Body of missing Chinese teen Hu Xinyu found in woodland near school
- Police say DNA tests confirm the body is that of the 15-year-old boy who disappeared in mysterious circumstances in October
- Relative reportedly questions why previous searches failed to find the child
Police in Yanshan county in the city of Shangrao, Jiangxi province, said on Sunday that the body was that of Hu Xinyu, 15, who was last seen on a surveillance camera walking down a hallway from his dormitory to a classroom for an evening study session on October 14.
Officers said in a statement that they were notified at around noon on Thursday that a body had been found in woodland near the school in clothes matching those Xinyu was dressed in when he went missing.
Shanghai-based news outlet The Paper reported that the autopsy on the body had been completed but no results were released.
The boy’s mother vowed on social media that “we will not stop our journey to find the truth”.
Xinyu’s case attracted national attention after his family filed a missing person’s report on October 15.
In their first statement on the case on January 7, police said they had been searching since the report was filed and had found “no trace or evidence of Hu’s murder, suicide or accident inside the school”. Hu left the school on his own, police said.
Residents and government workers this month joined a massive search for the teen, who reportedly left his identity card, cash, and smartwatch in his dormitory but took a digital voice recorder and his school card.
A digital recorder was found near the body, police said on Sunday.
In an interview last year with Jimu News, the online platform of Hubei-based Chutian Metropolis Daily, Xinyu’s family said he used the recorder to help with his studies.
On Sunday, a family member reportedly said it was strange that the body had been found near the school in an area that should have been covered in previous searches.
“People have searched the area several times, and our family members have also gone there, but Hu was not found,” Hangzhou-based City Express quoted the relative as saying.
State news agency China News Service also published a commentary on Sunday asking why Xinyu’s body was not found in previous searches.
