The body of a missing Chinese teenager has been found, but that only raises more questions

On October 14, 2022, Hu Jinyu disappeared. The 15-year-old Chinese only started studying at a private boarding school in Yanshan in September, and did not come to class that morning. He can still be seen in camera footage fifteen minutes before class starts, until he suddenly disappears between the dormitory and the teaching building, where there are no security cameras. And he went.

Six hours later, his parents were notified of the disappearance. It does not seem that he escaped: in his room they find his money and his watch. According to the search notice, the only thing he has with him is a dictaphone and a map with which he can buy meals at the school.

Search

But the boy is nowhere to be found. The police use drones, sniffer dogs, and high-tech search devices to find the missing teen. The research is being conducted on a 40-hectare area near the school, as well as 200 km of river, 22 km of train tracks, 72 lakes and three water reservoirs. Even a search with thousands of relatives, sympathizers and local residents yields nothing.

Meanwhile, the story took on a life of its own online. How is it possible, many people wonder, that in a country as full of surveillance cameras as China, a 15-year-old could disappear from school?

Only on January 7 will the police come out with a statement. She states that no evidence was found that he was killed or that he was involved in an accident at the school. He says he was going to leave campus himself. The search continues the same day. Again without result.

The body that was found

Just this past Sunday, more than 100 days after Ho’s disappearance, a body was found a 5-minute walk from the school. There is not much doubt: the clothes correspond to what he would have worn. DNA tests confirm that it is about the missing boy. Near his body is a dictaphone, which will now be analyzed. What happened to the boy, the police say they don’t have an answer yet. No one could answer how the body could be so close, in an area where it had been searched before. More questions than answers. Autopsy and further investigation will bring more clarity, emergency services are preparing.

Despite all the camera surveillance, the disappearances are not unique to China. Another million people disappeared in 2020, which equates to 2,739 people per day.