The mysterious disappearance of a Wheatland woman has her family and friends wondering for months if she left town of her own free will, if her life may be in danger or something worse they don’t want to contemplate.
Hyo Jin Min, now 44, was reported missing by her ex-husband, Edward Min, on October 14, 2023.
She became concerned when Hyo Jin was unable to pick up her son, of whom she has custody, for a pre-arranged visit. She texted him with no response and two days later she asked the Wheatland Police Department to do a welfare check when she still didn’t respond.
The police could not find her and she was officially reported missing.
Hyo Jin’s trail from Wyoming led to Glendale, California, in Los Angeles County, where the license plate of her white 2003 Oldsmobile Alero was caught on camera three times in a shopping center parking lot in late March and early March. April, according to the Wheatland police chief. Doug Willadsen.
Before that, the license plate was caught on camera in Las Vegas on Oct. 14, the same day her ex-husband reported her missing, and again in a different business district in Glendale, where her phone last rang on Nov. 20. . The phone is no longer in service.
Willadsen cannot confirm that it was actually Hyo Jin who was driving the vehicle, however, because the cameras captured only the license plate and vehicle and not the passengers in the car.
Glendale police checked the car on May 2 and told Willadsen it appeared to have been abandoned. The detective told Willadsen he would continue to check the car, but as of Friday Willadsen had not received an update and does not know if the vehicle is still there.
Glendale police also did not respond to Cowboy State Daily’s request for an update.
Fugitive or endangered?
The question for Willadsen and others is whether Hyo Jin decided to go alone or if she is in danger, which Willadsen acknowledged is a fine line.
“I don’t want to harass this woman if she’s just trying to get away and blend in,” he said. “But the fact that she hasn’t been in contact with her son seems to be a red flag.”
Edward Min agreed when interviewed by Cowboy State Daily earlier this year.
“She’s a loving mother,” he said. “She would call him and he would get in touch with her son.”
This fact on top of the abandoned car is worrying, said Willadsen, who just wants to know that it is safe.
Hyo Jin’s last known address is in Wheatland, according to a TruthFinder background check.
Mysterious disappearance
Before apparently leaving Wyoming, Hyo Jin seemed to be struggling, Edward Min said. Her son had told her she had just been evicted and had lost her job.
Hyo Jin, originally from South Korea, moved to Wheatland about a decade ago to marry Edward. The couple was introduced by friends but divorced after two years. Hyo Jin was not happy in Wheatland, Edward said, but she stayed in the city to be near her son and she worked primarily as a housekeeper at the Motel 8.
Edward noticed that she did not speak English well, which further alienated her from the community. As a result, she largely kept to herself.
Cowboy State Daily spoke to a friend who asked to remain anonymous and said that Hyo Jin seemed to suffer from paranoia and other mental instabilities, but was devoted to her son, whom he believed she would never have left behind.
After losing her home, Hyo Jin had been receiving help from a local church that had also given her money to go to Colorado, Edward said the police had told him. The church did not respond to Cowboy State Daily’s phone call or emails.
Still no contact
There is also a possibility that Hyo Jin went to California to visit the South Korean embassy to renew her passport, something she indicated at some point to her son she planned to do, or even return to South Korea, Edward said.
However, that possibility is unlikely.
As far as he knows, Hyo Jin had no contact with his parents or family, and has no idea how to contact them.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also has no records of his passport being used to enter and exit the country, Willadsen said.
Min said he is worried because he has not contacted his son, but he also cannot say if she is missing intentionally.
Hyo Jin Min is one of 91 people currently reported missing statewide since 1974, according to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation’s missing persons database.
Hyo Jin has brown hair and eyes and is approximately 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs around 170 pounds.
Anyone with information about her disappearance is asked to contact the Wheatland Police Department at 307-322-2141 or DCI at 307-777-7181. People can also submit an anonymous tip on the DCI website. People in California with information can contact the Glendale Police Department at 818-550-4400.
Contact Jen Kocher at jen@cowboystate.daily.com
You can contact Jen Kocher at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.
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