Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
Ruochen Liao
Liao, date, approximate 2018; The front of Liao's shirt; Sketch of suspect "David"; Peicheng Shen; Guangyao Yang
Date Missing 07/16/2018
Missing From
San Gabriel, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Male
Race
Asian
Date of Birth 03/16/1990 (32)
Age 28 years old
Height and Weight 5'6, 130 pounds
Clothing/Jewelry Description A dark-colored t-shirt with two camouflage-print horizontal stripes above a camouflage-print star on the front. A photo of the front of the shirt is posted with this summary.
Associated Vehicle(s) Black minivan (probably a Toyota Sienna), black SUV (probably a Range Rover)
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Asian male. Black hair, black eyes. Liao may reverse the order of his names, as in "Liao Ruochen." His nickname is Tony. He was born in China.
Details of Disappearance Liao was last seen in San Gabriel Square, a shopping center in the 100 block of west Valley Boulevard in San Gabriel, California on July 16, 2018. He was abducted by three men in two black vehicles at 7:30 p.m. and got into a black minivan, probably a Toyota Sienna. The other vehicle was a black SUV, probably a Range Rover.
At the time of his disappearance, Liao worked for a luxury car consignment business in Costa Mesa, California. His kidnapping may have been linked to a business deal gone wrong, as police stated Liao worked with people who "may not have been the most reputable."
Liao had met several times with a debt collector called "David", who offered to help him collect a debt in exchange for a fee of twenty to thirty thousand dollars. Two days before his disappearance, Liao took a friend along for his second meeting with David, because he didn't trust David.
Liao was instructed to go to the third meeting alone. He brought his friend again and had his friend watch from a distance. The friend saw Liao getting into a dark-colored minivan, which drove out of the parking lot. Liao's friend never saw or heard from him again and reported him missing the next day.
The day after Liao's disappearance, the same day he was reported missing, his father in China got photos of him from his WeChat messaging app profile, showing him with his arms and legs bound and his eyes taped shut. Five minutes later, Liao's father's phone rang and when he answered, he heard his son say in Mandarin, "Father, save me, help me, I have been kidnapped."
Liao's father then got a message instructing him to deposit $2 million into three Chinese bank accounts within three hours in exchange for Liao's safe return. A man said on the phone, "Your son has made me very poor. I have lost everything and suffered a divorce because of him." Liao's parents did not pay the ransom and the callers did not make any further contact.
A composite sketch of David is posted with this summary. He is described as a Chinese man, 35 to 40 years old, who spoke Mandarin Chinese. Authorities believe he was actually Peicheng Shen. In March 2019, Shen and another suspect, Guangyao Yang, were charged with kidnapping, conspiracy to kidnap, attempted extortion and threat by foreign communication.
Investigators think Shen and Yang abducted Liao, took him to a house in Corona, California and held him in a bedroom closet. Investigators believe Liao died during in the kidnapping and Shen and Yang drove to Mojave, California on July 18 to bury or otherwise dispose of the body and possibly other evidence in the desert. That same day, Shen had the closet of the Corona house re-carpeted. Yang searched online with his phone for how long it would take a body to decompose in soil.
Both men lived in West Covina, California at the time of Liao's disappearance. Yang left the U.S. for China on July 26, ten days after Liao's abduction. Three days later he was arrested by Chinese authorities on suspicion of kidnapping Liao. Shen's current whereabouts are unknown but he is also believed to be in China.
Liao was born in Sichuan, China. He attended school in Nebraska, then moved to the Los Angeles, California area. Foul play is suspected in his due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Federal Bureau of Investigation
310-477-6565
Other
Federal Bureau of Investigation
CNN
NDTV
The Los Angeles Times
The Mercury News
Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
