Jang Mi-ran's Father 'Can't Blame All Police... Thankful for Their Help'
The father, arranging his daughter's funeral 104 days after she was reported missing, expressed gratitude to police despite saying, "I can't condemn all of them." However, he couldn't understand how his easily frightened daughter would go alone into a dark palm farm. When asked if he believed his daughter had been at the farm for over 100 days, he said, "Honestly, I don't know."
Jang Mi-ran left her accommodation on May 12 and was found dead at the farm, 400m away, on the 24th. Police explained the death to her father. He said, "Police from Jeju West Police Station told me there was a weak point in her neck that broke when pulled," indicating they believe she hanged herself.
Jang's father commented on Sergeant A, who falsely closed the missing person case: "How could someone do that?" He added, "Because the case was closed after the report, police who came to search went back. If the search had been done properly then, we would have known immediately." He pointed to both individual and systemic failures that prevented the search.
Sergeant A falsely claimed to have contacted Jang just 2.5 hours after receiving her boyfriend's report on May 15, then closed the case. He also entered and deleted a false report on the missing person system that she had died in a traffic accident. He faces charges of dereliction of duty. The father said, "Many people suffer from one person's misconduct."
Opinions differ on the cause of death. Police stated that based on autopsy results, they believe Jang entered the farm between May 12 night and May 13 morning, before the missing report, and hanged herself. While no unusual fractures were found, they told the family it appeared the hyoid bone, which easily breaks during hanging, was broken. However, the medical examiner determined the bone hadn't broken but had separated over time after death.
The father said, "She was the pillar of our family." He concluded, "The remaining family is very exhausted. I'm grateful for everyone's concern, but I hope things can settle down now."
