‘It would be the greatest thing in my life to see him again’: 17 years of heartache for mother of missing Hong Kong teenager
Yu Man-hon ran off at Yau Ma Tei MTR station on August 24, 2000 and was never seen again, leaving his mother to live in daily agony. Is there still hope for her and thousands of other people whose loved ones have vanished?
Yu Lai Wai-ling opens a wooden box in her living room and digs out piles of pictures of her oldest son, who has been missing for almost 17 years. Sobbing, she says: “If he ever comes back, it’d be the greatest thing in my life.”
The disappearance of her autistic and hyperactive teenager Yu Man-hon on August 24, 2000, is one of the most prominent missing person cases in Hong Kong. On that day, Yu Man-hon – then aged 15 but with a mental age of two – let go of his mother’s hand at Yau Ma Tei MTR station and ran off.
It remains unknown how the teenager managed to cross the border at Lo Wu. It’s also unclear what happened to him after Shenzhen immigration officers tried to return him, only for Hong Kong officers to turn him away.
The disappearance of the teenager, who would now be in his early 30s if he is still alive, is shrouded in mystery. His family have faced almost 17 years of agony as they search for their son.
“We have been to almost every part of mainland China, placing ads in newspapers and giving out posters, but we still couldn’t find him,” said Lai, who lives with her husband and younger son. “I’m getting old now and don’t have the energy to search around any more.”
Three years ago an anonymous donor pledged HK$1million for information leading to the return of Yu Man-hon, but it has gone uncollected.
In June last year, Lai, accompanied by four Hong Kong police officers from the missing person unit, went to Lo Wu police station on the mainland in her search for answers regarding her son’s case.
