Bucheon Jane Doe was a middle-aged woman whose body was found lying in a grove of trees in Bucheon, South Korea.
Case
On the 30th of June, 2011, a resident of the Yeowol neighborhood of Bucheon, South Korea, was walking on one of the trails in the local park when she noticed what looked like a stick-covered mannequin lying in a grove of trees off of the trail. Upon further inspection, she became unsure if what she found was a mannequin or a body. Thus, she went to retrieve her daughter-in-law to aid her, who confirmed that indeed was a body and notified authorities. The body had been so severely decomposed that the decedent had become unrecognizable, with the victim positioned to be laying on her back with her arms and legs spread out. She was nude and missing her fingers and toes, which authorities immediately began a search for.
The body was identified as a female with parts of her body being skeletonized from insect and animal activity. It was apparent that the sticks covering her body were an attempt to hide her, and any personal item she could have owned was not present at the scene. Due to her fingers being missing, police concluded that they would be unable to match her fingerprints to those in South Korea's database and transferred her to a local hospital for an autopsy.
During the autopsy, it was concluded that she was a middle-aged woman with traces of 3 prosthetic dental bridges on her front upper and lower teeth. A diamond-shaped birthmark was found on her right hip, and no signs of damage were found to any part of her body that hadn't occurred from wildlife activity. In addition, there were no signs of drugs or alcohol in her body to dictate any sort of overdose. Due to severe decomposition, it was highly difficult to find any further identifying marks or conclude on how the decedent's fingers and toes were severed. Whether or not her death was the result of murder had been deemed inconclusive.
Due to the unusual manner of how her dental bridges were installed, authorities focused their efforts on finding the dental specialist who installed the bridges, much to no avail. Local missing persons were investigated and a flyer bearing the reconstruction of the decedent was passed to citizens, though this did not produce any further leads. Due to the decedent's body being cremated, no further DNA can be collected and it is unknown if the DNA sample used to compare to local missing persons was stored or destroyed.
Characteristics
- A black and blue triangular birthmark on the right hip and buttock measuring 5 cm.
- 3 dental bridges on the upper and lower front teeth installed and treated in an 'unusual' manner.
- Blood type A.
- Brown or black hair.
Sources
- Jung Rak-in's Case Tracking (Korean) POSTMORTEM WARNING
