Police are investigating the death of a 57-year-old woman who was found with stab wounds inside a vehicle parked beside a road in Songak-myeon, Asan, South Chungcheong Province. A man in his 60s was found in the same vehicle after apparently ingesting poison and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
The vehicle was located at about 4:40 a.m. on October 13. The woman, who lived in Gongju, had left home with the man at about 12:20 p.m. the previous day and did not return. After she sent her younger sibling a message saying she was going home and then stopped responding, her family filed a missing-person report at about 7:40 p.m.
- Discovery
- About 4:40 a.m. on October 13
- Location
- A roadside in Songak-myeon, Asan
- Earlier report
- Family reported her missing at about 7:40 p.m. on October 12
Investigators obtained security-camera footage showing the woman entering the man's vehicle. Police then traced the vehicle to Asan, about an hour by car from Gongju, where the woman was found dead in the passenger seat and the man was found in the driver's seat.
Two earlier reports now under scrutiny
Police said the woman and the man had dated for about five months. Two stalking reports involving them had been filed during the year, one in January and another in June. Those reports are now a central part of the case history, but the available evidence does not establish what protective measures followed either report or what occurred inside the vehicle before it was found.
For the woman's family, the missing-person search has become a homicide investigation. The immediate practical questions are whether investigators can establish the sequence of events after she entered the vehicle, determine the man's condition and ability to be questioned, and reconstruct how authorities handled the two earlier reports. Police have not yet disclosed a complete account of the suspected motive or the circumstances leading to the fatal injuries.