A man in his 20s who set fire to the face of a female exchange student in December was found dead, closing the police investigation into the case, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on Wednesday.

The suspect had sprayed volatile material into the face of a British woman and ignited it with a cigarette lighter on Dec. 15 near the dormitory building of a university in Jongno-gu, central Seoul.

His whereabouts were unknown after fleeing the scene of the crime, until his body was found on the World Cup Bridge on Feb. 1, 11.7 kilometers west of the point where he was last spotted the night of Dec. 15.

The police suspect that he took his life by himself, and closed the case without carrying out an autopsy.

The woman sustained second- and third-degree burns to her face and hands respectively, according to local media.

She had reported the man to the police for stalking about a month before the incident.

The victim returned to Britain to recover from the injury and the police aided her in the costs for treatment and psychological counseling, the police said.