Jeju police officer partially admits to alleged mishandling of missing person case
Summary
Jeju police are checking a shift report by an officer suspected of mishandling a missing person case involving a woman in her 30s. The officer allegedly closed the case without confirming her safety and falsely told her boyfriend she had been contacted and was safe. Investigators say an autopsy report suggested she may have died at least two days before she was reported missing on May 15. The officer was formally arrested after the body was found Monday near her residence.
Key Facts
- The victim was found at a palm tree farm near her residence on the island Monday.
- Investigators confronted the officer with an autopsy report that suggested the woman may have died at least two days before she was first reported missing on May 15.
- Police suspect the officer deleted her data from the missing persons list and inserted false information saying she had died in a car accident.
- Normally, missing person cases involving women are reported to higher-ups, often all the way to the Jeju police chief, but the officer is said to have made no such report.
A police officer accused of wrongfully closing a missing person case leaves the Jeju District Court after his arrest warrant hearing, Aug. 25. Yonhap
JEJU — 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.
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