[Getty Images Bank]
[Getty Images Bank]

Police have been investigating a serial flasher operating near Dosulsan mountain in western Daejeon for five months, but the suspect remains at large.

According to the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency, the first report came in on April 26, when a man was seen standing with his pants down near a girls' high school in Seo-gu. Similar emergency calls have continued since then from the same school and the nearby Dosulsan area. Eyewitness accounts have also been posted steadily on local online community boards and social media, with residents reporting sightings of the flasher in the Seo-gu area.

According to those accounts, the man has been appearing as frequently as three to four times a week during peak periods over the past several months.

Police said the suspect, believed to be the same individual in each incident, typically appears with his face fully covered or masked before exposing himself or performing lewd acts.

Since the first report in April, police have been investigating, but the suspect has evaded capture by striking only when women are present and fleeing immediately, or by changing clothes on the mountain without revealing his face.

The investigation has been particularly hampered by the suspect's habit of using only hiking and walking trails near the school that have no closed-circuit television cameras.

Police have obtained all available CCTV footage from entry points near the trails where the suspect most frequently appears and are repeatedly analyzing it to track his movements.

"He appears to be familiar with the roads and geography of the Daejeon area," a police official said. "We have stepped up patrols around the areas where reports have been filed and have deployed a large number of officers to track him down."


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