HK$1m reward for safe return of autistic Yu Man-hon put up by donor 14 years after he vanished over border
Donor hopes to revive interest in tracing autism sufferer who vanished aged 15 on mainland in 2000, prompting mother's unending search
A HK$1 million reward is being offered for the return of an autistic boy who vanished 14 years ago when he was separated from his mother and managed to cross the border.
An anonymous donor has put up the money after hearing the story of Yu Man-hon, then 15, who entered Shenzhen via Lo Wu checkpoint in 2000 after becoming separated from his mother at Yau Ma Tei MTR station. When the mainland authorities tried to return him, Hong Kong officials turned him away and he has not been seen since.
"I remembered the story from the beginning and when I read it again in the Post recently, I thought something had to be done," said the donor, a man in his 60s who has lived in Hong Kong for more than 20 years.
I need to know what happened in that police station, if they beat him to death
He hopes the reward, which will only be paid on Man-hon's safe return, will reignite interest in the case and prompt a manhunt.
A similar reward was offered by an anonymous tycoon after Man-hon's disappearance.
Man-hon's mother, Yu Lai Wai-ling said she was grateful to the donor, and said she was still fighting to find out what happened to her son, who would be 29 now.
"Ultimately, anything which could bring my boy back I want to try," she said. "But if my boy is dead, if the mainland authorities confirm that something happened to him, no amount of money would bring him back."