Hu Xinyu: The body of a missing Chinese teenager has been found 106 days after he disappeared from school

CNN
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For three months, Hu Xinyu’s disappearance gripped China.

The whereabouts of the 15-year-old, who disappeared from a boarding school in the southern province of Jiangxi in October, has been among the most discussed topics on the Chinese internet for several months.

It has sparked many questions, speculation, and round after round of all-out policing Searches – including one Thousands of residents joined earlier this month.

Then, on Sunday — more than 100 days after Ho’s disappearance — local police said Ho’s body was found in the woods near his school.

The discovery was made by a member of the public on Thursday. The body was dressed similar to the one he was wearing when he disappeared. This prompted the police to summon his family and their lawyers to the scene.

Police in Shangrao city said in a statement that DNA tests later confirmed that the body was him.

The statement said a voice recorder found near the body had been sent for analysis.

But rather than ending it, the discovery raised more questions about the circumstances surrounding his death.

Hu’s death was the top trending topic on China’s Twitter-like Weibo on Monday, with Many ticks Collect hundreds of millions of views.

Many of the comments asked why an intense police search – with sniffer dogs, drones and thermal imaging equipment – had failed to discover the body in an area so close to the school.

China National Radio reported that the forest Hu found was just a five-minute walk from the school, separated by a campus wall about two meters high.

An autopsy was performed, but the results have not been made public, according to the state-run news website The Paper.

It is not uncommon for children and adolescents to disappear in China, but the disappearance of Hu is one of the most high-profile cases in recent years. According to the Zhongmin Social Assistance Institute, a non-profit organization based in Beijing, million people lost in China in 2020 – an average of 2,739 cases per day.

On Chinese social media, some questioned why a 15-year-old boy had disappeared without trace, in a country known for its ubiquitous security cameras and high-tech surveillance.

Hu had just started studying at Quan High School, a private boarding school in Yanshan County where he had been accepted on a scholarship in September, when he suddenly disappeared.

He was last seen in security camera footage walking down a corridor in his dormitory at dusk on Oct. 14, about 15 minutes before the start of the evening study session in class, according to police.

State media reported that Ho disappeared somewhere between the university residence and the teaching building, in an area not covered by security cameras.

Ho’s family was notified by the school of Ho’s disappearance about six hours later, the family said in a missing person notice. Hu left his smartwatch and money in the dorm, bringing with him only a digital voice recorder and a school card used to pay for meals on campus, according to the notice.

Hu’s parents could not be reached via mobile phone on Monday.

As investigations and searches failed to make any progress, unfounded speculations spread on the Internet, confirming that Deep-rooted public distrust in local authorities.

In response, the police issued a detailed statement on January 7, explaining that they had found no evidence that Ho was killed, or that he was involved in an accident inside the school. Police said he most likely left the campus on his own.

The statement also outlined the police’s extensive search efforts, which covered nearly 40 hectares of forest near the school, 200 kilometers of river, 22 kilometers of railway tracks, 72 ponds and 3 reservoirs.

State media reported at the time that the search continued after January 7, involving thousands of people, including locals who volunteered to join.

On Sunday, the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, published a newspaper Opinion article He called on local authorities to address public concerns, including why they had failed to find Hu’s body in over 100 days.

She also called on the public to be patient to see the official results.

The Hu Xinyu incident has attracted the attention of the entire country. “No one dares to fake anything, and no one can fake it,” the article said. “If there is anything wrong, the consequences will be dire.”