September deaths in west Columbia neighborhood ruled accidental from carbon monoxide

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The deaths of two people who were found in a home on Sept. 5 in a west Columbia neighborhood were ruled accidental, according to autopsy reports from the Boone County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Wang Sik Kim and Chunghee Lee died from carbon monoxide poisoning, the reports say. Both people were 71 years old.

Columbia police stated on the day the pair’s bodies were found that foul play was not suspected, but wrote in a press release that the “circumstances of the scene” were suspicious.

Police had responded to a residence in the 4400 block of Cedar Falls Lane at 1:07 p.m. on Sept. 5 and investigators were at the scene until 8:58 p.m. that day.

An affidavit says that a friend last saw the couple on Aug. 31 at a golf course. They were found dead in separate bathrooms of the house, Kim was in “a more advance state of decomposition,” and there were no signs of trauma, an affidavit says. There were also no signs of forced entry into the residence, the statement says.

The affidavit says that initial testing for carbon monoxide from the Columbia Fire Department came back negative.

An inventory list of items at the residence recovered by police include cellphones, a glass, water bottles, paper towels, Q-tips and four HVAC filters. A minivan registered to Kim was found in the garage, documents say.

Kim was a professor of Korean Politics at the University of Missouri, according to a post from the School of Languages and Literature and Cultures in September. He served as the first director of the country's National Museum Of Korean Contemporary History from 2012 to 2015.

"His passion for everything was unmatched, and he selflessly served and left a great impact on not only Mizzou but also the greater, global community," the post said. "The suddenness of his passing fills us with sadness, and we will miss him deeply.