‘Murder suspect’ Sung Chi-Young hasn’t been caught for 14 years… Is he living as someone else?

Fourteen years have passed since Sung Chi-young (52), a suspect in a murder case in Jeong-eup, Jeollabuk-do, disappeared.

On April 25, 2009, Sung disappeared from Sintaein Station in Jeong-eup after receiving 100,000 won in cash, a cash card, socks and underwear from his wife. “I’ll come back for two or three days to clear my head,” were his last words.

The National Police Agency designated Sung as a publicly wanted person in 2020 and posted flyers with his photo and personal information on its website and in government offices across the country. However, his whereabouts remain unknown.

On April 20, 2009, Sung allegedly stabbed the owner of a moving center in Jeong-eup city, her sister, Im, 37, several times with a knife and dumped her body.

According to police on April 10, Sung, who was working as a truck driver in Jeong-eup, was declared bankrupt by the Jeonju District Court on the day of the incident. Unable to pay his mounting debts, bankruptcy was the only way out for Mr. Sung.

Even on the day he was declared bankrupt, he received debt collection calls. The caller was Mr. Lee, the brother of the head of the moving company he worked for and a gambling bookie (money lender).

On the eve of his bankruptcy, Mr. Sung gambled again to pay off some of his debts, and reportedly borrowed 500,000 won from Mr. Lee in the process.

According to Sung’s wife, his appearance and behavior on the day of the incident was different from his usual behavior.

It was 5:20 p.m. when Sung arrived in Jeong-eup after being declared bankrupt. However, he did not return home until after 8 p.m., more than three hours later. When he returned, his clothes were covered in dirt and he had cuts on his hands.

Around the same time, Lee’s family was also looking for him. He had left home for lunch that day and didn’t return home until the morning, and his cell phone was turned off. They filed a missing person’s report with the police.

Lee’s brother looked around the moving company’s office for signs of his brother and found bloodstains on the floor.

Based on the statements of Lee’s family and the bloodstains at the scene, the police realized that this was not a simple disappearance, but a violent crime.

The police identified Mr. Sung, who had borrowed money from Mr. Lee the day before, as a possible suspect and called him in to investigate.

While checking Mr. Sung’s whereabouts, the police found conflicting statements from him and his wife. However, they were unable to find any clear evidence that Mr. Sung was a suspect and had to send him home.

Later, police found Lee’s car parked at a hospital in Jeong-eup with a new license plate. Sung’s fingerprints were also found inside the car.

The police tried to bring Sung back for questioning, but he had already disappeared, telling his family that he would return after “cooling his head.”

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Five years later, in July 2014, police managed to find Lee’s body. It was found in a septic tank at a construction site about 1.5 kilometers from the office of the moving company where the incident occurred.

An autopsy performed by the National Institute of Forensic Sciences on the body showed that about 10 ribs on the left and right sides had been damaged by a weapon먹튀검증.

Police believed that Sung had killed Lee after a dispute over money, dumped the body, and fled, but were unable to locate him.

Sung suffers from the rare disease Behcet’s disease, which requires him to take medication regularly. The team obtained a list of patients from the Korean Health Insurance Organization and checked it, but they couldn’t find anyone they suspected of being Mr. Sung.

Behcet’s disease is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes ulcers in the mouth and genitals, and can lead to blindness.

The Jeonbuk National Police Agency’s Cold Case Investigation Team, which is currently investigating the long-term unsolved case, is considering various possibilities.

Based on Sung’s lack of life response, police are considering both the possibility that he may have smuggled himself out of the country and the possibility that he is living in Korea under the identity of someone else. They are not ruling out the possibility of an accomplice.

The police believe that the deceased Lee was 170 centimeters tall and weighed 80 kilograms, so Sung, who was only 164 centimeters tall, would not have been able to easily subdue him.

A police official said, “Reports are the decisive key to solving long-term unsolved cases, so we ask for active reporting.”

Sung is 164 centimeters tall and has a dwarf build. She speaks Jeolla and has been diagnosed with Behcet’s disease. The National Police Agency has listed Sung as a public wanted person since 2020. He is the only person wanted in Jeonbuk.