Cops Seek Clues In Mysterious Murder
Reported missing after not returning home from work last Friday, May 24, a Flushing woman was found dead inside the trunk of a parked car in Woodside on Monday afternoon, May 27, according to police.
Law enforcement sources identified the victim as Young Joo Byun, 42, of 24th Avenue. Her death was declared a homicide.
Authorities said Byun’s body was discovered at around 3:15 p.m. Monday on 61st Street between Queens and Laurel Hill boulevards, adjacent to the Big Six apartment complex.
Members of the 108th Precinct responded to the location after receiving a 911 call about the incident. Upon their arrival, they found the woman’s body inside a bag in the trunk of the vehicle.
Paramedics transported the body to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death as well as an identity. The autopsy reportedly concluded that Byun died of compression to the neck and torso.
Law enforcement sources said the victim was last seen the previous day, May 24, at around 4:30 a.m., as she left work at a bakery on 55th Avenue in Maspeth. Family members reported her disappearance the following day.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly was quoted in published reports that Byun had left the factory last Friday morning “with a significant amount of baked goods, so the speculation is she was meeting somebody.”
An investigation by the 108th Precinct Detective Squad and the NYPD Queens Homicide Squad is ongoing, police said.
Anyone with any information regarding the murder that could prove helpful is asked to contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 1-800-577- TIPS, by text message to 274637 (enter information, then the code TIP577) or online at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.
All calls and messages will be kept confidential.
