Goo Hara‘s house was robbed of some valuables roughly two months after she passed away, and the thief is suspected to be someone who knows her well.
Dispatch revealed the CCTV footage they were able to secure from the house, and provided analysis of the footage, determining that the thief is likely to be a person who knew Goo Hara well enough to know her house layout.
On January 11, 2020, Goo Hara’s 49 day memorial rite, which was held at her house, concluded. Two days later on January 13, 2020, Goo Hara’s brother Goo Ho In packed up some belongings, and left Goo Hara’s house. He had been staying there to make arrangements following Goo Hara’s sudden passing, and headed back to his parents’ house.
The next day at 12:15 am, January 14, 2020, an unidentified man crossed a wall surrounding the house. While it is unclear whether there was only one man, or two men involved, the thief entered Goo Hara’s house, stole a safe, and ran away. Analysts believe the thief is not a professional, as their behavior was clumsy, causing them to think the thief was someone who knew Goo Hara personally.
Outside of the house, an unidentified man can be seen climbing over the wall outside Goo Hara’s house. It is believed he crossed the wall by going through the villa parking lot, which is next to her house. The thief crossed the wall and was spotted on the CCTV, and then attempted to cover up the CCTV lens with leaves.
Goo Hara’s friend “K”, who lived with her also commented on the robbery, saying they were made aware of it in April 2020.
I found out the safe was missing back in April. I checked the CCTV with her brother. There was a scene where the thief tried to cover the lens with leaves. It was like they were trying to hide their identity.
— “K”
At 12:30 am, another CCTV video showed a second person crossing into Goo Hara’s front yard, heading for the front door. He attempted to enter the door passcode, but failed to open it. Instead, he sticks his face up to the window, peering inside. After confirming no one was inside at the time, he tries to enter the building again.
I changed the password after Goo Hara died. Only Goo Ho In and I know the password. I think the thief pressed the old password, which was 2**2.
— “K”
There are a total of four CCTV cameras at Goo Hara’s house. Only two of them were able to capture a video of the thief at the house. Upon further inspection by a professor, the person on the two cameras were wearing the same shoes. There were also similarities in the jacket that the man was wearing, prompting the idea that there was only one thief.
There is more reason to believe that the thief is an acquaintance of Goo Hara. Inside the safe, Goo Hara would keep her important documents. In the past, she would also keep her old cell phones inside there. Both Goo Jo In and “K” think an acquaintance was the thief, as they knew the house’s old door passcode.
When the thief failed to get in, he took an alternative route, entering through the veranda (balcony) on the second floor. From there, he went from the veranda to the utility room to the closet, accessing her safe.
He knows the structure of the house well. A person who is seeing the house for the first time would never know how to do that. He even knew that the door isn’t normally locked..
— Goo Ho In
The criminal also knew the exact location of her safe, taking only that and leaving everything else.
The closet door isn’t locked, because she goes back and forth between her room and the closet often. We also disabled the security system for that door. The thief is someone who knows of this.
— “K”
Goo Ho In and “K” visited the police in March 2020 about the situation, but there were no results. Other CCTV that could be used to help identify the thief was already erased. The black box videos for the vehicles in the area were also overwritten with newer video, irrelevant to the case. Dispatch has listed out the description of the thief, in hopes that one of their readers will be able to send in a tip.
- About 175cm tall.
- Wears glasses. Thin metal frame. Not pointy at the corners.
- Wears BOR closing system shoes. Shoe laces are adjusted with a dial.
- Unique jacket design. The back and shoulders have different fabrics, plus a tie around the waist.
- Presumed to be an acquaintance of Goo Hara.
- Possibly multiple accomplices. Up to 3 or 4 even. “K” says they believe there was a person on lookout near the gate, and another in an SUV parked as the getaway car.
