Police Accused of Closing Missing Person Case After False Report While Family Desperately Searches

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In May, 37-year-old Jang Mi-ran went missing in Jeju. While her family has publicly revealed her identity to search for her themselves, allegations have emerged that the police closed the case just three hours after falsely reporting that they had made contact with Jang three months ago.

Reporter Jung Yong-gi from JIBS.

[Reporter]

A woman wearing a zip-up hoodie and long pants leaves her accommodation.

This is the last known footage of 30-something Jang Mi-ran, who went missing last May.

More than three months have passed since, with no communication and no trace of daily activities such as financial transactions.

The family has taken to searching for Jang even by making her face public.

[Family Member of Missing Jang Mi-ran: After tracking her location, the police told us, "The missing person does not want to talk" and "She asked not to be found." That was when the reports stopped.]

However, allegations have been raised that a detective from the missing persons investigation team at the Jeju Western Police Station made a false report in May claiming to have "made contact" with Jang.

This is because police investigations have confirmed no record of phone calls between the responsible detective and Jang to date.

Jang, who lost contact after May 13, was reported missing two days later, but the police closed the case in just three hours.

With no signs of life for the following two months and subsequent second and third missing person reports filed in mid-July, suspicions over the false closure have also surfaced.

The police have launched a public search around Hallim Port, where Jang's last movements were confirmed.

Thirty police officers were deployed, and missing person alert text messages were sent out.

The investigation is expanding without ruling out the possibility of a criminal offense.

[Boyfriend of Missing Jang Mi-ran: I am so angry and my hands were shaking earlier so I could not do anything. I keep walking around Hallim Port and the coast because I thought if she had fallen into the sea, her shoes might have washed ashore, so I am just walking along the coastline right now.]

It was confirmed that the detective in charge of the case at the time was recently suspended from duty after being caught entering a women's restroom at a police station.

The police have booked the detective on charges of dereliction of duty and are investigating the overall handling of the missing person case.

(Video by: Kang Myung-chul / JIBS)

Jung Yong-gi / JIBS
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.