CHINA / SOCIETY
Update: Two suspects apprehended for abducting son of Shandong man who spent 24 years in search of his child
Published: Jul 12, 2021 07:13 PM
Screenshot from <em>Lost and Love</em>

Screenshot from Lost and Love



Two suspects have been apprehended for abducting the child of the man from East China's Shandong Province whose story was adapted into the touching movie starring Hong Kong actor Andy Lau, China's Ministry of Public Security announced on Tuesday. 

According to the Ministry, the police eventually confirmed the identity of the abducted child via the latest DNA comparison measures in June. Through careful investigation, the police tracked down the two suspects, a man surnamed Hu and a woman surnamed Tang, in North China's Shanxi Province. 

The good news is spreading on Chinese social media that the man from East China's Shandong Province who had traveled over 500,000 kilometers on his motorbike to look for his abducted son, finally found his son after 24 years. 

The 51-year-old man named Guo Gangtang from Liaocheng in Shandong and his son met each other on Sunday after being apart for 24 years, according to media reports. Guo's son was abducted by human traffickers in 1997 when he was 2 years old. His son was found by joint efforts of the police in Shandong and Central China's Henan provinces through DNA sequence alignment. 

Guo's experience of looking for his son on his motorbike and helping other families with their missing family members was adapted into the movie Lost and Love starring Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau, which premiered in 2015. 

On hearing about the news, Lau also expressed his congratulations through a video. "I admire your persistence and pay tribute to the years-long efforts of the public security department," Lau said in the video, calling for joint efforts of the public in participating in the course of anti-abduction and supporting more families with missing members to reunite. 

The result also cheered many Chinese netizens who sent congratulations to Guo and called for a strict punishment for human traffickers. 

Since 1997, Guo has been looking for his son, riding his motorbike and traveling across China. Over the years, 10 motorbikes were damaged and scraped. 

Although there have been many pieces of news claiming that his son was found, their DNA did not match. 

Guo's sharing of knowledge about abduction and human trafficking prevention on social media platforms such as Douyin have become popular among netizens. While looking for his own son, he also helped many other families with abducted children become reunited through the website he created. 

According to media reports, Guo found his son, Guo Xinzhen, who is now living in Henan. The police arranged for the father and son to meet on Sunday. "He is fine. God treated me fairly," Guo told the media. 

Internet users were also touched by Guo's story and congratulated the father for finding his son. "All sufferings have their reward," a netizen commented on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. "I hope more families with missing members can reunite and I hope there are no abductions anymore," another commented.

Global Times