Family Vehicle of Missing Joyuna Jo Raised at 10 AM on the 29th

Gwangju Police Agency plans to salvage the Audi A6 (2018 model) passenger car of father Jo Mo (36), who fell into the sea near the cage aquaculture site at Songgok Port, Sinja-myeon, Wando-gun, at 10 a.m. on the 29th. /Photo by Lee Jun-kyung

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The vehicle carrying the family of 10-year-old Jo Yuna, who fell into the sea off Wando, Jeollanam-do, is being salvaged.

The Gwangju Police Agency plans to salvage the Audi A6 (2018 model) passenger car of the father, Jo Mo (36), which was found in the sea near the cage fish farm at Songgok Port, Sinja-myeon, Wando-gun, at 10 a.m. on the 29th.

The police intend to cooperate with the Coast Guard and use a barge to begin full-scale operations after dawn.

The water depth at the location where the vehicle was found is between 7 and 10 meters. The Coast Guard and land-based diving personnel visually confirmed the vehicle caught at the end of the cage fish farm and discovered it around 5:12 p.m. that day.

This is 28 days after the last confirmed whereabouts of the Jo family near the area in the early morning of the 31st of last month.

The vehicle is currently overturned with the trunk open, and the travel bags loaded in the cargo area have been recovered.

No further action was taken because opening the car doors underwater could cause loss of personal belongings and other internal evidence.

It was not possible to confirm whether anyone was inside the car because the diver's visibility was limited, and even with lighting, the vehicle's dark tinting prevented visibility.

The police believe there are occupants inside.

Around 3:20 p.m. that day, some parts believed to be from the vehicle's grille (radiator cover) were found in the sea in front of Songgok Port.

The Jo family had applied to their school for an off-campus experiential learning trip to Jeju Island from the 19th of last month to the 15th of this month for a family vacation.

However, they stayed at a pension in Sinji-myeon, Wando, Jeollanam-do, from the 24th to the 30th of last month, not at their intended destination, and all family members' mobile phones were turned off at dawn on the 31st, cutting off contact.

The school reported to the police on the 22nd after Jo did not attend school even after the experiential learning period ended on the 16th, but there has been no news since.

The Jo family is reported to have been struggling financially. The parents, in their mid-30s, are said to have accumulated debt without steady income after closing a computer-related business in the first half of last year.