Police officer admits to mishandling missing person case on Jeju Island
Officer falsely claimed to have confirmed woman's safety before her body was discovered at a palm tree farm
Quick Look
- A Jeju police officer has admitted to falsely claiming he confirmed the safety of a missing woman in her 30s.
- The officer allegedly closed the case prematurely and deleted records, while the victim's body was later discovered at a palm tree farm.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The victim was reported missing on May 15, and her body was discovered on a palm tree farm on Monday. Missing person cases involving women are typically escalated to high-ranking officials in Jeju.
JEJU, South Korea, Aug. 28 (Yonhap) -- A police officer has partially admitted to allegations that he prematurely closed the missing person case of a woman in her 30s on the southern resort island of Jeju without confirming her safety, police said Friday.
While undergoing questioning, the officer admitted to having falsely told the woman's boyfriend, who reported her missing, that she had been contacted and confirmed safe, according to officials at the Jeju Provincial Police Agency.
He reportedly admitted after investigators confronted him with an autopsy report that showed the victim may have died at least two days before she was first reported missing on May 15.
The body of the victim was found Monday at a palm tree farm near her residence on the island. The officer was placed under formal arrest the following day.
The Jeju police earlier said they were examining the officer's shift report from the evening when he received the initial missing report, suspecting he may have intentionally omitted key information from his duty report.
Normally, missing person cases, especially those involving women, are reported to higher-ups, often all the way to the Jeju police chief, due to the possibility of the missing persons being subject to crimes, according to the police.
The officer in question, however, is said to have made no such report to his superiors of the missing woman's case.
He is also suspected of having deleted her data from the profile list of missing people, while inserting false information that she had died in a car accident.
Open Questions
- What was the officer's motive for falsifying the report?
- Are there other cases handled by this officer that require review?
