Rental Car Catches Fire and Driver Disappears... Cell Phone Found 5km Away

Driver's Family Reports Missing Person
Phone Found 5km from Scene

A burned rental car was found in Seosan, Chungnam, and the driver, a man in his 40s, is missing, prompting the police to launch an investigation.

The rental car driven by Mr. A was found burned.
[Image source=Chungnam Seosan Fire Station]

On the 10th, the Seosan Police Station in Chungnam announced that they have been conducting a search operation for Mr. A (from Boryeong-si, Chungnam) since the afternoon of the previous day. The police explained that Mr. A last contacted his family by phone around 9:40 p.m. on the 8th, and about 40 minutes later, the rental car he was driving was found burned near a vacant lot behind a hillside in an apartment complex in Seosan City.

When police and firefighters arrived at the scene following a report from an apartment resident, no one was inside the car. A police official added that they found and collected Mr. A’s mobile phone about 5 km from the fire scene through location tracking. The police then identified Mr. A through vehicle registration checks and received a missing person report from his family, initiating an investigation.

A police official stated, "The search is still ongoing, and it is not yet the stage to clarify the detailed circumstances such as the cause of the disappearance."