Family of missing Jeju woman pleads for prank calls to stop
Jang Mi-ran’s relatives seek credible tips as police investigate allegations that an officer prematurely closed her missing-person case.
A poster seeking information on Jang Mi-ran, who went missing on Jeju Island in May. The poster describes Jang as a 37-year-old woman with long hair who is about 158 centimeters (5.2 feet) tall and went missing in the Hallim-eup area of Jeju City.
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The family of Jang Mi-ran, who has been missing for more than three months amid allegations that a police officer falsely reported her safe, pleaded for prank calls to stop as they continue to wait for tips on her whereabouts.
"We are already going through an incredibly difficult time," a relative of Jang wrote on Instagram on Wednesday. "Please stop making prank calls, including calls featuring groaning noises."
The post also asked people to "refrain from making politically charged comments or engaging in political debates unrelated to the case" and stated that it was uploaded "solely to find our family member."
The relative also shared a timeline of Jang's disappearance on Instagram. Jang left her home in Hallim-eup of Jeju City, Jeju Island, at around 1:30 a.m. on May 13 with her cell phone and has not been heard from since.
Jang's boyfriend, who had been living with her, reported her missing to police on May 15. But a night-duty police officer who received the report told a superior that Jang had been contacted directly and was confirmed to be safe, then closed the case.
Jang's relative, however, alleges that the officer filed a false report without actually contacting Jang. No record of a phone call between the officer and Jang has been found to date.
Jang's family reported her missing to the police again in July after they remained unable to reach her. Police resumed their investigation, but more than two months had already passed, and recordings from nearby closed-circuit television cameras that could have helped trace Jang's movements had been deleted.
No activity involving Jang's credit cards or cell phone, or any record of hospital visits, has been found to date.
Police booked the night duty officer on suspicion of dereliction of duty and are investigating whether the officer actually spoke with Jang.
"Jang herself said not to tell her boyfriend where she was," the officer reportedly said.
Police are also examining whether proper procedures were followed when the officer closed the case. The current system for handling missing-person cases does not require a second review by a superior, allowing an officer to close a case without further approval. The officer is believed to have neither confirmed Jang's safety in person nor entered relevant information into the missing person profiling system used to assess risk, despite circumstances suggesting she may have been the victim of a crime.
BY KIM EUN-BIN [[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.
