The car belonging to a woman who went missing last month was recovered from a lake on Thursday as police investigate her ex-boyfriend for his suspected role in her disappearance.
The SUV driven by the missing person was salvaged from Chungju Lake in North Chungcheong Province. The woman in her 50s was last seen 68 kilometers away in Cheongju as she left work on Oct. 14.
Surveillance footage showed that the car had headed to the Chopyeong Reservoir in Jincheon-gun later that day, and to the Okseong Reservoir in the same county hours later.
It is unclear who was driving the SUV at the time, as the car's unorthodox maneuvering — being on the wrong side of the road at one point — indicated that the driver was possibly trying to avoid surveillance cameras.
Police on Wednesday arrested the victim's ex-boyfriend, a man in his 50s surnamed Kim, after surveillance footage captured him driving the SUV in question toward the lake on Monday.
He confessed to physically assaulting the victim on the day she went missing, but denied any involvement afterward.
The suspect claimed he let the woman out of her own car after the assault and had not seen her since. They had quarreled multiple times even after breaking up, the police said.
The woman's whereabouts and whether she is still alive remain unknown.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
