Police in Jilin Province revealed that it was a woman’s dream that helped them discover the body of her murdered brother buried near railroad tracks after he had been missing for a week.
In 2008, Changbaishan Police were investigating what appeared to have been a violent attack on villager Zhang Yongcheng, according to China Central Television.
Zhang had already been missing for a week when a neighbor found his bloodstained jacket under a pile of firewood in their yard, police said.
Officers had hit a wall in their investigation when the missing man’s older sister, Zhang Yan, paid a visit to Changbaishan police.
“She said she had a strange dream that her brother had been hurt,” said forensics captain Sun Chunguang. According to police, Zhang Yan said her brother had visited her in a dream and whispered the location of his body.
“She said he was buried along the tracks west of the [Changbaishan] railway, on the south side of the tracks,” said Sun.
Police said they visited the desolate site merely as a gesture to comfort the distraught Zhang Yan. But there, in the high weeds, officer Zhang Ke discovered an unusual sandy spot.
“The color of the sand was different – this patch was blacker than the rest, like it had been turned up recently,” said officer Zhang Ke.
About 1 meter down, they discovered a body. “It looked as if he was just casually thrown in there,” said officer Zhang Ke, who made the discovery. According to China Central Television ,the body had suffered 13 stab wounds, forensics said. It was later identified as Zhang Yongcheng. Police are still investigating the case.