Latest sketch of Mei Yi, a suspected human trafficker, is released by unofficial platform CCSER and circulated online. Photo: Screenshot of Pear Video

Police in South China have been urged by the public to arrest a suspected human trafficker named Mei Yi (pseudonym), who is believed to have abducted nine children over the years, after a color sketch of her was released Monday.

According to reports, Mei Yi, whose real name, ID information, and address are unknown, lived in Guangzhou's Zengcheng district and in other cities throughout South China's Guangdong Province. 

Mei is suspected of being involved in multiple human abduction and trafficking cases. Authorities have already rescued two of the nine abducted children, Zengcheng police officials announced on Wechat on November 13.

China's Child Safety Emergency Response (CCSER), an unofficial platform launched in 2015 to help find missing children, released on Monday a color sketch of Mei Yi while calling the public help to find the suspected human trafficker.  

This latest Mei Yi image is a sketch from Lin Yuhui, a senior police sketch artist. In 2017, the first image, a black and white sketch, was released by police in Guangzhou, capital city of Guangdong Province. 

"As the colorful sketch portrait looks more like the fresh Mei Yi, who was inferred fatter than in the 2017 sketch, which can help people recognize her more easily," Zhang Yongjiang, founder of the CCSER, told the Global Times on Monday.

While the color sketch circulated online, the emergency platform for information on missing children from China's Ministry of Public Security announced on Sina Weibo that the sketch had been released unofficially. "There is no other evidence to confirm the appearance of Mei Yi," read the announcement.

"The police are actively searching for the remaining seven children," said the announcement, warning the public not to believe or spread rumors.

Pear Video reported that Zengcheng police confirmed May's existence.

The report apparently provided hope once again as many netizens have called on others to report any clues on Mei Yi's whereabouts and for police to catch her as soon as possible. 

The spread of the sketch is a reflection of the hatred the public has for human traffickers, sympathy for the children abducted from their parents, and hope for justice, Zhang noted.

"Parents are very anxious and hope they can be reunited and enjoy the upcoming spring festival with their children," Zhang said.

According to reports, two child traffickers, who were sentenced to death in Guangzhou in December 2018, admitted to selling nine children via an intermediary named Mei Yi.

The Guangzhou Public Security Bureau released a sketch of Mei Yi in 2017 along with a reward for information on her whereabouts and capture but has since remained at large.