Opinion | Google Maps leads abducted Chinese boy home to family 23 years later
Incredible story of Sichuan man snatched on his way to kindergarten
Luo Gang, who was born in a small town in Guangan city, southwestern Sichuan province, disappeared on his way to kindergarten 23 years ago, said his parents. Heartbroken, they did everything they could to find their son, but to no avail. They eventually gave up and later adopted a daughter.
What they didn't know was that their son had been taken to a city in southeastern Fujian province, some 1500 kilometres from Sichuan.
Although Luo’s adopted parents loved him and treated him like their own son, he said the desire to find his birth parents had always haunted him.
“Everyday before I went to bed, I forced myself to re-live the life spent in my old home,” he said. “So I wouldn’t forget.”
But the only memory Luo had of his hometown was of two bridges.
He drew a rough map of his hometown from memory, before posting it on “Bring Lost Babies Home”, a Chinese website devoted to locating missing children through the help of volunteers.