Footprints in snow lead police to theft suspect
The footprints the suspected thief accidently left in snow piled up on the roof of the victim’s hardware store in Gwangju. / Yonhap
By Kang Aa-young, Park Si-soo
Footprints in the snow have led police to a suspected thief.
According to police, a hardware store owner in Gwangju discovered last Thursday that 20 million won ($18,800) she put under a floor mat had vanished. She broke down because the money was to be used for her son’s overseas study.
The crime was carried out so meticulously that investigators were unable to find any visible hint of the thief, despite a thorough search. In the process, they came across some footprints in the snow piled up on the roof of the store and confirmed they were the thief’s.
Police traced the thief based on the size, pattern and other details of the footprints and caught a suspect, surnamed Seo, 39, at a motel in Gwangju.
Police reportedly recovered 15 million won from Seo. They recently sought an arrest warrant for the man.