Jeju woman found dead after police false closure
SingTao · 2 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
A 37-year-old woman surnamed Jang, identified by Sing Tao as Jang Mi-ran, was found dead near her home in Jeju after being missing for 104 days. Police said the body was discovered near Hallim-eup, about one kilometre from her residence, with no immediate signs of foul play at the scene. The case escalated into a misconduct scandal after an officer allegedly falsely claimed he had contacted her and then closed the missing-person case within hours of the initial report. Jeju authorities are now re-examining missing-person and crisis cases after several bodies of missing people were found on the island within three days.
Key Points
- Jang Mi-ran, 37, disappeared after leaving her home at 10:15pm on May 12, and her body was later found near Hallim-eup.
- Her live-in boyfriend reported her missing at 6:43pm on May 15 after losing contact with her.
- The handling officer allegedly told the boyfriend he had reached Jang, that she was safe, and did not want to reveal her whereabouts.
- Police closed the case at about 9:16pm on May 15, roughly two and a half hours after the report, and removed her from the missing-person registry.
- Jeju decided to extend public CCTV retention, expand AI-enabled coastal surveillance, and review all recently handled missing-person and crisis cases.
Why It Matters
For Hong Kong readers, the case is a reminder that the speed and accuracy of first-response police work can directly affect whether a missing-person search continues or stops. It also shows how record-keeping, CCTV retention and supervisory checks can become critical when vulnerable people disappear and frontline judgments go unchallenged.