VA Yuan Xia Wang, 12, Alexandria, Virginia, October 21, 1998

[Megsc]

Yuan (12 years old)

Age progression of Yuan (32 years old)

Name: Yuan Xia Wang
Case Classification: Lost, Injured, Missing
Missing Since: October 21, 1998
Location Last Seen: Alexandria, Fairfax County, Virginia

Physical Description​

Date of Birth: September 13, 1986
Age: 12 years old
Race: Asian
Gender: Female
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 118 lbs
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Black
Nickname/Alias: "Incha"
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown

Identifiers​

Dentals: Not Available
Fingerprints: Not Available
DNA: Not Available

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Name: Yuan Xia Wang
Case Classification: Lost, Injured, Missing
Missing Since: October 21, 1998
Location Last Seen: Alexandria, Fairfax County, Virginia

Circumstances of Disappearance​

Yuan Xia Wang was last seen getting off her school bus in Alexandria, Virginia on October 21, 1998.

She was smuggled into Washington from China on August 25. Her smugglers were arrested and Wang was sent to a Fairfax County foster home. Authorities fear Wang has been abducted by those who smuggled her into the country and is being forced to work. Two other possibilities exist for her disappearance: She ran away fearing she'd be deported, or she was abducted by a stranger. Yang told authorities she was 12 when she arrived in the country, though it is possible she is as old as 15.

Investigating Agency(s)​

Agency Name: Fairfax County Police Department
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: 703-246-7511
Agency E-Mail: FCPDColdCase@fairfaxcounty.gov
Agency Case Number: 982941432

NCMEC Case Number: 855390
NCIC Case Number: M014435190
NamUs Case Number: 1802

Yuan Xia Wang
Yuan Xia Wang – The Charley Project
2280DFVA - Yuan Xia Wang

 

[Megsc]

From Charley Project :

Yuan was smuggled into Washington D.C. from China, via Bangkok and Paris, on August 25, 1998. She used a genuine Thai passport to get into the country and posed as the niece of her smuggler, Chaichana Klaharn, a Thai citizen. They were caught at Dulles International Airport.

Yuan could not speak English or Thai. Through a Mandarin Chinese translator, she told immigration authorities she was from Fuzhou in the Chinese province of Fujian, and her parents had paid Klaharn a significant sum of money to take her to the United States. He said he was supposed to deliver Yuan to a hotel in Washington D.C.

Klaharn pleaded guilty to passport fraud in September 1998 and was sentenced to four months in jail. Yuan was sent to live with a foster family in the 4700 block of Barnum Lane in Alexandria, Virginia, while authorities decided what to do with her. At first she stayed at home with a Mandarin-speaking babysitter.

After three weeks she was enrolled in the seventh grade at Holmes Middle School, where she was the only Mandarin-speaking student. She would typically take the school bus home with one of her foster sisters, arriving home at 3:10 p.m. On the day of her disappearance, however, she took the bus home alone.

Yuan was last seen exiting a Fairfax County school bus at approximately 3:00 p.m. on October 21, 1998. The bus was near Lincolnia Road and Deming Avenue in the Lincolnia area of Virginia at the time. She supposed to take a cab to a doctor's appointment at 3:30 p.m., but she wasn't there when the cab arrived and never showed up for her appointment. She never returned to her foster home and has not been heard from again.

An extensive search of the area produced no clues as to Yuan's whereabouts. She was not familiar with the neighborhood at the time of her disappearance. Her foster family didn't speak Mandarin and, while they stated Yuan appeared to be intelligent and content with her situation, they admitted they didn't know her very well and couldn't guess whether she'd run away or not. She had lived with the family for only six weeks by the time of her disappearance.

Yuan's immediate family resides in China. She told immigration officials she was twelve years old, but it's possible that she was as old as fifteen. In November 2008, ten years after her disappearance, investigators said they thought Yuan could be in the Kansas City, Missouri area. This information was never confirmed, however.

Police believe Yuan either ran away to avoid potential deportation to China, or she was abducted, possibly by one of the people who smuggled her into the country. If the latter is the case, Yuan may be being forced to work for her abductor(s). Her case remains unsolved.

 

[Aurora90]

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP61229

VA - VA - Winchester, AsianFem 25-40, C-section Scar, Parabon Sketch, Nov'03

Unidentified Person / NamUs #UP61229 ME/C Case Number LEA # 03005429 Female, Asian Estimated Age Group Adult - Pre 40 Estimated Age Range (Years)25-40 Height 5' 1"-5' 5"(61-65 inches) , Estimated Weight120-145 lbs, EstimatedS Scar/mark The torso has an approximately three-inch long vertical...

www.websleuths.com

 

[Diavola]

Why would parents ship off their child to a different country like that? Did she have some family living there that she met up with? Or did they just thing th US would take care of her?
Did they send her because of one child policy?

 

[Megsc]

Why would parents ship off their child to a different country like that? Did she have some family living there that she met up with? Or did they just thing th US would take care of her?
Did they send her because of one child policy?

Maybe they thought she could have a better life in USA (american dream and stuff you know)
If she comes from a poor family, maybe they had been promised that she could gain money in the US and send them some to help them get out of poverty, but in fact it was nothing more than child trafficking...
It's the kinda feeling I got regarding this case

 

[Megsc]

Why would parents ship off their child to a different country like that? Did she have some family living there that she met up with? Or did they just thing th US would take care of her?
Did they send her because of one child policy?

The one child policy could also be a reason I guess but she was already twleve... Why not take her off the country sooner ?