Father of Ms. Jang Mi-ran Says the Palm Tree Farm Was a Place She Feared and Did Not Want to Go to, Raising Questions About Her Death

[Financial News] The father of Ms. Jang Mi-ran (37), who was found dead 104 days after she was reported missing, said that she had described the palm tree farm as a place she was afraid of and did not want to visit.

According to Yonhap News Agency on the 27th, her father said, "My daughter told her boyfriend that the palm tree farm was scary and that it was a place she did not want to go. She never went in that direction at all," adding, "She was usually very easily frightened, so I cannot understand why she went there."
Ms. Jang had left the lodging in Hallim-eup, Jeju-si, where she had been staying long-term, on May 12 and then went missing. Her boyfriend reported her missing to police on May 15, but Officer A, who handled the case, falsely claimed that he had contacted Ms. Jang and then improperly closed the case.
Officer A dismissed the missing-person report about two and a half hours after it was filed by entering false information into the missing-person profiling system, listing Ms. Jang as having died in a traffic accident and deleting the records.
Ms. Jang was found dead on the 24th, 104 days after she disappeared, in a palm tree farm just 400 meters from the lodging. The farm is densely packed with palm trees about 3 to 6 meters tall, creating a dark atmosphere even during the day. At night, it is known as a place even local residents avoid. Some Jeju residents also raised questions about the circumstances of her death, saying that because of the characteristics of the Canary palm trees planted there, with many sharp and hard thorns, it would be nearly impossible to hang a rope for suicide.

Her father said, "The day before, police from the Jeju Western Police Station came to see me and told me that there was something slightly weak between the bones in her neck, and that it had been pulled and broken," adding that they conveyed the view that Ms. Jang had died by hanging herself.
He continued, "After the report was filed on May 15, they closed the missing-person case, so the police who had come out to search were sent back, weren't they? If the search had been properly carried out then, we would have known right away. I really cannot believe how terrible that was. The system was wrong too."
He also said, "You cannot say all police are bad because of one person, Officer A. Many people suffered because of one person's deviant behavior," adding, "I am grateful to all the police and everyone else who helped find my daughter."
Finally, he said, "Our remaining family members are very exhausted because of this incident," and added, "I appreciate everyone who has paid attention, but I hope this will stop appearing in the media now."
Meanwhile, police said the autopsy suggests that Ms. Jang entered the palm tree farm sometime between the night of May 12 and the early morning of May 13, before the missing-person report was filed, and died by hanging herself from a palm tree. However, unlike what was told to the family, the actual autopsy did not find any unusual fractures.
Police explained that the hyoid bone under the tongue often breaks in hanging cases, and that Ms. Jang's body also appeared to show a broken hyoid bone. However, the medical examiner concluded that the hyoid bone was not broken, but had separated over time after death.
Police said they are investigating the exact cause of death.
[email protected] Kim Su-yeon Reporter