The Seogwipo police said their inquiry in the case led to an informant who claimed acquaintance with the victim.

Based on the man’s description of the woman and convincingly matching records of her entry to Korea, the police have tentatively confirmed the victim’s identity and are accordingly narrowing down the suspects.

Some of those familiar with the woman that could have motive for murder are being investigated. Further, detailed autopsy results will soon be released by the National Forensic Service.

Police had assumed the victim to be a foreigner from the beginning, as the remainder of her decayed body gave off impressions that distinguished her from a Korean and her fingerprints had no match in domestic records.

She was around 163 centimeters tall with curly hair of a shade between brunette and blonde. The clothes she wore at the time of her death were a yellow-and-green striped sweater and a blue skirt from Chinese online shopping mall Taobao with black leggings. She also wore size 235 black booties with triangular metal studs.

The woman’s body was found last Wednesday in the unfrequented rural fields of Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo-si on Jejudo Island. She had six wounds from a sharp object. Police presumed she had died no more than four months ago.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)