▲ A barrier is set up at a palm tree farm in Hallim-eup, Jeju, where the body of long-term missing person Chang Mi-ran was found on the 26th.
As Chang Mi-ran (37), who had been missing for a long time, was found dead at a palm tree farm near her accommodation in Jeju, police stated that the possibility of foul play is deemed low, but questions continue to persist.
According to the Jeju Provincial Police Agency and other sources on the 26th, Chang's body was discovered by police searching a palm tree farm in Hallim-eup, Jeju City, on the morning of the 24th.
Police stated that, based on the posture and location where the body was initially found, they presume Chang took her own life by hanging.
The farm is densely packed with palm trees standing about 3 to 6 meters tall.
The pruned parts of the tree trunks easily snap off when touched.
Residents said they never could have imagined that a missing person would be found in such a place.
Mr. A, a resident in his 70s who was farming near the site on the morning of the 24th, said, "I've been working here continuously since around June. Several of us work together, but none of us noticed anything like a strange smell."
He also added, "There are many cases where fertilizer is applied to nearby fields, and recently the wind generally blew toward the ocean, so I never suspected a body would be in the palm tree farm."
He went on to say, "The owner of the field right next to the palm tree farm came by to work not long ago, but that person didn't seem to know either."
In addition, residents reported that there are only vinyl greenhouses and fields around the palm tree farm, and with neither closed-circuit (CC) televisions nor even streetlights, the area is deserted at night.
One resident said, "That area has no lighting, so it becomes pitch black at night. Cars can travel because of their headlights, but people do not walk around at night."
Pedestrian travelers passing through the area also remarked, "Nobody would ever know this place exists."
Questions have also been raised about the missing person being found in a densely packed area with palm trees featuring many sharply protruding parts.
Mr. A said, "The pruned parts of the palm trunks are extremely sharp. If your body touches them, it hurts so much you cannot endure it even for a moment," adding that it is incomprehensible how someone could make an extreme choice there.
On an online community, a netizen who stated they live 500 meters away from the site where the body was found also raised questions.
Sharing photos of the scene, the netizen stated, "Canary Island palm trees have a huge number of sharp, hard thorn-like parts, and unlike regular trees, they don't have branches, making it almost impossible to hang a rope for suspension."
The netizen added, "It is questionable whether a single woman could have tied a rope to the tree and hanged herself. Even if she tied it, the pain from being pricked by the thorns would have been far greater," presenting the view that there are many suspicious points.
An official from a landscaping company in the province also said, "Canary Island palm trees have many thorns, making them difficult even for landscapers to handle, so it would be a very difficult task for a woman to make an extreme choice there alone."
Right after the body was found, the police stated, "We are assessing that the possibility of criminal harm is not high."
Following an autopsy conducted the previous day, they stated, "Although the body is in a state of advanced decomposition, making it difficult to check for signs of external trauma, no unusual fractures were found."
While the time and exact cause of death have not yet been determined, police stated that they are investigating the exact cause of death while keeping all possibilities open, and will focus on tracing the deceased person's final movements through a forensic examination of the mobile phone found at the scene.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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