Overview
- The woman found at East End Beach on May 22, 2015 was confirmed by the Maine Medical Examiner’s Office as 66-year-old Byung Ran Kim.
- Forensic genetic genealogy run by the DNA Doe Project narrowed the decedent’s likely origin to South Korea and prompted direct contact with Korean authorities.
- After persistent outreach by Portland Detective Andjelko Napijalo, South Korean police compared the Maine fingerprints to their records and made the positive match in May 2026.
- Early investigative steps including sketches, fingerprint checks with the FBI and a DNA entry in CODIS produced no identification, reflecting limits when a decedent may be a foreign national.
- Investigators say a note and the scene indicate the death was likely suicide by drowning, and officials say the identification brought closure to family members in South Korea while highlighting how cross-border cooperation can resolve long-unsolved cases.