It was found that the cousin of Jang Mi-ran (37), who went missing in Jeju in May, filed a second missing-person report in Seoul.
According to the Nowon Police Station in Seoul on the 24th, Jang's cousin, identified as A, visited around 3:50 p.m. on the 19th of last month and filed a missing-person report.
After Jang's whereabouts went unconfirmed for about two months, A filed a second report at the police station near the residence.
A police official was said to have received the case around 4:16 p.m. and transferred it at 5:03 p.m. to the Jeju Seobu Police Station with jurisdiction.
In the process, a claim was also raised that police treated A poorly. According to the bereaved family, the officer in charge told A, "She is a fully grown adult; isn't it just that she ran away?" and "If something bad had happened, it would have been found long ago," among other remarks.
However, the Nowon Police Station explained, "During the consultation, we checked whether a prior report had been filed and confirmed the intention to report through a phone connection between the reporter and the missing person's lineal ascendant."
Meanwhile, at around 10:46 a.m. that day, police found the body of a woman believed to be Jang at a palm farm in Hallim-eup, Jeju City. It was 104 days after the May 12 disappearance.
Earlier, the first report about Jang was received on May 15. However, it was was found that the sergeant in charge closed the case about 2 hours and 30 minutes after receipt on the grounds that contact had been made with Jang.