(HorizonPost.com) – Police in Gwinnett County Georgia arrested six people in connection to the death of a South Korean woman whose beaten and starved body was found last Tuesday in the trunk of a car north of Atlanta, CNN reported.
The six individuals, including a minor, are Korean and identify as members of the “Soldiers of Christ” religious cult.
The unnamed woman, who police say is in her 20s or 30s, weighed about 70 pounds when her body was discovered in the trunk of a car parked by the popular South Korean spa, Jeju Suana in the town of Duluth, according to a press release from the Gwinnett County Police.
According to the police, while the cause of death is still under investigation, the medical examiner believes it is likely malnourishment was a contributing factor in the woman’s death.
Gwinnett police believe that the woman arrived in the US from South Korea sometime during the summer to join the religious cult. She was kept in a house for weeks and subjected to starvation and beatings, police said.
The woman’s body was discovered after one of the suspects, Eric Hyun, 26, parked his car in the lot and was picked up by a family member. Hyun then asked the family member to get something out of his vehicle. The family member called 911 after discovering the woman’s body in the trunk of Hyun’s car.
This led police to search a home associated with the vehicle registration.
According to police, members of the “Soldiers of Christ” kept the woman in the home where they beat her until her death. However, the police did not say when the woman likely died.
In addition to Eric Hyun, Gwinnett Police arrested four adults, Gawom Lee, 26; Joonho Lee, 26; Hyunji Lee, 25; and Juoonhyum Lee, 22, and an unnamed 15-year-old. Five of the suspects are American citizens while a sixth is a South Korean national visiting the United States on a visa.
All six suspects face charges of false imprisonment, tampering with evidence, concealing a death, and felony murder.
The victim’s name was withheld pending notification of her family in South Korea.
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