Police Nationwide Scrutinize Past Missing Persons Cases After False Closure Controversy

Triggered by the false-closure case involving the disappearance of Jang Mi-ran, police departments across the country are conducting comprehensive inspections of closed missing persons cases.

Yesterday (August 24), the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency launched a full inspection of about 6,500 missing persons cases that were reported and subsequently closed or cleared from January 2024 to this month. The Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungnam Provincial Police Agency, as well as the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency, also announced that they are initiating full-scale investigations to determine the appropriateness of missing persons cases from the same period.

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency has also decided to review all 25,000 or so missing persons cases received since January 2024, while the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency will examine a massive total of about 77,000 cases.

A palpable sense of tension hangs over the Chungbuk Provincial Police Agency, which has likewise embarked on a comprehensive investigation.

This follows a precedent where shoddy initial responses were exposed during the handling of the so-called "Cheongju missing woman murder" case.

In October of last year, the Cheongju Heungdeok Police Station received a report that a woman in her 50s was missing. Despite receiving statements from her family warning that "Kim Young-woo, her former partner, may have harmed her," the police initially dismissed the case as a simple runaway, only forming a dedicated investigation team a month later.

In the meantime, the storage period for roadside CCTV footage expired, disrupting the investigation, and the missing woman was ultimately found dead 44 days later in a wastewater treatment tank at a business partner's facility linked to Kim Young-woo.

At the time, the Chungbuk Provincial Police Agency admitted that there were inadequacies in the initial investigation process, stating, "We regret that there was a gap following the report."

Having already faced criticism for shoddy investigations last year, the police face a situation where any further issues uncovered during the review process could severely undermine public trust.

Each police agency undertaking the comprehensive review of missing persons cases also plans to re-verify the circumstances behind cases where missing status was lifted after confirming the safety of the individuals.

In particular, cases where survival was verified through communication records but police were unable to meet the individuals face-to-face, leaving them in a "missing status" on paper, will be key targets for review.

Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Kim Na-on | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.