10-year-old was probably asleep when she drowned

A vehicle belonging to the family of missing child Cho Yoo-na is lifted out of the water near Songgok Harbor in Wando, South Jeolla on Wednesday morning. [YONHAP]

The parents of 10-year-old Cho Yu-na appear to have knocked her unconscious with sleeping pills before driving into the sea to commit suicide, police said Wednesday.

Cho and her parents were found dead June 29 in a car sunk in the waters of Wando, South Jeolla.

Gwangju Elementary School reported Cho missing on June 22 when she didn’t come to school. The parents, who had suffered financial reversals, told the school they were going on a trip to Jeju from May 19 to June 15.

The family was last seen at a guesthouse in Wando on May 30.

Footage from the guesthouse security camera on the night of May 30 showed Cho’s mother carrying her out unconscious.

The three got into an Audi vehicle and drove to a seawall 3.7 kilometers away.

Police restored dashcam footage from the retrieved vehicle, which confirmed that the vehicle pulled over and waited an hour for the high tide, then charged off the seawall at 30 km/h into the water.

The cause of death for all three individuals was drowning, according to the National Forensic Service. Autopsy reports showed ingredients of sleeping pills in all three family members including the parents.

The National Forensic Service said that Cho’s parents seem to have taken sleeping pills shortly before drowning.

The police obtained a warrant and examined the internet search history of Cho’s parents.
Cho’s parents often looked up suicide methods, sleeping pills and the Luna, a cryptocurrency that plummeted recently.

Cho’s father lost 20 million won ($15,314) in the crash of the Luna and had total debt of 150 million won ($114,851).

BY HA SU-YOUNG [kjdnational@joongang.co.kr]