Unverified claims about victim, suspect spread online amid Incheon severed leg case

As police intensify their investigation into the discovery of a human leg at a public recycling facility in Incheon, unverified posts naming an alleged victim and suspect have spread online, stirring controversy.

According to a News1 report Monday, a social media user on X recently shared a screenshot of an online community post related to the case.

The author, identified only as A, said they had seen a comment left beneath a news article about the severed leg found in Incheon. "The child's name is OO, and he is a pretty boy who looks like a girl," the post read, according to A. "It said a female employee at a branch of 'O Mart' near Kwangwoon University had severed the child's leg. I scrolled past it at the time without thinking much of it."

Online reactions were largely skeptical. "This is nothing but an unverified rumor," one user wrote, while others urged restraint: "We should focus only on confirmed facts," and "Hasn't it already been announced that the victim's age and sex have not been determined?" Still, the posts drew considerable attention, with some users saying the claims, if true, would be horrifying.

The leg was discovered at around 2:28 p.m. Wednesday at the Southern Incheon Metropolitan Resource Recovery Center in Songdo-dong, Yeonsu-gu. The severed limb — the lower left leg from below the knee to the heel — measured more than 40 centimeters in length, with a foot size of 210 to 220 millimeters. It was reportedly wrapped entirely in bandages.

A worker sorting recyclables at the facility found the leg and called police.

Officers conducted a full inspection of all recyclables collected at the center that day but found no other body parts.

Police have assembled an investigative task force of 64 officers. Based on the leg's length and foot size, investigators believe the victim may be a woman or a young student, and are focusing their efforts on identifying the person.

The National Forensic Service has delivered a preliminary verbal finding to police that the age and sex of the deceased cannot be determined, and is currently conducting a more detailed examination, police said. Identification has proven difficult because legs, unlike fingers, do not carry registered biometric data such as fingerprints.

Police have sent official requests for investigative cooperation to all elementary, middle and high schools in Incheon to check for students with prolonged absences, and are also reviewing recent missing-persons reports. So far, however, investigators have not secured any leads that would help identify the victim.