False Case Closure Followed by 'Disabled' Label on Missing Person Alert Draws Family's Outrage

The police have come under fire for listing a missing woman, Jang Mi-ran—whose whereabouts have remained unknown for over three months amid allegations of a "false case closure"—as disabled in a missing persons alert despite her having no such disability.

Although the police explained that it was unavoidable due to urgency, the family is furious as the missing persons alert was issued belatedly only after the family posted about it on social media.

Currently, the personal information of Jang Mi-ran posted on "Safety Dream," the missing persons support center website for children, women, and people with disabilities under the Korean National Police Agency, indicates that she has a "disability."

On the 19th, the police issued a missing persons alert containing Jang's personal information and subsequently uploaded the relevant details to the Safety Dream website.

However, Jang is not registered as a person with a disability.

The police stated that they marked her as "disabled" in the alert details based on a statement from her boyfriend claiming that "Jang suffered from depression."

The police explained that according to the requirements for issuing an alert, an alert cannot be issued for an adult female unless she has dementia, a disability, or is a child under the age of 18, which is why they specified her as disabled.

The National Police Agency elaborated, "As the search for the missing person became prolonged, we inevitably sought cooperation from Jang's family and issued the alert as a missing person with a disability."

However, Jang Mi-ran's family is outraged.

This is because the search for the missing person was delayed for months due to allegations that Inspector A of the missing persons investigation team at the Jeju Western Police Station falsely closed the case, and the police only issued the alert after Jang's cousin published a self-made missing person flier on social media.

In a media interview, Jang's family vented their frustration, saying, "If the police had registered her as disabled and urgently issued a missing persons alert before the shoddy initial investigation became an issue, we could understand. But taking such measures belatedly after drawing nationwide public outrage is like killing the family twice."

(Reported by Jung Da-eun, Video by Kim Na-on, Graphics by Yook Do-hyun, Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.