▲ Police conduct an on-site investigation after discovering a body believed to be Jang Mi-ran, who went missing months ago, in a sago palm forest in Suwon-ri, Hanrim-eup, Jeju, on the 24th.
A body presumed to be Jang Mi-ran, who went missing in Jeju last May, has been found 104 days after her disappearance.
The Jeju Provincial Police Agency announced that the body was found during a joint search near Hanrim-eup in Jeju at around 10:46 a.m. today (the 24th).
The body is in a state of advanced decomposition, making visual identification impossible, and police plan to determine the identity and cause of death through forensic analysis.
A police official stated, "Judging by the current condition of the body, we believe the possibility of foul play is not high."
The location where Jang's body was found is about 1 kilometer away—roughly a 10-minute walk—from the place she left her long-term accommodation around 10:15 p.m. on May 12.
Jang's boyfriend reported her missing to the Jeju Seobu Police Station at around 6:43 p.m. on May 15.
Immediately upon receiving the report, police tracked Jang's mobile phone location and subsequently identified that she had moved toward Hanrim Port.
However, Police Officer A, who received Jang's missing person report, called Jang's boyfriend who made the report and said, "We have made contact with Jang and she is safe," adding, "However, Jang asked not to disclose her location to her boyfriend or others."
Furthermore, Officer A closed the case about two hours and 30 minutes after the report at around 9:16 p.m. on May 15, and also deleted data related to Jang from the missing person profiling system on the same day.
Police are investigating the possibility that the deletion of the missing person profiling list meant that Jang had died, as it may have been entered as a "unidentified deceased person."
Due to Officer A closing the case, police officers from the Hanrim Police Box who had been dispatched to Hanrim Port and searched the area based on the 112 emergency call were all withdrawn, bringing all search operations to a halt.
When Jang could still not be reached, her boyfriend attempted to file a report again on July 17, but Officer A's record stating "do not tell the boyfriend her contact information" remained, preventing the report from being accepted.
Subsequently, Jang's family filed a re-report in Seoul on July 19, prompting search operations to resume.
Police had been searching areas including Hanrim Port, believed to be her last known location, since early this month but failed to find Jang.
It was revealed that Officer A also falsely closed another missing person case involving a man in his 60s who was reported missing on the 2nd, aside from Jang's case.
For this case as well, Officer A closed the case after telling the reporting family, much like in Jang's case, that "we contacted the missing man in his 60s, but he said he does not wish to meet police officers and asked that his location not be disclosed to his family."
The family of the man in his 60s re-reported the case to police on the 21st after Jang's case was reported by the media, and the missing man was found dead the next day, the 22nd.
Police emergency-arrested Officer A, are investigating the exact motives, and applied for an arrest warrant today.
Police are also investigating whether there are any additional cases handled by Officer A that were falsely closed.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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