Corpse of school caretaker found beneath grounds
Police in Hunan Province carrying out a DNA test on a corpse discovered underneath a high school playground in the Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County have confirmed that it’s the body of the school’s former maintenance worker who went missing 16 years ago.
Earlier Huaihua police announced that officers in the autonomous county have captured a gang organization led by a man named Du Shaoping in April.
Du told police that he had killed a man named Deng Shiping in January 2003 and buried him under the playground of a high school in Xinhuang.
Police dug out a corpse last Thursday and sent samples for forensic investigation.
The area where the corpse was found at the Xinhuang No. 1 Middle School is cordoned off. Police officers said their dig started at 9am on Tuesday and they found some human remains at 6pm on Wednesday.
The whole corpse was dug out at midnight with no skin tissue but only the skull and some limb bones and torso left.
Clothes found on the corpse include a shirt, sweater and cotton-padded coat with buttons.
On Friday at noon, police took blood samples from the missing man’s mother, brother, wife and children.
They were compared with the teeth and some bones to confirm the corpse is Deng.
Huaihua City government has asked related authorities, including the discipline inspection commission, supervision commission and police, to organize teams to further investigate the case.
The public is encouraged to report any crimes reportedly committed by Du.
The family of Deng said he was born in 1950 and was working for the school.
He was responsible for the supervision and administration of the quality of school construction projects.
In 2003, the school built a new playground and Du, the principal’s nephew, was in charge of this project.
Deng later found the quality of the playground failed to meet standards and refused to sign off the receiving report, which triggered a dispute between Deng and Du.
Soon after that, Deng suddenly went missing. The family suspected that he was murdered. On January 25, 2003, the family reported it to police.
Chengdu-based Red Star News earlier reported that Deng’s son said at 8am on January 22, 2003, his father went out to the construction site of the playground at the school for work as usual, carrying 200 yuan (US$29.12)with him.
However, his father didn’t return home after that.
His mother went to the construction site to look for his father the next morning but failed to find him.
The son said Du was the last one who stayed with his father.
The Beijing News said the son also mentioned that his father had made a report about the jerry-built playground.
Meanwhile, related departments are now providing psychological counseling for the school’s faculty and students.