who was a regular customer at the restaurant where Chen Baolan worked, according to Kyodo News Agency.

The parents of the sisters have requested help from the Chinese Embassy in Japan, who have met with the authorities and have urged the police to solve the case as soon as possible and inform them of the latest developments in the investigation.