Life-size Cutouts Damaged by Local Resident
Family's Search for Yoonhee Lee Continues After 19 Years
A man in his 40s has been referred to the prosecution for damaging life-size cutouts of Yoonhee Lee, who went missing 19 years ago at the age of 29 and is still being searched for by her family.
On August 18, the Jeonju Wansan Police Station in North Jeolla Province announced that they had sent Mr. A, a man in his 40s, to the prosecution on charges of property damage. Mr. A is accused of damaging two life-size cutouts of Ms. Lee that had been set up on a road in Hyoja-dong, Wansan-gu, Jeonju, at around 8:20 p.m. on May 8.
Life-size cutout of Yoonhee Lee installed in Jeonju. Official channel of Yoonhee Lee missing case YouTube·Yonhap News
Previously, on June 5, 2006, Ms. Lee, who was then a veterinary student at Chonbuk National University, attended an end-of-term party with about 40 professors and classmates at a restaurant in Jeonju. She returned to her studio apartment, located 1.5 kilometers away, at around 2:30 a.m. the next day, but subsequently went missing.
At the time, the police failed to properly preserve the scene of the disappearance and allowed Ms. Lee's friends to clean her studio apartment. A week later, someone accessed Ms. Lee's computer, but the police were unable to clearly determine who was responsible.
Ms. Lee's parents have made every effort to find their daughter for nearly 20 years but have been unable to confirm whether she is alive or dead. In May of this year, they installed six life-size cutouts along roads in the Jeonju area. Some of these cutouts were reportedly set up near Mr. A's home, who is also a graduate of the same department as Ms. Lee.
A police official stated, "We recently completed the investigation and referred Mr. A to the prosecution."
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