[Anchor]

The police officer from the Jeju Western Police Station who botched the Jang Mi-ran missing person case also closed the missing person report of a man in his 60s who was later found dead using the exact same lies. As the cases were closed without even basic verification, growing questions are being raised about why they attempted to sweep these missing person cases under the rug so recklessly.

[Reporter An Huijae]

The 60-year-old man, surnamed A, vanished on June 28, and a missing person report was filed with the police four days later.

The officer in charge was Police Inspector Bu, the same officer who handled the case of the late Jang Mi-ran at the Jeju Western Police Station.

Family members who visited the police station in person asked for help, stating that Mr. A had disappeared after leaving words about business failure and heavy debts, but the case was closed in about five and a half hours.

Inspector Bu processed the cancellation of the missing person status by claiming that "Mr. A refused to meet with the police officer."

While entering the false "location found" code into the internal computer network, Inspector Bu also listed two phone numbers as the ones he used to call Mr. A. However, an investigation revealed that one of these numbers had no relation to Mr. A at all.

There were no call records between Inspector Bu and Mr. A.

Mr. A was found dead on August 22, just a day after the missing person report was re-filed.

[Bereaved family member of Mr. A (August 23): What good is finding him after he's dead? What good is it now!]

The police are focusing on Inspector Bu's repeated modus operandi, which occurred some 40 days after he falsely closed Jang's case.

Both cases are carbon copies, featuring lies that they "made contact" and entering false reasons for lifting the missing person status. This is largely because they likely took advantage of the loophole in the police Missing Person Profiling System, where simply entering a clearance code—such as death, location found, or voluntary return—removes the case from subsequent management, enabling the concealment of cases.

The police, who have launched a full investigation into all cases handled by Inspector Bu, stated that no problems have been found so far other than the cases involving Jang and Mr. A. However, with the number of cases reaching 298, the possibility that more unlawful cases will surface remains.

(Video editing: Kim Jong-mi, Design: Lim Chan-hyuk, Park Cheon-woong)