China’s police say they have found more than 2,600 missing or kidnapped children this year. One particular case is now making headlines across the country.
Beijing – A father in China searched for his kidnapped son in 1997 for 24 years, scoured almost all the provinces and wore out ten motorcycles – unsuccessfully. Nevertheless, he could now hug him, as the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The police were able to track down the son in June in Henan Province following clues. According to DNA tests that confirmed the relationship between the family and the son, the reunion took place on Sunday in Liaocheng in eastern Shandong Province.
It was in this city that the then two-year-old was kidnapped by an unknown woman in 1997 while he was playing near his home, according to Xinhua. Two suspects who were involved in the human trafficking of the son were caught, it said. Xinhua did not provide any further details in Tuesday’s report.
“We are really happy for the family,” said Tong Bishan, vice chairman of the Investigation Bureau at the Ministry of Public Security, at a press conference on Tuesday. It was impressive how father Guo Gangtang tirelessly searched for his kidnapped child and continuously gave the authorities information about other kidnapped children, Tong said.
The father’s 500,000-kilometer search across the most populous country in the world was even filmed in the 2015 film “Lost and Love”. According to Xinhua, more than 100 children from other families have been tracked down through Guo’s clues. China’s police found more than 2,600 missing or kidnapped children this year – one even 61 years after they disappeared. dpa
