In this podcast episode, we discuss the harrowing story of five boys who went missing and never returned to their village, leading their parents to confront their worst nightmare.
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00:00 [Music]
00:10 So we're gonna talk about the missing frog boys
00:14 Frog?
00:15 Frog
00:16 Katak, you mean katak?
00:17 As in katak, yes correct
00:18 In 1991
00:21 Okay, I baru setahun lah that time
00:23 I belum lahir
00:24 In 1991, March of 1991
00:28 Five little boys
00:30 Between the age of nine to thirteen
00:34 They live in Daegu in South Korea
00:38 Daegu is a small city lah
00:40 So they live there
00:42 Dekat situ, the tempat is very cantik
00:45 Ada bukit-bukit
00:46 That day apparently is a public holiday
00:49 So no school for them
00:51 So they decided, you know what
00:53 Let's go jalan-jalan and main
00:55 They told their punya parents
00:57 They wanted to go to a mountain called Mount Waryong
01:02 Sorry if I mispronounce it
01:04 So they basically wanted to go to the mountain to catch frogs
01:08 You know, budak-budak kan, boys main petang-petang like us
01:11 I used to naik basikal petang-petang
01:13 What do you usually do?
01:14 Me?
01:15 Katak-kat broodoo that time
01:16 Frog lah
01:17 I'm sorry
01:18 Yeah, serious, broodoo
01:19 You know broodoo?
01:20 Small frog
01:21 Yang ada ikut kecil tu
01:23 Kenapa tangkap dia?
01:24 I don't tau
01:25 Tapi tak misteri pun lah, memang cerita-cerita tu
01:27 So the five boys
01:29 Between nine to thirteen
01:31 They're not sibling lah, they're friends
01:33 No, they're friends
01:34 So they left their homes
01:36 One day, they did tell their punya parents
01:38 That they're going to go main
01:41 And the parents just let them lah
01:43 Because I feel like in cities yang macam small like that
01:46 People know each other
01:48 You know, orang depan macam "Okay, go play"
01:50 Main petang-petang, very normal
01:52 But, bila
01:54 It was night time after that
01:56 You know, usually budak-budak dah petang
01:58 Dia balik
02:00 But this is almost macam night time already
02:02 Senja, petang
02:04 Suddenly, the parents
02:06 Tengok macam "Eh, their kids are not home yet"
02:09 Okay
02:10 Yeah, so the parents become very worried
02:13 And then immediately reported them to the police
02:16 That they're missing
02:17 Local police of course
02:21 With a few volunteers
02:23 Started searching lah the area
02:25 Yang macam, they search in the mountains
02:28 The places that the kids cakap they're going
02:31 And also the route
02:33 Towards the mountain yang memang
02:35 Kids will usually use
02:37 So, akan ada rumah kat area-area tu
02:40 Or kedai-kedai kah apa
02:41 They'll search all around the area
02:43 Tanya-tanya orang, macam "Have you seen these kids?"
02:46 And, yeah, because if it's a very small area
02:50 So everybody macam knows each other
02:52 So, orang-orang kampung dia
02:54 Everybody yang live there or work there
02:57 Put together volunteer
02:59 Untuk cari the missing kids
03:01 So, by the time they were looking
03:05 Sampai, apa
03:07 There's 500 search operation
03:10 Happened
03:12 Looking for these boys
03:14 And it involved almost 300,000 people
03:19 Involved in this search
03:21 Tempat mereka jalan semua
03:23 Memang tak ada sign of, you know, macam
03:25 Kena kidnap kah
03:27 Tak ada sign macam, oh, maybe
03:29 They're involved in a car accident
03:32 Ada kereta langgar and they hide the body
03:34 No, tak ada macam
03:36 Any sign of accidents kah
03:38 Kidnapping kah, apakah, memang tak ada
03:41 It's about the mountain there
03:42 The place where they tangkap kata
03:45 It's actually very common for kids to go and play
03:48 Laluan yang mereka selalu guna pun, it's very common
03:52 Macam budak-budak, they won't go anywhere
03:54 Mereka akan selalu ikut jalan yang memang mereka dah familiar
03:58 So, to have them pergi tempat lain
04:01 Untuk pergi to the mountain is very weird lah
04:04 But they did search
04:05 They did expand their search lah
04:07 In case mereka sesat kah
04:10 Tersalah jalan kah
04:12 It's not only the police punya effort
04:14 That went on looking for them
04:17 It's also the public punya effort
04:19 So, the public dah macam
04:21 Even talk to the media
04:24 And then they keep on searching
04:27 And they printed over 8 million flyers
04:30 Untuk letak across South Korea
04:33 Notice lah, notice
04:34 Yes, to find these children
04:36 In 2004
04:38 13 tahun
04:40 13 tahun nanti
04:43 A ceremony was held lah
04:45 For the missing boys
04:47 In hope that
04:49 That we can try and find these boys again
04:52 By the time, you know, 13 years later
04:54 Mereka mungkin sudah dewasa
04:56 Mereka mungkin tengah tengok TV sekarang
05:00 So, they do that to try and find the boys again
05:04 And hopefully that they're alive lah
05:06 Because the family has been looking for them
05:08 For 13 long years
05:10 So, another time
05:12 This one man
05:14 Tadi itu in 2004, right?
05:16 Okay, they jump back
05:18 Belakang
05:20 Belakang sikit back in 2002
05:23 There's a report that a man
05:26 Was at Mount Waryong
05:29 Di tempat missing
05:31 The boys apparently went missing
05:33 He suddenly ada report that he jumpa
05:37 Some human bones around the area lah
05:39 That was 2 years before
05:41 Yang the big search balik itu kan
05:44 There's 3 skulls that he found
05:46 That had signs of severe trauma from shooting
05:50 So, then they bring all the skeletons
05:53 For forensic
05:55 Untuk go through the body
05:57 And apparently
05:59 It's the 5 boys punya skeleton
06:02 So, you cakap ada 3 je kan?
06:04 Yes, tapi bila diorang put together
06:06 There's 3 tengkorak kan?
06:08 But there's also human bones
06:10 When they put it together
06:12 It's 5 different ones
06:14 Oh my god
06:15 Yang saya rasa pelik
06:17 Sebab dia orang dah rescue team
06:22 On 91
06:24 Tapi masa itu lah kan dah tak nampak
06:26 Langsung kan?
06:27 Betul, that's why
06:29 Everybody in South Korea
06:30 Always face a question
06:32 We've done an extensive search
06:35 Tapi kita tak jumpa the kids in that area
06:38 So, that's the question yang macam
06:40 Macam mana kita miss this area
06:42 Autopsy did provide some information
06:44 But so far
06:46 That is the only thing that they found
06:48 That there's bullet holes on the skull
06:51 And then there's blood stains
06:53 And they might have died because of hypothermia
06:56 So far no more any
06:58 There's no progress
07:01 And the case closed in 2006
07:04 2 years after diorang
07:07 Naikkan balik the issue kan
07:10 Pelik lah
07:11 So, apa teori you rasa?
07:14 Kalau cakap, I think
07:17 It's a kidnapping
07:18 Maybe it's a kidnapping punya case
07:21 And ya lah
07:22 Tapi over the time
07:23 Dia letak that body
07:24 Dia letak the skull kat situ
07:26 Supaya nampak like diorang ni
07:28 Sesat padahal sebenarnya ada something wrong lah
07:31 Yang diorang kena kidnap ke
07:33 Kadang-kadang seperti itulah
07:34 I also feel like it's kind of like a kidnapping
07:36 Tapi I'm still
07:39 Wondering why
07:41 The police tak jumpa diorang dekat situ
07:44 If there's search and rescue semua
07:45 Maybe they kidnap and bring to somewhere
07:48 And then over the time
07:50 The kidnapper put back the body dekat situ juga
07:52 Supaya nampak that case is not kidnapped
07:55 Faham
07:56 So, over the time diorang
07:59 Search for the body
08:01 Actually the body is not there
08:03 Ya, it's not there
08:04 That's why police tak nampak
08:05 Wow
08:06 I did my theory lah
08:07 That's your theory
08:08 Because in 1991
08:09 1991 ya
08:12 Sampai 2002
08:15 2004
08:17 Lama lho
08:18 13 years
08:19 Lama, dia punya duration tu
08:20 I rasa maybe they kidnap and bring to somewhere
08:22 Yang supaya
08:24 Yours make sense
08:25 Police tak nampak
08:26 The body dekat situ
08:27 And then
08:28 I dah tau apa motif of the kidnapper
08:31 And then
08:32 Maybe dah mati dia letak
08:34 The body dekat situ jugalah
08:35 It's been how many years
08:37 Kalau since 1991
08:39 You said tadi 13
08:41 Over more than 10 lah
08:43 More than
08:44 1991 to 2001 is 10 years
08:46 Ya, more than 10 years
08:47 2021, 1991 to 2021 is what?
08:50 91 to 2001 is 10 years
08:53 And then to 2021
08:55 Another 10 years
08:57 20 years
08:58 And then 23 years-ish lah juga kan
09:01 Almost 25 years ya
09:03 The boys have been missing
09:04 And nobody know
09:05 Has been like found dead
09:08 And nobody knows what happened
09:10 Sampai sekarang the case have been closed
09:14 And
09:15 Ya, I feel like nobody will ever know
09:19 Unless diorang akan find any new evidence
09:22 Ya, betul
09:23 [Music]