Four Missing People in Jeju Found Dead Within Three Days; Two Were Linked to Alleged 'False Closure' Cases

[Financial News] In Jeju Province, where a police case involving the false closure of missing-person reports has come to light, people who had been reported missing were found dead one after another over the course of three days. Two of them are known to have been missing-person cases handled by the officer now under suspicion for the false closures. 
According to the Jeju Coast Guard Station and others on the 24th, a body believed to be that of Jang Mi-ran, 37, who went missing in May, was found at around 10:46 a.m. in a palm grove in Jeju City. It was 104 days after the missing-person report was filed, and the site was near the lodging where Jang had stayed long-term.
Jang's case became controversial after it was revealed that the officer in charge, a police sergeant in his 30s identified as A, had falsely closed the initial missing-person report. Police later launched a search after a new report was filed last month.
Earlier, on the 22nd, a man in his 60s was found dead in Songdang-ri, Gujwa-eup, Jeju City. He, too, had been reported missing on the 2nd of last month, and A is suspected of having falsely closed the case in a similar manner. A search was under way after the family filed another report on the 21st.
The other two cases are believed to have little connection to the false-closure scandal. On the 23rd, a fisherman found a man believed to be in his 70s dead in the sea near Sinheung-ri, Jocheon-eup, Jeju City, and reported it to emergency services. A missing-person report for the man had been filed with the Jeju Dongbu Police Station the previous day, on the 22nd.
At around 9:35 a.m. on the 24th, another man's body was found near Musucheon Valley in Aewol-eup, Jeju City. He had been reported missing on the 12th.
Police and the Coast Guard say they have found no signs of homicide or other criminal involvement in any of the cases so far. They plan to determine the exact identities and causes of death through autopsies and forensic examinations. Investigators are also continuing their probe into A on suspicion of falsely closing missing-person reports.

[email protected] Lee Hwan-ju Reporter