Police Analyzing CCTV and Black Box Footage
Three Private Deep-Sea Diving Team Members Plan Approximately 6-Hour Underwater Search on the 10th
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] On the 9th, police investigating the circumstances of the death of medical student the late Son Jeongmin (22), who went missing at Banpo Hangang Park in Seoul and was found dead five days later, conducted a search operation to find personal belongings including the cellphone of Son’s friend A, but ended without any results.
Seventeen police officers from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s riot squad conducted a search from the morning around Banpo Hangang Park to find the cellphone (iPhone 8) of Son’s friend A, who drank together with Son at the park just before Son went missing, but they did not find it and ended the search around 3 p.m.
A police official said, "We will deploy the riot squad again tomorrow and continue the search keeping all possibilities open."
The volunteer civilian search team "Atom," which is assisting in uncovering the truth behind Son’s death, also conducted a search in the park’s bushes from 10 a.m. to around 2 p.m. that day. However, apart from a bird’s nest and trash, no special items were found.
Atom announced that from the 10th to the 11th, three members of a volunteer civilian deep-sea diving team will be deployed. They plan to conduct an underwater search for about six hours using detection equipment in an area 200 meters wide and 100 meters long in front of the water taxi dock at Banpo Hangang Park.
Son, who was enrolled at Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, drank with his friend A near the water taxi dock at Banpo Hangang Park from around 11 p.m. on the 24th of last month until about 2 a.m. the next day, fell asleep, and was found dead underwater in the Han River five days after going missing on the 30th of last month.
Police estimate that A had Son’s cellphone when he returned home, and that A’s own cellphone was with Son. A’s cellphone was turned off around 7 a.m. on the day Son went missing and has been missing for nearly two weeks.
The police have summoned seven witnesses from five groups who were at the scene during Son’s disappearance as persons of interest, and have secured footage from 54 park CCTV cameras and black box videos from 133 vehicles to focus their investigation on clarifying the situation at that time. They are also verifying A’s specific whereabouts on the day of the incident and the circumstances under which he discarded the shoes he was wearing.
The police have requested an autopsy of Son’s body from the National Forensic Service to investigate the cause of death. The exact cause is expected to be revealed next week when the detailed examination results come out.
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