Kidnapped in 1997...
Perpetrator Caught, But Son Still Missing
"I Will Search Until My Last Day"
Apartment Offered as Reward
The story of a Chinese couple who offered their high-rise apartment in Shanghai as a reward to find their son, who was kidnapped 26 years ago, has been reported.
The Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP) covered the story of Tang Weihua (age 55) and his wife, who live in Shanghai. The couple has been searching for their only son, Wang Lei, who went missing in 1999.
Recently, Tang publicly declared on social media that he would give his Shanghai apartment to anyone who provides decisive information leading to the discovery of his son, who was abducted at the age of four. With 1.2 million followers, the news spread rapidly.
In Shanghai, housing prices exceed 20 million won per pyeong. Tang explained, "This apartment is an inheritance from my late father-in-law," adding, "His lifelong wish was to see his only grandson again. If he were alive, he would have made the same choice."
The couple Tang Weihua and their son who went missing at the age of 4. Capture from Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP)
Tang recalled that he ran an electronics store in the 1990s and hired a man named Lu, who later kidnapped Wang Lei. Afterward, Lu demanded a ransom, but the family was too distraught searching for their son to answer his calls.
Lu then took Wang Lei to the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the south. He was later arrested on theft charges and confessed to the kidnapping. However, he never revealed the child's whereabouts and even misled the police with false information, hindering the investigation. He was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment but was paroled in 2022.
Even after Lu's release, Tang personally appealed to him for any clues that could help find Wang Lei. Tang asked Lu to retrace the route he took when hiding his son, but all the information obtained proved useless.
Tang, who spent more than 20 years searching for Wang Lei alongside Lu, confessed, "I resented Lu, but finding my son was more important than provoking him."
Tang revealed that he has spent 4 million yuan (approximately 780 million won) searching for his son so far. He stated, "I will not stop searching until the day I die."
As Tang's story spread, there has been an outpouring of anger online, with many saying, "The human trafficker gets to live a new life, while the victim's family is still suffering."
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