The MU Police Department shouldered perhaps its biggest mystery when MU microbiologist Jeong Im was murdered on campus in 2005.
Seven years later, Im’s family and MUPD are still left scratching their heads and looking for closure.
“It’s something that’s on the mind of investigators every time they come to work,” MUPD Capt. Brian Weimer said. “The case information is up on their wall to remind them of it.”
Im, a microbiologist in MU’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, was stabbed in Maryland Avenue Parking Garage in 2005, and the suspect then placed his body in a car and lit it on fire.
Earlier this month, MUPD sent that information to the Mid-States Organized Crime Information Center to help solve the 7-year-old homicide.
MOCIC is one of six Regional Information Sharing System centers spread throughout the Midwest to help solve crimes.
The Springfield-based center will be doing nothing more than providing another review of the case, Weimer said. After the center reviews the case report, it might be able to suggest a new route for MUPD to take the investigation.
“They will be reviewing the case reports to give us other potential angles that we maybe hadn’t considered before,” Weimer said. “This has absolutely been done before.”
On Jan. 7, 2005, an unidentified individual contacted MUPD via the garage’s emergency phone to report the fire. These phones are a major factor in the university’s efforts to keep parking garages safe, Weimer said. Since Im’s murder, MUPD has installed surveillance cameras in all garages to enhance safety efforts.
Weimer named several methods students and staff can exercise to ensure their safety when in a parking garage. First and foremost, he said, it is important to travel in pairs. If walking unaccompanied, he said be sure to stay attentive.
“You always want to make sure you’re not distracted when walking to your vehicle,” Weimer said. “You don’t want to have headphones on listening to music or reading something. Keep your keys in your hand with the key ready to get into the vehicle so you’re not unnecessarily delayed.”
Police continue to offer a $25,000 reward for any information that results in an arrest, and Weimer encourages anyone with information to come forward. Information can be given in confidence through CrimeStoppers at (573) 875-8477 or to MUPD at (573) 882-7203.
“We want to solve all cases very badly, and clearly this is a homicide, so it’s a major one,” Weimer said. “It’s something that we think about all the time.”
