YORII, Saitama -- A woman's body has been found dumped in a large plastic box at a parking lot here, police said.

At around 8:50 a.m. on Sunday, a passer-by found the body of a woman covered with a cotton blanket in a translucent clothes container at a parking lot on a municipal road in Yorii, and alerted police.

Investigators say the woman appeared to be aged between 60 and 80. She had been dead for several days and her body bore no external injuries.

Local police are poised to conduct an autopsy.