On the night of November 14, around 9 PM, detectives and forensic scientists arrived at a villa in Seodaemun, Seoul, where they hurriedly headed to the rooftop. There, they discovered a mysterious object placed on a small canopy. This object, located at the top of the building, had gone unnoticed by people until then. It was inside a black shopping bag and tightly sealed with multiple layers of wrapping. There was quite a bit of plastic as well, wrapped around a towel. What was inside the kimchi container, after removing the twelve layers of plastic and towels, turned out to be none other than a severely mutilated child—the very one they had been desperately searching for, Ha-eun. The body weighed about 1.7 kg, and all the moisture had drained from it, leaving it in a wax-like state. Had the child been alive at the time of discovery...

When Ha-eun was five years old, it was estimated that she died about three years ago, in January 2020, at the age of 15 months. Her parents, who had abandoned their daughter's body for three years, have been arrested. The shocking fact is that it is the child's mother, Ms. Seo, who has been apprehended for hiding Ba-ul's body on the rooftop for the past three years. Do you have anything you want to say to your child? Is there a specific reason for abandoning the body? It has also been revealed that Ms. Seo's ex-husband and Ha-eun's biological father, Mr. Choi, was involved in the crime. Do you acknowledge this? Do you have anything you want to say to your child? However, during the investigation, Ms. Seo reportedly shed tears and expressed her grievances to the police, saying, I killed her. She questioned, Did I kill her? Did I kill her? She claimed that she did not commit any violence or abuse; she was simply scared that the child had died and hid it out of fear.

The body was in a state of severe decomposition, making it impossible to determine the cause of death or what injuries had been sustained prior to death. However, there was one notable trace left on the body: a mysterious hole found in the skull. If some form of impact had caused this, it raises the question of whether it was a fracture sustained during life or a post-mortem defect. It is unclear whether this indicates that the child had been abused while alive or if the hole in the skull was a result of some impact after death. Just from this, it is impossible to ascertain the truth. Why did Haeun come to her death? Before her death, Haeun's father, Mr. Choi, was imprisoned for fraud. During a meeting with his then-wife, Ms. Seo, there were reflections in their conversation regarding Haeun's health. On January 6, 2020, Ms. Seo reportedly informed Mr. Choi about Haeun's death through a letter. According to Ms. Seo, Haeun had experienced diarrhea and a high fever.

하언이 증상을 보인 뒤 열흘 만에 사망했습니다. 그런데 한 가지 의문이 있었습니다. 사망 전날에는 먹은 것을 모두 토하고, 아예 기운이 없어서 다시 새벽에 음식을 먹였는데 또 토하고 잤습니다. 그런데 아침에 사망을 했습니다. 그런 상황을 봤을 때, 많이 아팠던 것으로 보입니다. 사실 그런 상태에서 병원을 데려가지 않은 행위가 문제입니다. 그런데 하은이의 모습을 구체적으로 기억하고 있는 사람이 있었습니다. 바로 관할 행정복지센터의 공무원이었습니다. 조금 어려운 상황이었기에, 그 내용을 보고 용이동 쪽에서 담당자가 나가서 확인하는 상황이었습니다. 바론이가 사망하기 약 2개월 전인 2019년 10월, 긴급 생계 지원금을 신청했다는 소식이 있었습니다. 이에 담당 공무원이 서씨의 집을 방문하게 되면서 하은이의 모습도 보게 되었다고 합니다. 담당자는 당시 하은이의 모습을 꽤 인상적으로 기록해 놓았다고 합니다.

At that time, Hae-eon, who was 13 months old and should have been starting to walk, was still crawling and was not developing well compared to his peers. The one piece of evidence that Kyung-cheol secured through the search and seizure clearly indicated his condition. It's hard to think that it could be solely due to simple atopic dermatitis. Poor hygiene and not cleaning up feces or urine in a timely manner can lead to skin infections, resulting in such a dirty appearance. As serious as the skin condition was, there was something even more alarming. I thought I was holding his wrist, but upon closer inspection, I realized it was his buttock. The area around his abdomen was wrinkled. A child should not have such wrinkled skin on their abdomen. The subcutaneous fat layer should be thick for a child to appear chubby, but seeing that there was almost no subcutaneous tissue, it suggested that his nutritional status was very poor. The shocking facts did not end here.

Since the age of ten months, Haeun had been left alone almost every day for about five hours over the course of five months. The fact that we are dealing with a case of child abuse resulting in death means that there must be a causal relationship between neglect and death. We believe that there is a high possibility that the child was left unattended in a situation where even basic needs were not met, leading to her death. Haeun lived a short life, lonely and in pain. What is the truth hidden beyond the window? 

During our investigation, we discovered another fact: Haeun had an older brother who was four years her senior. However, it seems that the appearance of that child was also not quite ordinary. Why was he behaving like that? After Haeun's death, the then five-year-old brother, Jihwan, was asked what had happened.

It has been reported that Ji-hwan was often seen wandering around the neighborhood alone. He seemed to be wearing clothes that were not suitable for the season and appeared not to have eaten properly. There were instances when the police had to protect him after residents reported his situation, and there were also cases where his mother was late in picking him up. Was there a specific reason that prevented Ms. Seo from taking care of Ji-hwan? Neighbors seem to believe they know the reason. Around early January 2020, when Gaeun passed away, Ms. Seo was often seen with a strange man. Investigative findings revealed that she had met this man through a dating app, and it was confirmed that she met him the evening two days before Gaeun's death. That means she left her eldest child behind each time. Not only did she neglect to take care of Gaeun, leading to her death, but she also went out overnight, leaving her sick child alone just two days before Gaeun passed away.

After that, I wonder if there was intentional and habitual abuse towards the children of the Seo family, even by their eldest son, Ji-wan, who had not taken care of them. However, we heard a surprising story from someone who knows the Seo family well. In 2016, the second child, Ji-min, suddenly passed away in his sleep at just 12 days old. At that time, the Seo couple took the deceased child to the hospital. An autopsy was conducted on the body, but it was ultimately classified as a simple death case by the police. A death report was also filed normally. However, the doctor who witnessed Ji-min's last moments shared unexpected information with us. After about 40 minutes, he declared the child dead because there was no heartbeat. Since we needed to determine the cause of death, for a child, we usually conduct an X-ray. When we did, we found fractures in Ji-min's body, which had actually been 100 days since his birth.

The fractures in different parts of the body are presumed to have occurred at different times. At that time, how did the couple explain Ji-min's fractures during the police investigation? When asked how it happened, they mentioned that Ji-min fell from the bed, and it seems that this incident led to the skull fracture, according to the honest testimony of the father, Mr. Choi. He stated that apart from Ji-min falling from the bed, there were no other incidents before his death. If that is the case, how did they explain the broken ribs and arm bones? They described it as a feeling of having tripped while running around. The older brother, Ji-won, mentioned that he accidentally stepped on Ji-min, who was lying on the living room floor while running back and forth, and it seems that this might be the cause of the injuries, according to the testimony of the couple. Are their statements true? We decided to verify this through experts.

First, let's consider the case of a 15-month-old child. Is it possible for a child of 100 days old to suffer from rib or arm fractures? Children's ribs have quite a high elasticity, which means that elderly individuals, who have the least elasticity, are more prone to rib fractures. However, children tend to not experience rib fractures easily. The fact that a fracture occurred suggests that there must have been a significant impact. The weight of the 15-month-old child, Ji-won, was confirmed to be around 12 kg. Yet, it is almost impossible for a child of that weight to break bones simply by falling or pressing down at the age of 100 days. So, what level of force would be necessary for such an injury? If it were like kicking a soccer ball, a very localized and strong impact would have been applied to that area. Another scenario where rib fractures can occur is when an adult exerts a strong grip, applying pressure from both sides.

There is a force acting on it. It's like when you twist and it gets sprayed. Twisting or bending creates a clear fracture that appears as a twisted, spiral fracture. This is the shape of the fracture. So, why does this happen? It occurs when you twist it. The fractures seen in the ribs and arm bones cannot be attributed to a 15-month-old child stepping on them, according to experts' common opinions. Lastly, we need to investigate the reason for the skull fracture. The parents claimed that it was a fracture caused when Jimin fell from the bed ten days before his death. Professor Park Dae-kyun, who has handled numerous child abuse cases, pointed out two contradictions in their statements. First, the timing of the fracture. This child's fracture did not occur a week ago. They claim it happened a week ago.

If so, there should be a clear sign of healing in the skull. It should appear white and shaped like a Y. If it has been about a week to ten days since the fracture occurred, signs of healing must be present. However, there are no such signs in Jimin's skull. At a minimum, the second point from the parents' statements is that the area where the fracture occurred seems impossible. There are no indications of a fall. The fracture does not appear to be from falling off a bed because the area of impact is not typical. There is also an area on the right side, slightly towards the back, where there is a pronounced bump. The area received a shock, and due to this shock, the fracture line extends upward, downward, and again downward, creating an H shape. Jimin's skull injury indicates that a strong impact was applied to the upper right part of the head, and as a result of that impact, the fracture line branched out in multiple directions.

It is said that injuries can occur under certain circumstances. The skull must be fixed, meaning that the child must have had their head resting against something, likely a somewhat hard surface. This is necessary so that when a shock occurs, the impact can be absorbed, and fractures can actually be sent as a signal to the body. There is a commonality in the deaths of siblings Jimin and Ha-eun. Although the younger sister has a deficiency in the occipital bone, if the older brother had been discovered later with the same condition, that area would have appeared as a defect due to continuous pressure. An autopsy was performed, but unlike Jimin, whose cause of death remains unknown, Ha-eun's body was too decomposed to determine the cause. The only remaining trace on Ha-eun's body was a hole in the skull, which also could not be explained due to decomposition. However, if the skull had been damaged...

Jimin's body, like Haeun's, would have shown signs of decay and would have been discovered later. This suggests that a hole similar to the one in Haeun's skull would have appeared. What does this mean? There are signs of significant abuse concerning the second child. It is rational to view it as a continuation of the violence inflicted by the deceased older brother. The implication is that both young lives were taken by someone who had a duty to protect them. I believe this is the most significant characteristic of the case, indicating a form of serial murder.

However, there is one puzzling point. When Haeun died, she was incarcerated in a juvenile detention center, and when she was released four months later, Choi, who was in a divorce state with Seo, was involved in the handling of the bodies. What could be the reason for this? It’s very unusual. Why would someone like him visit the detention center so obsessively? He could only see her for five or ten minutes at a time. In such a short period, one must consider the implications of seeing that person.

There must have been a reason, so they might be worried about discussing any additional cases they are involved in or anything related. They need to signal that they are staying close by, as this would lower the chances of the book exposing the truth. There must be a clear motivation for this. What could be the secret that the two of them are so desperate to hide? Could it be that after the death of the second child, Jimin, the husband, Mr. Choi, was involved, and later, after the youngest, Haeun, died, Mrs. Seo threatened to involve them in the abandonment? The truth of that day, sealed with the child's body wrapped in twelve layers of plastic, is surrounded by layers of lies, known only to Mr. Seo and Mr. Choi. Experts point out that there were several opportunities to prevent such a tragic event. Before that, one child died around the age of 100 days, and the older child was wandering around. If this had been reported, the parents would have been...

I believe there should have been some form of punishment, education, or counseling. After all, an SS was sent once. Now, I wonder if the emergency welfare support has connected with the child protection team and if the police have been involved with that team. This is the first point of contact that has been established, and I feel a sense of regret that there wasn't a systematic intervention at that point. Ultimately, Ha-eun's death was revealed only three years later during a comprehensive investigation of children who had been missing for a long time. It seems too late to realize this now. At that time, she was either missing or deceased, and in such cases, the measures taken afterward are merely reactive. It is concerning that there was no intervention for three years, and only at the three-year mark did they check if everyone was safely alive. We need to reconsider the significance of this approach.

I cannot shake the thought that there should have been much more intervention throughout the entire process, from birth to the three-year period. In the brief 15 months of life, there were more days spent crying alone than days spent laughing. The time spent in death has been longer than the time lived in this world. Now, as I finally unwrap the layers of wrapping that surrounded me, I hope that in the heavens, Hauni is neither alone nor in pain.

김치통에 아이 시신 숨겼던 부부, 4년 전 죽은 아이가 또 있었다?!｜짧은 그알

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