In Flushing, a missing 12th-grade Chinese-American high school girl was found dead after four days of disappearance, in a secluded wooded area near Kissena Park.
On the morning of January 31, the police discovered the body of a young woman in a remote wooded area near Kissena Park in Flushing, Queens. The deceased was identified as Mackenzie Ho, a 17-year-old Chinese-American high school student who went missing after school on January 27.
The New York City police department stated that around 9:56 am that day, a Chinese retired police officer from Suffolk County, Long Island, noticed something unusual in the wooded area at the intersection of 170th Street and Underhill Avenue and immediately called the authorities. Officers from the 109th precinct swiftly responded to the scene and upon inspection, confirmed that the girl showed no signs of life. The location where the body was found is close to Kissena Golf Course, and the area is secluded with fewer pedestrians, not far from Francis Lewis High School where the girl was a student.
The police department mentioned that the cause of death has not been determined yet, and possibilities of suicide or homicide have not been ruled out, pending further examination by forensic experts.
According to the school and family’s previous missing person announcement, Mackenzie left the school after school on January 27, and the last confirmed sighting by the police was between 2:22 pm and 2:25 pm that day as she was walking north along Utopia Parkway before disappearing.
This is the second case of a missing Chinese-American teenager within a month. Previously, a 15-year-old Chinese-American mixed-race teenager from Long Island went missing on the way to Manhattan, and the police confirmed through surveillance footage that his last appearance was near the Manhattan Bridge, with no further records of his whereabouts.
The consecutive tragedies have raised concerns among many Chinese parents and community members. Community advocates have been urging for increased attention to the mental health of teenagers by families, schools, and society, early detection of emotional changes, and providing more care, support, and companionship to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.