Children… (2011) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

The boys disappeared on March 26, 1991, during local elections. Police resources were diverted to safeguarding polling stations across the country, which delayed the search effort. Days turned into weeks before a proper investigation could begin, allowing crucial time to pass without any breakthroughs.

• police investigation
• elections
• delayed search
• missing boys

In 1996, professor Jeon Kuk-hwan discovered a recording of a boy claiming to be one of the missing children calling his own home. The call suggested the boy may have been alive after the disappearance, or that someone close to the family had knowledge of the case. The mother's lack of shock when hearing the recording raised suspicions about what the family might be hiding.

• telephone recording
• professor theory
• mother reaction
• missing boy call

The family's behavior became increasingly suspicious when authorities pressed for answers. The mother showed no surprise at hearing her son's voice on the recording, and the entire household, parents and grandmother, appeared reluctant and unsettled during questioning. Professor Jeon convinced authorities to dig up the family home in search of evidence, but found nothing conclusive.

• family suspicion
• mother reaction
• house excavation
• professor investigation

Both Kang Ji-seung and Professor Jeon Kuk-hwan had their careers destroyed by the investigation. The professor lost his university position after accusing the family and digging up their home without finding conclusive evidence. Kang Ji-seung was reassigned back to the city, and the father of the missing boy died without ever clearing his name. Both men became casualties of an unsolved case.

• professor fired
• careers ruined
• father death
• family reputation

In September 2002, the remains were discovered in the woods on the same mountainside the boys had described visiting. The discovery was made years after the initial disappearance, when the case had already faded from public attention. The remains showed signs of violence, two skulls had large holes and one bore indentations from an unidentified instrument, while their clothes were knotted in sailor-like patterns and bullet casings were found at the scene.

• remains found
• mountainside
• skull injuries
• bullet casings
• sailor knots

The children's clothes were found tied in sailor knots, a detail that would later appear again when Kang Ji-seung discovered the suspect's apartment filled with stacks of books also bound in sailor knots. This signature suggested the killer had a connection to maritime knowledge or deliberately used knots as a calling card, linking the crime scene evidence to the suspect's possessions.

Foreshadowing: The sailor knots first appeared on the children's remains in 2002, then again in the suspect's apartment.

• sailor knots
• evidence
• suspect apartment
• signature

The original police investigator revealed that on the night after the boys vanished, he encountered a mysterious young man who was always seen fishing nearby. The officer kept this information secret because Korea's statute of limitations would have barred prosecution even if the killer was identified years later. He waited and watched for another crime to occur, hoping to catch the suspect in the act and finally bring closure.

• fishing man
• statute of limitations
• police secret
• suspect identity

Using a traced license plate, Kang Ji-seung located the suspect and broke into his apartment while he was away. Inside, he discovered a disturbing cache: items belonging to children and stacks of books all tied into sailor knots, the same knot style found on the children's clothing at the discovery site. This evidence strongly pointed to the suspect as the killer, though it was obtained illegally.

• apartment search
• children items
• books
• evidence
• sailor knots

The morning after Kang Ji-seung broke into the suspect's apartment and waited outside to confront him, his own daughter vanished. She reappeared moments later, claiming a man driving a passing truck had helped her. This incident appeared to be either a deliberate threat by the suspect or an attempt to lure Kang Ji-seung away from his position, showing the killer was aware of and responding to the investigation.

• daughter kidnapped
• truck
• suspect threat
• confrontation

Kang Ji-seung chased the truck to a slaughterhouse where he confronted the suspect directly. The man refused to confess but hinted that he might be the killer, saying something to suggest his guilt. However, with no solid evidence obtained through proper legal channels, Kang Ji-seung had no grounds for arrest. The suspect walked away freely, leaving the case unresolved and the danger still present in the city.

• slaughterhouse
• suspect confrontation
• no confession
• walked away

The evidence found in the apartment was obtained through illegal means, Kang Ji-seung broke in without a warrant. Additionally, the statute of limitations had expired, meaning even if the suspect confessed, prosecution would be barred. With no confession and tainted evidence, the legal system offered no path to conviction, allowing the suspect to walk free while the killer remained at large.

• no arrest
• statute of limitations
• illegal evidence
• prosecution blocked

Shortly after the remains were discovered in September 2002, Seoul was shaken by news of two more children missing in the capital. This suggested the killer from the 1991 case might still be active and responsible for the new disappearances. The timing created urgent public fear that the decade-old mystery was not just unsolved but ongoing, with a dangerous individual still free to harm children.

• Seoul disappearances
• new victims
• killer active
• public fear