SBS investigative program "Unanswered Questions" revisits the mysterious death of a wealthy businesswoman whose fatal highway crash was later ruled a cyanide poisoning, reopening one of South Korea's most puzzling criminal cases.
The episode, titled "The Mystery of the Missing Water Bottle: The Cyanide Death of an ₩80 Billion Heiress," retraces the investigation through accident footage, forensic evidence and interviews with those connected to the case.
The incident occurred on March 28, 2020, near Seojinju Interchange on the Tongyeong-Daejeon Expressway. A vehicle was seen drifting across multiple lanes before crashing into a guardrail and the center divider. The driver was found unconscious with no obvious external injuries but died at a nearby hospital about an hour later.
The victim, identified under the pseudonym Kim Young-sook, was a 63-year-old businesswoman reportedly worth about ₩80 billion. What initially appeared to be a fatal traffic accident took a dramatic turn nearly three weeks later, when an autopsy concluded that she had died from cyanide poisoning. Toxicology tests detected a lethal concentration of cyanide, prompting investigators to consider the possibility of foul play.
One piece of evidence quickly became central to the case.
The first person to report the crash said a two-liter water bottle had been found inside the vehicle. After noticing something unusual about the liquid, the witness raised the possibility that the victim had consumed it before losing control of the car. The bottle was reportedly handed to emergency responders before being passed on to the victim's family, but both the container and its contents were later discarded, eliminating what could have been crucial forensic evidence.
Investigators then reconstructed the victim's movements on the day of her death. CCTV footage near her home allegedly showed a family member, identified under the pseudonym Park, placing an object inside the vehicle shortly before she left for a country house. The object was believed to have been the missing water bottle, shifting the focus of the investigation toward Park.
A subsequent search of the victim's home uncovered additional evidence. Investigators found cyanide stored in two locations inside the residence, with DNA and fingerprints belonging to Park reportedly detected on the toxic substance. The discovery raised new questions about where the poison came from, how it had been stored and whether it had been used in the victim's death.
The disappearance of the water bottle has remained one of the case's biggest unanswered questions. Without the original container or its contents, investigators have had to rely heavily on circumstantial evidence, forensic findings and witness testimony to reconstruct what happened.
The program revisits the timeline of the case, examining how an apparent traffic accident evolved into a suspected poisoning and exploring what the remaining evidence may reveal years after the victim's death.
"The Mystery of the Missing Water Bottle: The Cyanide Death of an ₩80 Billion Heiress" airs July 18 at 11:10 p.m. KST on SBS.
Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press
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