{
  "id": 14665290,
  "title": "4-year-old girl taken from Australia by her father found dead with him in South Korea",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/4-year-old-girl-taken-from-australia-by-her-father-found-dead-with",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-15T09:52:48.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "VnExpress International",
    "slug": "vnexpress-international",
    "url": "https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/crime/4-year-old-girl-taken-from-australia-by-her-father-found-dead-with-him-in-south-korea-5132745.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A four-year-old Australian girl was found dead alongside her father in a parked car in South Korea on October 12. The pair were discovered in Pyoseon-myeon, Seogwipo by authorities. The father, an Australian permanent resident in his forties, had taken the girl to South Korea in October 2025 during a custody dispute with her mother back home in Australia.\n\nThe mother won a court ruling in Seoul on March 30, 2026, ordering the girl's return to Australia under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This treaty aims to reunite children wrongfully removed or kept in another country. By the time she traveled to South Korea to reclaim her daughter, the father had already relocated with her from Seoul to Seogwipo.\n\nShe reported her daughter missing to police in early April and requested their assistance in enforcing the court order. An appeals court confirmed the return order on September 30, 2026. On October 2, the mother, now back in Australia, learned that the father had informed the girl's daycare center in Seogwipo that she would no longer attend school as they were planning to move to the United States. Following her request, an Australian court subsequently revoked the girl's passport, preventing her from leaving South Korea. The mother also appealed to the Jeju Provincial Police Agency to locate her daughter and protect her, expressing concerns about the father's mental health, medication non-compliance, and threats to leave for the U.S. with the girl. Despite daily efforts to contact authorities, she received no response.\n\nJeju police conducted eight in-person checks on the father and daughter between November 10, 2025, and July 27, 2026, but found no evidence of abuse or other risk factors. They stated they did not initiate an investigation because the mother's October 2 call was not considered a formal report through the 112 emergency hotline and the relevant family court ruling on the girl's return had not yet been received. Police emphasized they lacked authority to enforce custody-related court orders. The incident occurred while they were still assessing whether there was sufficient basis for police intervention. Authorities are now investigating the circumstances surrounding the girl and father's deaths.",
  "summary": "A 4-year-old girl has been found dead with her father on the South Korean resort island of Jeju, months after her mother won a court order for her return to Australia and began asking police for help.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "New Straits Times",
        "title": "Conrad wields axe after South Africa loss to Australia",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/conrad-wields-axe-after-south-africa-loss-to-australia",
        "published": "2026-10-15T09:13:29.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "KBC",
        "title": "Kenya, South Korea deepen economic ties in technology, transport",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/kenya-south-korea-deepen-economic-ties-in-technology-transport",
        "published": "2026-10-15T10:10:24.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}