As partial mutilated remains found at a public recyclables processing facility in Songdo, Incheon, have been determined to be from an adult, the police are focusing on identification while not ruling out missing persons or those who have not returned home, and are also considering the possibility that the victim is a foreign national.

The Yeonsu Police Station in Incheon said on the 16th that, following the National Forensic Service's appraisal on the 15th stating, “The discovered leg is estimated to belong to an adult with a height of 161~165㎝”, they have shifted their identification efforts from a focus on elementary, middle, and high school students to adults such as missing persons and those who have not returned home. In particular, they are not ruling out the possibility that the victim is a foreign national.

A police official said, “We cannot determine nationality from the discovered leg, but if the National Forensic Service conducts a detailed analysis, it can identify race and even regions such as Europe and Southeast or Northeast Asia”, adding, “We are keeping all possibilities open and investigating both domestic and foreign nationals.”

At about 2:28 p.m. on the 10th, during the pre-sorting process for recyclables at the Southern Region Wide-Area Resource Recovery Center in Songdo-dong, Incheon, the left leg, a portion of the mutilated remains, was discovered. The foot size is 210㎜, and the length from just below the knee to the heel is 41㎝.

Based on the measurements of the discovered leg, the police initially considered the possibility that the victim was a young student or a woman and conducted checks with elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as special schools in the Incheon area, to see if there were any unrecognized or long-term absentees.

A police official said, “We initially presumed a student because the discovered leg is small in size, but as the National Forensic Service has notified that it is from an adult, we have excluded students.”

Yeonsu Police Station has deployed about 100 investigators to this case and is investigating how the mutilated remains were mixed with recyclables and brought into the center.

At the Songdo public recyclables processing facility, intake of recyclables begins at 4 a.m., sorting work is carried out to classify them into glass bottles, cans, plastics, and so on, and the entire volume is processed on the same day.

On the day the remains were discovered, about 35 tons of recyclables were transported in 34 trips, and by collection area there were 20 trips from Yeonsu-gu and 14 from Jung-gu.

The police have secured vehicle dashcam footage and driving records from eight haulage companies and are checking the areas where collections were made.