[Anchor]

The initial report on the disappearance of Jang Mi-ran was filed back in May, but the police wasted most of their time. Today, Jang's body was discovered just 1 km away from the location where her cell phone signal was last detected. Had the police acted in a timely manner, the outcome might have been different. Distrust and criticism toward the police are growing.

This report is by reporter An Huijae.

[Reporter]

A woman wearing a hooded hat slips out of her accommodation. This is the last captured footage of Jang Mi-ran, a woman in her 30s who went missing in Hallim-eup, Jeju, last May.

The first report that contact with Jang had been lost was filed on May 15.

The police immediately launched an inquiry.

However, the search operation was abruptly halted about two and a half hours after the report was received.

This was because Police Inspector A of the Jeju Western Police Station, who was in charge of the investigation, closed the case, claiming that he had "spoken with Jang on the phone."

[Family Member of Jang Mi-ran (May 19): After conducting a location trace, the police told us that 'the missing person does not want to make a call' and 'asked not to be found.']

Inspector A's explanation turned out to be false.

As the police reexamined the records following repeated reports from Jang's family, it was confirmed that Inspector A had never actually spoken with Jang.

The police department was thrown into uproar after it was belatedly confirmed that Inspector A had violated the protocol of meeting missing persons in person, submitted a false report, and completely deleted Jang's information from the police computer system.

Forming a dedicated team belatedly on the 4th, the police issued a missing person alert and launched a massive search three months after the initial report.

Initial clues, including CCTV footage, had already disappeared.

[Merchant near Hallim Port (May 20): (The police) did look at the CCTV, but I am not sure what they saw. Since there was no one...]

Those left behind were left in agony.

[Boyfriend of Jang Mi-ran (May 19): Just in case she fell into the sea, I thought her shoes might have washed ashore, so I kept walking along the coast...]

The place where Jang was found after some 100 days is a palm tree farm near Hallim Port, a mere 1 km away from the location where her cell phone signal was cut off.

Following a man in his 60s last week, Jang Mi-ran was found dead today, marking consecutive deaths of missing persons tied to the case of Inspector A's false reports. Thorough investigations are expected to be necessary to determine how many similar cases might exist.

(Video Editing: Park Ji-in, Design: Jeon Yu-geun, Lee Jun-ho)