Family says military botched evidence search in Army wife’s gruesome death

The family of the woman who died after she was found covered in human waste and maggots at her apartment in Paju, Gyeonggi, is accusing military authorities of mishandling the initial investigation into her death.

The victim, Yu Na-rae, was found in a state of cardiac arrest in November 2025, after her husband, an active-duty Army staff sergeant, called emergency services. She was discovered with severe bedsores and signs of tissue necrosis on her calves and underarms. She died a day after being taken to the hospital. Tens of thousands of maggots were found inside the apartment.

The family alleges military investigators failed to secure key evidence during searches of the couple’s apartment, later asked the family to collect and submit evidence themselves and failed to consider publicly identifying the suspect despite the brutality of the case. The family also says government officials obstructed efforts to draw public attention to the case by keeping their public petitions private.

The family was first notified of Yu's death when her husband, surnamed Kim, called the victim’s mother to say that Na-rae was unresponsive on the morning of Nov. 17, 2025.

Yu's family rushed from Suwon, Gyeonggi, to the hospital in Goyang, Gyeonggi.

"My sister had been struggling with depression and panic disorder, so I hadn't been able to visit her," Yu's sister recalled. "I was worried she might have taken medication after having dark thoughts."

After the family arrived at the hospital, Kim told them to "take Na-rae to her family home."

But the family was horrified after doctors showed them photographs of Yu. Her emaciated body was covered in human waste and maggots.

Kim collapsed as if he were seeing his wife's condition for the first time. Police, whom the hospital had called, arrested him shortly afterward.

The family now questions whether military investigators conducted a proper investigation.

The Army's criminal investigations team, which took over the case on Nov. 19, 2025, searched the couple's apartment in Paju.

Military investigators concluded their search of the couple's apartment without finding Yu's diaries or home security cameras, both of which the family believes could have been key evidence, according to the family.

"My sister had a pet dog, so I told military investigators there should be a home security camera in the apartment," Yu's sister said. "They told me there wasn't one when they searched the home."

However, Yu's sister found the home security camera inside a dresser drawer in the victim’s bedroom when she visited the apartment with an acquaintance on Nov. 22.

They also discovered diaries Yu had written in 2017, 2018 and 2024 in a drawer in the living room.

Yu's sister recovered another home security camera hidden behind the living room television and, from the kitchen, another diary written in 2023, during another visit on Dec. 1, 2025.

Although the memory cards had been removed from both cameras, the family said they were left wondering whether investigators had thoroughly searched the apartment after the family had recovered the evidence themselves. 

A military prosecutor contacted Yu's sister on Dec. 14, 2025, after a current affairs television program reported on Yu's diaries and unusually high water usage at the apartment between August and October.

"If there are passages in the diaries you would like to highlight, please take a photo of them and text them to us," said the investigator. "We have not obtained the water or electricity bills. If you would like to submit them, please send those as well."

Yu's sister later submitted the utility bills obtained directly from the apartment’s management office.

The family claimed they lost confidence in the military's investigation and tried to draw public attention to the case, but their efforts repeatedly fell short.

Between Nov. 25, 2025 and January, the family and their acquaintances submitted several petitions through the government's petition submission website calling for tougher penalties for abandonment resulting in death and harsher punishment for Kim.

However, the petitions they submitted were reportedly marked as private on the website.

Submission guidelines state that petitions related to legislation or the operation of public institutions may be made public along with the government's response. The family questioned why their petition, titled "We demand tougher punishment and legal revisions in the Paju Army staff sergeant's wife abandonment case," was not disclosed despite the petition proposing legal changes.

The family repeatedly called the government official listed in the notification message to ask why the petition had been kept private but received no response.

"The petition system is supposed to give people a place to speak out about injustice," Yu's sister said. "It is wrong for officials to decide, based on their administrative convenience, which petitions deserve to be made public or not."

The decision was made in accordance with operational guidelines, according to a government official.

"There was no attempt by the military to conceal the case,” a government official said.

The family also questioned why Kim's identity was never disclosed.

"The investigation and trial proceeded with our family shut out," Yu's mother said. "We had hoped at least his identity would be made public, but that never happened."

Under Korean law, police and prosecutors may disclose the identity of suspects in serious crimes after considering factors such as the brutality of the offense, the strength of the evidence, the public's right to know and the risk of reoffending. Such disclosures can only be made during the investigation. Courts may order identity disclosure only for sex offenders.

The family argued that Kim's identity should have been disclosed given the brutality of the case. However, military prosecutors indicted Kim on murder charges on Dec. 15, 2025, without doing so.

"The suspect denied the allegations during the police investigation, and there was insufficient evidence at the time to consider disclosing his identity," an Army official said. "During the prosecution stage, the victim's family did not express a wish for his identity to be disclosed."

The court martial sentenced Kim to 30 years in prison on June 2 after finding him guilty of murder by omission. Both prosecutors and Kim appealed the ruling, and the first appellate hearing is scheduled for July 21 at the Seoul High Court.

"All we could do was wait for police and prosecutors to make that decision [of disclosing Kim’s identity]," the family said. "There should be a process allowing victims' families to request identity disclosure even after a verdict. The law should also be revised so courts can disclose the identities of violent offenders."

BY KIM YE-JUNG [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr]