NAMYANGJU, Gyeonggi Province -- A man who has been under police investigation for an alleged sex crime involving a famous female YouTuber threw himself into a river northwest of Seoul on Monday in an apparent suicide, police said.

Police said they began the search for the 40-year-old official at a Seoul-based photography studio, whose identity is being withheld, after they received a witness report saying “a person got out of his car and jumped” into the Bukhan River at around 9 a.m. 

The vehicle discovered at the site is owned by the missing man, police said. A suicide note was also found inside the car, in which he claimed he was being wrongly accused of the crime. 

Police have been investigating allegations that a YouTube celebrity was sexually molested and forcibly photographed by a group of men running a studio in 2015.

Yang Ye-won made the revelation publicly in May by recounting what she recalled as a dreadful experience, demanding a probe into them for their misconduct and leaking the photos on the internet.

Her friend later made similar allegations.

Police said they are continuing the search but are having difficulties with the operation due to heavy rains that have lashed the area recently. (Yonhap)