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The SBS program 'Unanswered Questions' investigated the murder case of a Korean woman in the state of Georgia.
In the episode aired on the 9th, SBS 'Unanswered Questions' uncovered the full story behind the murder of Kim Jeong-eun, a case that had remained unsolved for 35 years.
On Sunday, February 14, 1988, Valentine's Day, in the small city of Millen in Georgia, USA, which was boasting sunny weather, an incident shocked the entire United States.
A suspicious bag was found in the town's garbage collection bin, containing the body of a woman wrapped in blankets and bedding. The already decomposed corpse was naked, with ankles tied by a wire resembling an electric cord. There were no signs of trauma, sexual assault, or drug reactions. At the time, the police presumed the cause of death to be asphyxiation.
The police estimated the deceased to be in her twenties, but aside from her black hair and a distinctive crooked upper tooth, they could not identify her. Due to the body's decomposition, a facial composite could not be created, and there were no witnesses or CCTV footage at the discovery site, nor any missing person reports from nearby areas.
As a result, the unidentified woman was called 'Millen Jane Doe' by combining 'Jane Doe,' a term for unidentified females, with the local area name 'Millen' for 35 years.
Among this, in October last year, the identity of the deceased was revealed through DNA analysis technology. It was confirmed that the DNA from evidence found with the body matched the DNA of a missing person registered by her family with a nonprofit organization in 2021.
The deceased was Kim Jeong-eun, a 26-year-old Korean woman living in Hinesville, Georgia, at the time of her death in 1988. She had married a U.S. soldier she met in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, at age 20 in 1981, then left Korea to settle in the United States.
Garbage bin where a Korean woman murdered in Georgia was found. [Photo by SBS 'Unanswered Questions']
She divorced after two years of marriage and adapted to life in the U.S. by working as a lounge bar employee in Hinesville. According to acquaintances, Kim Jeong-eun had promised to marry her roommate 'Michael,' but lived in the same house with U.S. Army Specialist 'Joe,' whom she met at the lounge bar. The three lived together in this complicated arrangement.
The bag containing Kim Jeong-eun's body was a military bag commonly called a 'double bag.'
Acquaintances described Joe, the soldier who was Kim Jeong-eun's lover, saying, "Jeong-eun was tall and really pretty. When I heard about the murder case, I thought it must have been him," and "Everyone said that, and I was 100% sure it was him. He was very jealous and quick-tempered."
Although the perpetrator has not yet been identified, the investigation team stated that they are still working to find traces of the culprit. Especially since there is no statute of limitations on murder in the United States, they announced that the investigation into the person who took Kim Jeong-eun's life will continue.
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