Chinese students missing
Sat Aug 8, 7:43 AM
For the second time in a month, Chinese exchange students have vanished in the GTA -- and cops say they won't rest until they know the students are safe.
Nan "Susan" Deng, 11, and Zhou Do, a 15-year-old boy, disappeared from their host family homes in Mississauga around midnight Wednesday, leaving investigators to believe they had planned to run away, Peel Const. J.P. Valade said yesterday.
But even though family members in China told police they have heard from the students since then and believe they are safe, Valade said investigators haven't confirmed any information about the pair's whereabouts.
"We need to confirm their well-being," Valade said. "We're not going to drop this case. We simply cannot take the word of their family over in China saying they're fine. We have a duty and an obligation to make sure that they are in good health and safe."
The students arrived in Canada July 28 and are supposed to go home Aug. 17, Valade said.
While investigators said they have received information to suggest the students may be staying with friends or family in the GTA, Valade said they haven't confirmed whether the pair even have friends or family in the area.
"Though we have no evidence to suggest it, there may be a possibility that they were taken against their will. That's always on the table," Valade said.
Deng is 4-foot-8, 75 pounds, with black, collar-length hair and brown eyes. Do is 5-foot-6, 105 pounds, with short black hair and brown eyes.
Charges of obstructing justice could be laid against anyone who is impeding the investigation by not coming forward with information, Valade said.
The case falls on the heels of a similar investigation in Toronto in which three teenaged Chinese exchange students disappeared from an outing to Woodbine Beach on July 14.
In that case, a girl, Zhiyong Chen, 17, and two boys, Kangjun Fu, 13, and Qian Hu, 15, were in Toronto for a Toronto District School Board program to learn English and were supposed to leave Aug. 1.
While Hu was found days later in good health, Fu and Chen remain unaccounted for, Const. Tony Vella said.
Anyone with information about the Mississauga case is asked to contact police at 905-453-3311 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, peelcrimestoppers.ca or by texting PEEL and your tip to 274637. Investigators on the Toronto case can be reached at 416-808-3100.
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