UPDATE (5:30pm):
A fourth set of DNA has been identified at a murder suspect's house, leading police to suspect the man has harmed three women, Kaohsiung Police Department Chief Lin Yen-tian (林炎田) said today.
The third possible victim has been identified through DNA as the suspect’s sister-in-law who was reported missing on Dec. 15, he said.
Photo: Huang Liang-chieh, Taipei Times
It has also been confirmed that the DNA of a second possible victim, a missing 75-year-old Zuoying woman surnamed Chang (張), was found at the scene, he said, adding that all three sets of DNA were found in blood stains in the same room.
Media have reported that the suspect’s home in Cianjhen District (前鎮) was originally owned by his older brother, who died in May last year, leaving the suspect’s sister-in-law to move to a residence in Nanzih District (楠梓).
Huang’s son worked in New Taipei City and filed a missing person's report last year after being unable to contact his mother for some time.
As no trace of her has been found since, it is not being ruled out that she is also a victim in a homicide case, police said.
ORIGINAL:
Police fear a second missing woman is connected to a Kaohsiung homicide case in which a 73-year-old man was detained on Wednesday for the alleged murder and dismemberment of a 71-year-old woman.
Traces of blood belonging to a third person have been found at the suspect’s home in Kaohsiung's Cianjhen District (前鎮), police said, leading them to suspect a second victim was harmed at the residence.
A 75-year-old woman from Kaohsiung’s Zuoying District (左營), surnamed Chang (張), was last seen three weeks ago on security cameras at Sanmin Park in Kaohsiung’s Sanmin District (三民), having previously been spotted just 300m from the suspect’s residence.
Police have obtained a DNA sample from the missing woman’s daughter and are awaiting results to determine if the sample matches the blood found at the crime scene.
Police said yesterday that a 71-year-old woman, surnamed Lin (林), from Kaohsiung’s Nanzih District (楠梓) went missing on Sunday.
She was last seen that afternoon on surveillance footage riding her scooter with her 73-year-old boyfriend, also surnamed Chang (張), to his residence.
The woman’s family placed a missing person's report on Monday, which was upgraded to an emergency search on Tuesday.
Police discovered that the elderly man had made 12 trips outside his home between 6am and 10am on Monday morning, on five occasions carrying black garbage bags to a canal in Cianjhen.
Multiple body parts were recovered in the canal, while traces of Chao’s blood were found in the suspect’s home, leading police to apprehend him on Wednesday night on suspicion of murder.
The suspect was transferred to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office last night, and the Kaohsiung District Court this afternoon approved prosecutors’ request to formally detain him on suspicion of murder.
The second possible victim was first reported missing to Zuoying Precinct on Jan. 27 when her son returned from working abroad for the Lunar New Year, but had not heard from his mother in 10 days, the precinct said this morning.
The woman was last seen on Jan. 14 when her daughter dropped her off at her home on Fumin Road in Zuoying District.
After she did not return over the Lunar New Year, the family made another report on Jan. 31, escalating the search to an emergency missing person's case and leading investigators to review surveillance footage to track her movements.
Investigators found that the woman was last seen on security footage at about 1pm on Jan. 17 taking the MRT to Sanmin Park, where her daughter told police she often gathered with friends.
However, footage from Cianjhen District reportedly revealed she had previously been spotted just 300m from the suspect’s home.
Police are continuing to review surveillance footage and confirm timelines as they await the results of DNA analysis, while a special task force has been assembled at the Zuoying Precinct with the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office overseeing the investigation.
Additional reporting by Huang Liang-chieh and CNA
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