Court orders release of officer accused of falsely closing missing persons cases
The officer's arrest, coming just hours after a body was found in the proximity of Jang Mi-ran’s lodging, did not constitute an emergency, the court said.
The police officer accused of falsely closing two missing-person cases is escorted from the holding cell at Jeju Dongbu Police Station to a transport van on the afternoon of Aug. 23Yonhap
The Jeju District Court on Monday ordered the release of a police officer accused of falsely closing two missing persons cases, ruling that the arrest was unlawful hours after searchers found a body believed to be of a woman whose case the officer is accused of closing in May.
The officer had asked the court to review the legality of his arrest after police placed him under emergency arrest Saturday. The court granted the petition following a hearing Monday.
“Under the Criminal Procedure Act, an urgent case means one in which there is no time to obtain an arrest warrant,” the court said. “The officer’s whereabouts were known, so this case did not meet that requirement.”
Prosecutors separately requested a pretrial detention warrant Monday after police applied for one at about 5 a.m. Police said there was a risk the officer could destroy evidence or flee. The court will review that request separately.
Police are investigating the officer on suspicion of dereliction of duty, falsifying and using official electronic records and obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means.
The officer allegedly took a missing persons report from Jang Mi-ran’s boyfriend while on night duty on May 15, then told the family and his superiors that he had contacted Jang, confirmed she was safe and that she did not want her location disclosed. Investigators later found no record of a call between them.
Police also suspect the officer entered false information into an internal missing persons profiling system and removed Jang’s case from active management. Police say the removal ended further searches and follow-up investigation.
CCTV footage shows Jang Mi-ran leaving the guesthouse where she had been staying long-term in Hallim-eup, Jeju, at around 10:15 p.m. on May 12.JANG MI-RAN'S FAMILY
Investigators say he handled another missing persons case in July in a similar way. The officer allegedly closed the case without directly confirming the missing man’s safety and told the family that the man did not want his location disclosed. The family later filed another report, and the man was found dead Saturday. Police have found no indication so far that the death involved a crime.
Searchers found a woman’s body at about 10:46 a.m. Monday in brush near a road in Hallim-eup, Jeju City, about 500 meters (1,640 feet) from the lodging Jang left on the night of May 12. She had been missing for 104 days.
Police have not formally identified the body. Investigators plan forensic examinations and an autopsy to determine the identity, time and cause of death and whether there are any signs of foul play.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
