▲ Excavation of the remains of a woman who disappeared 24 years ago
A woman who disappeared 24 years ago in Seoul was murdered by her boyfriend and buried in the dark, and it was confirmed that the police at the time did not make efforts to find the missing person properly.
There is no record of an investigation with a violent crime in mind even when reporting the family runaway, leaving a question as to whether the opportunity to save a precious life was missed.
Today (9th), according to the Jeonbuk National Police Agency, etc., a report from a family member A (then 28) was received at a police station in Seoul in 1997.
A, who had worked in a factory in the past, was found to have suddenly lost contact with the people around him.
Since then, there have been no reports of seeing Mr. A or knowing his whereabouts.
There was no survival response such as renewal of resident registration card, immigration, mobile phone opening, or credit card opening.
The whereabouts of the woman in the labyrinth came to the surface when the Jeonbuk National Police Agency obtained a piece of intelligence last summer, 23 years after this.
The content of the intelligence was that after Mr. A was murdered by his boyfriend, he was buried, and one of the accomplices demanded money from the main culprit by silence.
The police, who started the investigation, confirmed these facts from two accomplices, and arrested B (47), the main culprit, in Daejeon last June and investigated the circumstances.
It is said that Mr. B acquiesced to the charges and confided the specific location of Mr. A's burial.
The police conducted geological exploration and excavation work near a high school in Gimje, where the remains are believed to have been buried six times, but so far they have not been able to find Mr.
Because the incident took place so long ago, a large road had already been laid near the school, and it was confirmed that construction had been carried out several times.
The police also said that the statute of limitations for the arrest of Mr.
He explained that the revision of the Criminal Procedure Act (aka Taewani Act), which abolished the statute of limitations for murder cases, was made in 2015, but only retroactively applied to cases where the statute of limitations remained, so it could not be applied to this case.
He added that there were no records left at a police station in Seoul, where the first report was received, so this was also confirmed through the testimony of the suspect.
This is a disappointment in that if the police had actively identified whereabouts and started an investigation with a violent crime in mind when they received a report from the family, punishment for the suspect or excavation of remains would have been smoother than it is now.
An official from the Jeonbuk National Police Agency said, "Recently, all possibilities are open to report the disappearance or runaway reports of women and youth, but it seems that was not the case at the time." "I couldn't find any data on it," he said.
"(Even if the punishment is difficult), I will carry out the responsibility of the investigative agency to reveal the substantive truth of the unsolved murder case until the end." he added.
(Photo = provided by Jeonbuk National Police Agency, Yonhap News)