Dead female body found in car trunk, raises superstore parking fear

More than a week has passed since a dead female body was found in the trunk of a car parked at a residential area in Seoul.

Police estimates that the suspect kidnapped the woman at a parking lot in a large retail store in Asan City in South Chungcheong Province at around 2:10 p.m. on September 9 and killed her. The suspect attempted a similar crime at 11 p.m. on August 25 at a retail store in Goyang City in Gyeonggi Province. The suspect jumped into the driver’s seat of the woman’s car and was carrying a weapon, and tried to kidnap her who escaped through the other side of the car door.

Women, housewives in particular, who frequently shot at retail stores, are increasingly feeling the anxiety. “Parking lots at large retail stores are quiet at night and it isn’t easy to ask for help when someone carrying a weapon approaches,” said a housewife who said she often visits the store in Goyang where the kidnap took place. “When I have but to park far away from the store’s entrance it’s pretty dark there, I hesitate going there alone,” said a woman who is an office worker living in southern Seoul.

Police shifted to open investigation for the case on Monday but has yet to specify the location of the suspect who is using prepaid mobile phones and not using credit cards.

There are criticisms that the police’s early response was weak. Four hours after he put fire on the car on September 11, the suspect was spotted by a CCTV walking out a retail store 130 meters from the police station concerned, wearing other clothes. There are concerns that he could commit additional crimes, but police is not revealing to which direction the suspect fled, making people more concerned since they don’t know how to prepare.