Four family members, including a couple in their 40s and their two young children, were found dead at an apartment in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi. Police said they were dispatched about five hours earlier after a resident reported hearing "screams," but they left the scene after failing to pinpoint the exact location of the report.
According to police and fire authorities on the 17th, at about 12:55 p.m. that day, a couple in their 40s were found collapsed behind the first floor of an apartment in Yonghyeon-dong, Uijeongbu. The two were taken to a nearby hospital by paramedics who responded to the report, but they died. Later, as police and fire authorities checked the unit where they lived, their 12-year-old and 8-year-old children were also found dead.
Police were said to have secured a suicide note and other items at the scene.
Police were found to have been dispatched to the apartment earlier at about 7:39 a.m. The nearby resident who called at the time told 112, "It seems there is a family fight. The screams were loud enough to wake me up from sleep, but it has become quiet now." However, the caller reportedly could not specify exactly where the screams came from and said it seemed to be on the same floor of the adjacent building.
After receiving the report and heading to the scene, police canvassed the inside of the apartment complex to locate the unit where the incident occurred based on the report. During this process, they visited the unit where the deceased couple lived, but it was said they left after no one responded when they rang the doorbell. After failing to pinpoint the location of the report, police withdrew from the scene.
Police have requested autopsies of the family's bodies from the National Forensic Service while investigating the exact circumstances of the case.
If you are struggling with depression or other difficult concerns, or if a family member or acquaintance around you is experiencing such difficulties, you can receive 24-hour counseling from a specialist through the suicide prevention hotline ☎109 or the suicide prevention SNS counseling service "Madeleine."