SEOUL: A boy who vanished without a trace in May 1989 has been reunited with his family after 35 years, thanks to the efforts of local police.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said Sunday (May 25) that they located the man, now 45 and surnamed Choi, and arranged a reunion with his family last month.
Choi, then 10 years old, had been living with his aunt in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, at the time he went missing, after his father died in 1988 and his mother suffered from health issues. Following his disappearance, the aunt filed a missing persons report in May 1989.
In 2022, the aunt reconnected with Choi’s mother and filed another missing persons report for her nephew in July of that year, reigniting the search.
Investigators combed through police and government records, beginning with Choi’s elementary school enrollment data. They expanded their search to include records from the National Health Insurance Service, telecommunications companies, and government subsidy beneficiaries matching Choi’s profile.
A major breakthrough came when police cross-referenced the mother's DNA with samples from 309 individuals without known family ties, including homeless people and residents of government-run protective facilities.
This narrowed the field to 39 potential matches. Then, the police focused on one person who had been in protective custody at a juvenile centrein Busan.
Although his registered name and date of birth did not match Choi’s, his childhood photograph was recognised by Choi’s aunt. Authorities later discovered that in 1995, the man had come up with his own surname and random date for birthdate in order to re-enter the government registry.
DNA analysis by the National Forensic Service confirmed his identity as Choi. And the police finally closed the decades-long case after facilitating the reunion last month. - The Korea Herald/ANN
