In August of 2009, a South Korean teenage boy disappeared
Jun 29, 2022 12:29:37 GMT
forca84 likes this
Post by hi224 on Jun 29, 2022 12:29:37 GMT
many mysteries surrounding the event.
On 8/22/2009, just two days before the end of summer break, Lee (his full name was never disclosed to the public), an 18 years-old boy attending high school in Busan, was spending his Saturday as usual. Around 2 pm, he washed up, dressed casually, took his wallet and phone, and went out of the house telling his family he'll just me "out to meet with his friends". However, he never came back even after midnight. Throughout the day his sister tried calling him and his friends, but no one had seen him that day. His phone was on but he never picked up the call.
When he didn't come back the next day, or on the following Monday, which was supposed to be the day he return to school, his family filed a missing person report to the police. The police first tried tracking his phone, and they were shocked to find the location where his phone's last activity happened at 6:25 pm in Cheong-san do, a small island in the southern part of Korea, about 224km (139 miles) from Busan. It was a short text exchange between his friend, where the friend asked him what's up, and he simply replied "Just hanging around"
The early part of the investigation revealed that on that day, a series of stree cams near his place showed Lee heading to a local bank to withdraw 20,000 won (about $15 USD) at 2:40 pm. Starting from 2:45 pm, Lee was shown taking multiple subway routes to a ferry station in Busan, and purchasing a ticket for a ship heading to Jeju island around 5:05 pm.
It should be noted that the ticket required a person to write down their name and their social number. It was impossible for someone to forge his info. For some reason, Lee bought a ticket for adults when he could've easily bought a student ticket at a cheaper price. The adult price cost around 39,000 won ($30 USD), almost double what he had withdrawn from the atm earlier that day.
His father went to the port in Jeju where the ferry usually docked, and watched the security cam recording of that evening, trying to see if his son got off the ship. His son wasn't in the footage. This meant that while he did purchase the ticket he may have never boarded the ship, or he was on the ship but never got off for unknown reasons. It would be a few days of anxiety and grief before getting more news.
His sister took to social media asking people to help them his her little brother. Some suggested he was blackmailed or baited, and he had chosen to go into hiding. A few days later, there were several witnesses who said they saw him on board the ship, and he was even caught in the background on photos that passengers took. Both the testimonies and photos showed he was in a lounge area of the ship, curled up near shoe racks were (the ship and no shoes on lounge policy), and he was looking terrified of something. At 11 pm, when most guests were sleeping in the lounge, he was still shown curled up near the shoe racks, looking like he was in deep thoughts. The next morning, he was nowhere to be found on the ship.
Then on 9/20, the family received news that they didn't want to hear; Someone had found him dead on an island called Mae-mul, in a near complete-decomposed state wearing nothing but his underwear. They also found his belongings about 16 feet from the body, where his student id was found. The person who found the body called the school, which called his family to inform them of the grim news. The DNA test results confirmed it was Lee. But since the body had decayed so much, they couldn't tell how he died and the exact time of his death.
At first, the police determined that Lee had committed suicide by throwing himself off the ship, or went overboard by accident. But there were security guards making rounds on deck that night and several other guests as well. And no one saw Lee on the deck. The suicide theory was really unlikely, as Lee was known for positive, outgoing personality with great grades in school.
But the biggest mystery of all is how did he die and how he ended up at the mae-mul isles. Because the island was 13 km away from the path of the ferry, and the current in the ocean didn't flow that way. Due to the state of the body when it was found, the coroner's report stated all they could determine was he has been dead for nearly a month, meaning he died a short time after the last time he was seen. It was also strange considering his last phone activity was quite a distance away from where it was found.
The last bit of clue was on his computer, and shortly before leaving he had serached up routes to get to Jeju, and the cost of the ferry. So he had been planning to go to Jeju. Also, remember that last phone activity happening at Cheong-san? Someone did an experiment where they got on the ship around the same time and then send a text around the same time, and it turned out that the text sent from the ship on route at that timeframe was registered as happening at Cheong-san.
The case was closed as unresolved, and the family had to come to terms with that. But there were many questions surrounding his death. Why did he leave the house in the first place? Where did the rest of the clothes go? If he only was in underwear, how did his wallet and phone ended up near his body and not sinking to the bottom of the ocean? How did he die and ended up at Mae-mul? And how did he die?
It's been nearly 13 years since this happened. No one ever found out the truth
TL;DR
On 8/29, Lee left his house at 2:00 pm
At 2:40 pm he withdrew some cash at the local bank's ATM, and spent the next several hours on subway trams to get to the port in Southern Busan
He boarded the ferry around 5:05 pm. He purchased an expensive ticket that cost double how much he withdrew at the ATM.
He was on the boat looking scared, curled up near the shoe racks in the lounge area of the ship. around 6:25 pm, he texted his friend. It was confirmed he still was on the ship by 11:00 pm.
He never got off the ship when it arrived on Jeju the next day.
Sometime shortly after 8/29, He died under mysterious circumstances. On 9/20, he was found on Mae-mul, an island far away from the ship route. The body was found in near-complete decay, and was wearing just the underwear. His wallet and phone were found not far from his body.
He wasn't depressed nor had any good reason why someone would want him dead.
Source (Korean only, couldn't find english/translated piece):
namu.wiki/w/%EB%B6%80%EC%82%B0%20%EA%B3%A0%EA%B5%90%EC%83%9D%20%EB%A7%A4%EB%AC%BC%EB%8F%84%20%EB%B3%80%EC%82%AC%20%EC%82%AC%EA%B1%B4
On 8/22/2009, just two days before the end of summer break, Lee (his full name was never disclosed to the public), an 18 years-old boy attending high school in Busan, was spending his Saturday as usual. Around 2 pm, he washed up, dressed casually, took his wallet and phone, and went out of the house telling his family he'll just me "out to meet with his friends". However, he never came back even after midnight. Throughout the day his sister tried calling him and his friends, but no one had seen him that day. His phone was on but he never picked up the call.
When he didn't come back the next day, or on the following Monday, which was supposed to be the day he return to school, his family filed a missing person report to the police. The police first tried tracking his phone, and they were shocked to find the location where his phone's last activity happened at 6:25 pm in Cheong-san do, a small island in the southern part of Korea, about 224km (139 miles) from Busan. It was a short text exchange between his friend, where the friend asked him what's up, and he simply replied "Just hanging around"
The early part of the investigation revealed that on that day, a series of stree cams near his place showed Lee heading to a local bank to withdraw 20,000 won (about $15 USD) at 2:40 pm. Starting from 2:45 pm, Lee was shown taking multiple subway routes to a ferry station in Busan, and purchasing a ticket for a ship heading to Jeju island around 5:05 pm.
It should be noted that the ticket required a person to write down their name and their social number. It was impossible for someone to forge his info. For some reason, Lee bought a ticket for adults when he could've easily bought a student ticket at a cheaper price. The adult price cost around 39,000 won ($30 USD), almost double what he had withdrawn from the atm earlier that day.
His father went to the port in Jeju where the ferry usually docked, and watched the security cam recording of that evening, trying to see if his son got off the ship. His son wasn't in the footage. This meant that while he did purchase the ticket he may have never boarded the ship, or he was on the ship but never got off for unknown reasons. It would be a few days of anxiety and grief before getting more news.
His sister took to social media asking people to help them his her little brother. Some suggested he was blackmailed or baited, and he had chosen to go into hiding. A few days later, there were several witnesses who said they saw him on board the ship, and he was even caught in the background on photos that passengers took. Both the testimonies and photos showed he was in a lounge area of the ship, curled up near shoe racks were (the ship and no shoes on lounge policy), and he was looking terrified of something. At 11 pm, when most guests were sleeping in the lounge, he was still shown curled up near the shoe racks, looking like he was in deep thoughts. The next morning, he was nowhere to be found on the ship.
Then on 9/20, the family received news that they didn't want to hear; Someone had found him dead on an island called Mae-mul, in a near complete-decomposed state wearing nothing but his underwear. They also found his belongings about 16 feet from the body, where his student id was found. The person who found the body called the school, which called his family to inform them of the grim news. The DNA test results confirmed it was Lee. But since the body had decayed so much, they couldn't tell how he died and the exact time of his death.
At first, the police determined that Lee had committed suicide by throwing himself off the ship, or went overboard by accident. But there were security guards making rounds on deck that night and several other guests as well. And no one saw Lee on the deck. The suicide theory was really unlikely, as Lee was known for positive, outgoing personality with great grades in school.
But the biggest mystery of all is how did he die and how he ended up at the mae-mul isles. Because the island was 13 km away from the path of the ferry, and the current in the ocean didn't flow that way. Due to the state of the body when it was found, the coroner's report stated all they could determine was he has been dead for nearly a month, meaning he died a short time after the last time he was seen. It was also strange considering his last phone activity was quite a distance away from where it was found.
The last bit of clue was on his computer, and shortly before leaving he had serached up routes to get to Jeju, and the cost of the ferry. So he had been planning to go to Jeju. Also, remember that last phone activity happening at Cheong-san? Someone did an experiment where they got on the ship around the same time and then send a text around the same time, and it turned out that the text sent from the ship on route at that timeframe was registered as happening at Cheong-san.
The case was closed as unresolved, and the family had to come to terms with that. But there were many questions surrounding his death. Why did he leave the house in the first place? Where did the rest of the clothes go? If he only was in underwear, how did his wallet and phone ended up near his body and not sinking to the bottom of the ocean? How did he die and ended up at Mae-mul? And how did he die?
It's been nearly 13 years since this happened. No one ever found out the truth
TL;DR
On 8/29, Lee left his house at 2:00 pm
At 2:40 pm he withdrew some cash at the local bank's ATM, and spent the next several hours on subway trams to get to the port in Southern Busan
He boarded the ferry around 5:05 pm. He purchased an expensive ticket that cost double how much he withdrew at the ATM.
He was on the boat looking scared, curled up near the shoe racks in the lounge area of the ship. around 6:25 pm, he texted his friend. It was confirmed he still was on the ship by 11:00 pm.
He never got off the ship when it arrived on Jeju the next day.
Sometime shortly after 8/29, He died under mysterious circumstances. On 9/20, he was found on Mae-mul, an island far away from the ship route. The body was found in near-complete decay, and was wearing just the underwear. His wallet and phone were found not far from his body.
He wasn't depressed nor had any good reason why someone would want him dead.
Source (Korean only, couldn't find english/translated piece):
namu.wiki/w/%EB%B6%80%EC%82%B0%20%EA%B3%A0%EA%B5%90%EC%83%9D%20%EB%A7%A4%EB%AC%BC%EB%8F%84%20%EB%B3%80%EC%82%AC%20%EC%82%AC%EA%B1%B4
