'Palm tree trunks are too thin — what did she hang from?' Family questions autopsy findings in Jeju missing-person case

The National Forensic Service has released partial autopsy results in the case of Jang Mi-ran, 37, who had been missing in Jeju for several months, but questions surrounding the circumstances of her death remain unresolved. Her family raised doubts, asking, "The palm tree trunks are so thin — where could a rope even be tied?"

The Jeju Provincial Police Agency released part of the National Forensic Service's autopsy report Thursday.

The National Forensic Service said no unusual fractures were found in the skull, neck vertebrae or torso, but that a fracture was detected in a remaining portion of the hyoid bone.

The hyoid is an extremely thin bone, also known as the tongue bone. Autopsy photographs showed it had separated at the center, the National Forensic Service said.

However, the agency cautioned that due to advanced decomposition and partial skeletonization, it was difficult to assess trauma or asphyxiation, and that the possibility the fracture occurred during the postmortem decomposition process could not be ruled out.

Police said the forensic pathologist identified the remains as those of the missing woman and assessed that the possibility of death by hanging should be considered as the cause of death.

Despite the release of the autopsy findings, the family said questions remain. The family received the autopsy results Wednesday.

The family told SBS that a police official visited and told them "one neck bone was already broken — it is a bone that inevitably breaks when someone hangs themselves," suggesting Jang likely died by suicide.

The family said they could not help but have doubts. "Where could she have tied a rope to take her own life?" they said, adding that police told them she appeared to have used one of the individual palm tree trunks, thin as they are.

"If you look at the trunk, there are firm, branch-like sections that are deeply rooted," the family said. "Police say she sat down and did it there, but frankly we have doubts to the very end," they added.

Police had earlier estimated that Jang died in the early hours of May 13, the day after she went missing. Her mobile phone and a gold bracelet were found with the body undisturbed, and no signs of struggle or altercation were detected, leading police to assess that criminal involvement was unlikely.

Police said they are continuing the investigation with all possibilities open, including a digital forensic examination of her mobile phone, even as they lean toward the conclusion that she died by suicide.