'Why won't my son wake up?' — Mother with intellectual disability unaware her son had died

"Brother won't move." "Why won't my son wake up?"

A man in his 20s with an intellectual disability died at a home he shared with his mother and younger brother — both of whom also have intellectual disabilities — and days passed before anyone realized he was gone.

According to the Jungnang Police Station in Seoul, the man, identified only as A, was found dead at a housing unit in Jungnang-gu on Aug. 6.

Officers arrived after A's younger brother reported that he was not moving, and found the body in an advanced state of decomposition, indicating he had been dead for several days.

A had been living with his mother and younger brother, all three of whom had severe intellectual disabilities. The mother and brother had not realized he had died, apparently believing he had simply been asleep for a long time.

Police believe A died sometime before Sept. 2 or Sept. 3, and concluded there was no criminal involvement.

An autopsy by the National Forensic Service determined that the cause of death was acute cardiac arrest.