U.S. sailor in Japan investigated

TOKYO, March 22 (UPI) -- An unidentified U.S. Navy sailor was in the military brig Saturday near Tokyo awaiting questioning in the slaying of a cab driver, the Navy said in a statement.

While the man had not been declared a formal suspect in the Wednesday stabbing death of a 61-year-old cab driver near the Yokosuka U.S. naval base, Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters Friday that U.S. officials had told him one of its service members may be involved, CNN reported.

Also Friday, the Navy announced one of its sailors had gone missing. Later, the man was found and charged with desertion, the report said.

Japan's Kyodo news service reported a credit card belonging to a U.S. service member had been recovered from the taxi in which the driver was fatally stabbed in the neck, Kyodo reported.