"There was plenty of time to save my father. Couldn't you have searched for him just a little bit sooner?"

The bereaved family of a man in his 60s, identified as Mr. B, who was found dead 51 days after going missing in Jeju on July 2, visited the Jeju Western Police Station this afternoon (August 23) to protest the police's inadequate initial response and the handling police officer's false case closure.

The son of Mr. B explained, "Right after reporting him missing on July 2, I was told by the responsible police officer that 'my father was safe,' but I was not reassured and asked for help two more times afterwards."

He continued, "The handling police officer explained to the effect that 'my father asked not to disclose his location,' and believing that explanation, I waited for my father."

He burst into anger, saying, "Even after that, my father remained unreachable so I sought out the police again, but the police only told me that 'the missing person is not picking up the phone' and that 'the family should find out on their own.' Our family trusted the police, but we did not receive sufficient help."

Mr. B's son wept, saying, "News reports about a false missing persons case closure seemed similar to my father's case, so I filed a missing person report again on the 21st, and a body presumed to be my father was discovered the very next day."

He then demanded, "This is not simply a matter of an apology. Please reveal whether any judgments or measures were appropriate at the time of the initial report, and whether an active search was conducted. If there was a wrongful response, please also hold them accountable."

Another bereaved family member vented their anger, saying, "What were the police doing until the person turned into a skeleton and became unrecognizable?"

According to police investigation results, Police Inspector A, who was in charge of this case, received a report from Mr. B's family on July 2 that Mr. B was missing, but shortly afterwards, Inspector A called the family back and lied that 'contact was made with the missing person Mr. B and he is safe,' before falsely closing the case.

However, after the family re-reported the missing person on the 21st, the missing person was found dead at a location in Jeju just one day later, yesterday.

Earlier, on May 15, Inspector A also received a missing person report from the boyfriend of Jang Mi-ran (37), and about 2 hours and 30 minutes later, called the reporter and falsely closed the missing person case, claiming that 'the missing person is safe.'

Inspector A also deleted data from the management list on the missing person profiling system regarding Jang.

The police emergency-arrested Inspector A yesterday (August 22) and are investigating him.

(Photo: Yonhap News)