DNA of officer suspected of falsely closing missing persons cases found in women's restroom
The detained officer, already accused of falsely closing missing persons cases, is under investigation over suspected entry into a women’s restroom for sexual purposes.
A police officer surnamed Bu, who was accused of falsely closing missing persons cases, leaves the Jeju District Court on Aug. 25.
NEWS1
A police officer detained on suspicion of falsely closing missing persons cases on Jeju Island had his DNA found inside a women's restroom he was suspected of entering.
The officer, surnamed Bu, has been booked on suspicion of entering a public place for sexual purposes in violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes, according to the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Police Agency.
The officer is suspected of entering a women's restroom at a police station on Jeju Island on July 22. The incident was reported after another police officer encountered him while he was exiting the restroom.
A forensic examination reportedly found handprints near the restroom ceiling and above a door. Police extracted DNA from the handprints, compared it with the officer's DNA and concluded that they came from the same person.
"There was no toilet paper in the men's restroom, so I used the women's restroom," the officer said when he was discovered there. He also reportedly denied the allegation during police questioning, saying, "I did not enter the women's restroom for sexual purposes" and "I stumbled at the time and put my hand against the wall."
Police are investigating the circumstances of the incident.
The officer is currently detained and under investigation on charges that include dereliction of duty and falsifying official electronic records. He is accused of falsely closing two missing persons reports — one involving Jang Mi-ran, a woman who disappeared in May and was found dead on Monday, and another involving a man in their 60s who was reported missing in July and was found dead on Saturday. He is also accused of falsely recording in an internal police system that Jang had "died in a traffic accident" and that the other missing person had been "located," then removing both from a list of people whose cases required continued monitoring.
The Jeju police agency is looking into all 298 missing persons cases the officer closed while working on the missing persons team at Jeju Seobu Police Station since March last year. The agency aims to identify any additional cases that may have been closed in error.
BY CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]
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.
