By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Police are looking for a former baseball player after a woman and her three daughters went missing.
Officers said Sunday that the 46-year-old woman, identified as Kim, and her three daughters living in an apartment in Mapo-gu, Seoul, have not been seen since Feb. 18, and they consider the ex-sportsman, identified as Lee, might be involved in the disappearance.
Police launched an investigation following a report from their relatives, and found bloodstains in Kim's home. Through examining credit card and cell phone records, the police confirmed that Kim and her second and third daughters were at home together before disappearing, while her first daughter went missing after leaving her friends around midnight the same day.
Three of the families' cell phones have been turned off since the day they went missing, but the third daughter's phone was used once the following day near a mountain in South Jeolla Province, according to the police.
Workers at the restaurant which Kim runs testified that she told them a day before she disappeared that she would be traveling for several days.
A closed-circuit television (CCTV) record at Kim's apartment showed a man carrying out three large travel bags. A neighbor testified that she saw a man loading a big bag into a car. The witness memorized the license plate of the car, which was found to belong to Kim.
The car was discovered in the underground parking lot of the apartment. In a CCTV recording, a man drove the car to the parking lot two days after Kim and her family went missing, parked it, and left in a hurry. ``We examined the car, but it was washed and there was no evidence such as bloodstains,'' a police officer said.
The police secured testimony that Kim has been in a close relationship with the former pro baseball player for about two years, and are investigating whether he was involved in the case. They are examining the CCTV record to see whether Lee was the man with the bags.
``We have not confirmed whether they are alive or not and whether Lee is involved, but we are not ruling out any possibilities, including murder,'' the officer said.
They are having difficulty finding Lee, as his cell phone is registered under a false name, the officer said. Investigators are currently in Gwangju, following a tip that Lee, who is wanted by the police for fraud, was staying there.
They also found 170 million won was withdrawn from Kim's bank account just before she went missing, and are trying to find out who withdrew the money.