THE haunting discovery of four bodies on a holiday island has led to the arrest of a police officer who allegedly falsified missing persons records.
A police sergeant, named only as Bu, is facing accusations that he prematurely ended investigations into up to 300 missing people in South Korea and lied to grieving families about their loved ones.
Cops at the scene where the body of Jang Mi-ran was found Credit: Reuters
The 37-year-old had been missing for over three months
The scandal has rocked the popular tourist destination of Jeju Island after four bodies were located in just 72 hours.
One of those found is believed to be 37-year-old Jang Mi-ran who had been missing for over three months.
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She was found on Monday at a palm farm near her home with wounds consistent with suicide – 104 days after her family first reported her missing.
Jang’s family claimed they were told by the officer assigned to her case, Bu, 35, a few days after she vanished that she had been found safe.
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He allegedly then told the victim’s boyfriend she had asked not to be put in contact with her loved ones as she wanted to escape her past life and start over again.
Bu then removed her case from the missing-person profiling system, police have alleged.
Investigators claim to have found no evidence Jang had ever spoken to police.
The body of a missing man in his 60s was then found in Jeju City on Saturday.
Jeng’s body was found at a palm farm near her home in Jeju Credit: EPA
A number of mysterious deaths have occurred on Jeju Island Credit: Getty
His family have now made similar accusations of police malpractice.
The man had gone missing on June 28 with Bu assigned to his case.
The sergeant again closed the case shortly after it was first filed and reportedly told the family the man was found “safe”.
His loved ones claimed Bu told them he didn’t “wish to disclose his location”.
The man’s son later told reporters: “We believed the police when they said my father was safe and waited, but after 51 days, what returned was his body.”
Authorities said there were no apparent signs of foul play in his death.
Two other bodies of people who were reported missing were also found over the weekend on Jeju Island sparking fears of a major scandal.
Police are yet to confirm if they believe Bu was involved in the last two missing persons cases.
Investigators are now examining nearly 300 reports handled by Bu.
Bu was arrested earlier this week with four officers in the sergeant’s chain of command also being put on administrative leave.
The cases have sparked so much scrutiny that South Korean President Lee Jae- Myung has now ordered a thorough investigation into the police’s handling of similar cases.
He even questioned cops in general saying: “The Korean people are questioning whether [the police] deserve this large power.”
South Korea‘s national police chief was also grilled by lawmakers at an emergency National Assembly hearing on Monday as he admitted “there is a fault in the system”.
