Regarding the case of Jang Mi-ran, a person in her 30s who went missing in Jeju last May, it has been revealed that all CCTV footage near the estimated disappearance site was deleted around mid-June.

According to data submitted by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province to independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon, footage from all 118 CCTV cameras—including 111 crime-prevention cameras in the Hallim-eup area of Jeju where Jang vanished and 7 traffic information collection cameras operated by the Jeju Provincial Autonomous Police-yet-unsecured—had been deleted, as the footage from the time of her disappearance was gone.

It was found that no footage remained for the period between May 12 and May 20, which includes May 13, the estimated date of disappearance.

Because the retention period for the 118 CCTV cameras is 30 days, the footage was automatically erased, with the deletion dates identified as falling between June 11 and June 19.

When the police belatedly initiated a reinvestigation and attempted to secure the footage, the retention period had already passed.

The official request sent by the Jeju Seobu Police Station to the Jeju provincial government to view the crime-prevention CCTV footage was found to have been dispatched only on the 19th of this month.

This was a staggering 96 days after the initial missing person report was filed on May 15, and about two months after all the footage had been deleted.

Lawmaker Han pointed out, "CCTV footage that could have served as a clue to trace the whereabouts of Jang Mi-ran, who went missing in Jeju, vanished due to the police closing the case. At the time of the initial report on May 15, footage from all 118 cameras was fully preserved, making it entirely possible to secure them."

He then mentioned the abolition of the supplementary investigation rights, criticizing, "The mechanism to screen out shoddy initial investigations has disappeared, and the cost has fallen entirely on the victim and their family."

(Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Ahn Jun-hyeok | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)