Suspect removed SIM card despite knowing of missing-person report

Evaded police by moving across Greater Seoul area

[Herald DB]
[Herald DB]

A man in his 20s who kept a missing middle school girl with him for more than a month and repeatedly sexually assaulted her has been arrested after a prolonged manhunt.

Incheon's Namdong Police Station said Friday it had detained the suspect, identified only as A, on charges of violating the Act on the Protection and Support of Missing Children and statutory rape of a minor, and referred the case to prosecutors.

A is accused of living with the runaway middle school girl, identified as B, across the Greater Seoul area from July 28 until recently, during which time he repeatedly sexually assaulted her.

Police launched an investigation after receiving a report on Aug. 1 that a middle school girl had not returned home for several days. Detectives questioned B's friends and obtained information suggesting an adult male had lured her into running away, eventually identifying A as the suspect.

While staying with B, A removed the SIM card from his mobile phone to cut off contact with police and evade detection.

Taking into account A's prior sex crime record, police formed a dedicated missing-persons team and narrowed down his whereabouts using social media account access logs. After conducting surveillance, officers located A's vehicle at an officetel in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, searched the premises, found B, and arrested A as he attempted to flee.

Investigators found that A had been aware of the missing-person report filed by B's parents yet continued moving around the Greater Seoul area to evade police.


jshan@heraldcorp.com