Father, 4-year-old daughter found dead amid mother's efforts to enforce Hague Convention order to return daughter to her legal custodian
Jeju police said Wednesday that they found no signs of danger during repeated checks on a father and his 4-year-old daughter who were later found dead in a car, as questions mounted over whether authorities had done enough to protect the child.
According to the Jeju Provincial Police Agency, Seogwipo police conducted eight in-person assessments of the father and daughter between Nov. 10 last year and July 27, either independently or alongside municipal child protection officials, but found no evidence of child abuse or other risk factors.
The two were found dead at 6:08 p.m. Monday in a parked car in Pyoseon-myeon, Seogwipo. Evidence discovered at the scene suggested the father may have taken his own life and that of his daughter, according to the Jeju Fire and Safety Headquarters.
The father, an Australian permanent resident in his 40s, reportedly brought his daughter to Seoul in October 2025 amid an ongoing custody battle with his wife in Australia.
On Oct. 2, just 10 days before the deaths, the mother, who was in Australia, contacted Jeju police seeking help locating her daughter and ensuring her safety after learning that the father planned to take the child to the United States.
She also sought help from the South Korean Embassy in Australia. The following day, she obtained a court order canceling her daughter's passport to prevent the child from leaving South Korea.
That did not prompt police to open an investigation.
"We did not initiate an investigation (on Oct. 2) because we had not received the relevant family court ruling on the child's return and the mother's request was not considered a formal report filed through the 112 emergency hotline," police told reporters during a briefing on Wednesday.
In March, unable to locate her daughter, the mother filed a petition for her return with the Seoul Family Court under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. Under the treaty, court officers can enforce a return order, with police assistance if necessary, when a parent fails to comply.
The court ruled in her favor, and by the time she reached South Korea, the father had already moved to Jeju Island with their daughter.
In April, the mother sought help from Seogwipo police on the island to enforce the court order, raising concerns about her former husband's mental health. He reportedly suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following an accident and had been prescribed several medications for depression.
However, the mother said police failed to locate her former husband and only assured her that her daughter was safe based on a video call.
Frustrated by what she viewed as an inadequate response, the mother lodged additional complaints with the provincial police agency and the government's online civil petition system in late June.
But the case was referred back to Seogwipo police, who only checked on the father and daughter outside their residence without inspecting their living conditions or taking steps to separate the child from her father, news reports said.
The mother also claimed she was not informed until much later that police had conducted two home visits following a local's report of suspected child abuse.
"I told police about my ex-husband's mental health problems and history of suicide attempts and asked what specific measures they would take to protect my daughter and prevent potential harm, but I never received an answer," the mother told a local news outlet.
"I did everything I could, traveling back and forth between Australia and South Korea. I don't understand how something like this could have happened."
Criticism arose over the police's passive response, raising questions about whether earlier intervention could have prevented the tragedy.
Defending their handling of the case, police said they had no authority to enforce custody-related court orders.
"The incident occurred while we were still assessing whether there was any basis for police intervention," the agency said.
cjh@heraldcorp.com