On September 8, after being kidnapped for 26 years, Beijing woman Sun Meihua was brought back to Beijing by her brother Sun Baohua with the help of volunteers. Recently, the independent media “NORA” published an exclusive investigation, revealing the little-known details of this family reunion saga.
According to the investigation, a Shandong Douyin influencer named “Chuxin” has been conducting public welfare searches in the rural areas of Cao County since 2022. During this time, he encountered Sun Meihua, who was mentally unstable and hungry on the roadside, and gave her a bag of fried noodles. Local residents informed him that she was literate and locals called her “Dragon Aunt”.
On the eve of last year’s Labour Day, “Chuxin” released a video to help Sun Meihua find her family. However, there was no progress at the time. It wasn’t until May of this year when “Chuxin” managed to obtain Sun Meihua’s identity card from “Dragon Uncle” in exchange for a mobile phone. It was then revealed that her name on the identity card was “Zhang Li”, with a registered age nearly three years older than her actual age.
After obtaining the identity card, “Chuxin” immediately filled out a sampling card for the “Harmony Searching for Relatives” in Shengzhou, Zhejiang, and mailed the blood sample to the “Harmony” searching studio to cross-reference it in the nationwide DNA database for missing persons. This is a standard practice for private search volunteers to avoid potential conflicts with local police.
Later, she received a call from the “Harmony” searching studio confirming that Meihua was from Beijing, but her parents had passed away.
However, sources close to the Sun family revealed that after Sun Baohua learned of his younger sister’s whereabouts in May, he did not inform their younger sister’s family in the United States or bring her back. The exact reasons for this decision remain unknown.
Fortunately, in August of this year, another volunteer searcher named Du Xiaohua received a tip-off from an internet user, suggesting that a woman (“Big Sister”) in Cao County had been deceived for nearly thirty years. Initially, she was brought there by an older man who arranged for men to have sexual relations with her for money. As time passed and she aged, the sexual exploitation ceased, and the old man and she developed a quasi-spousal relationship.
On August 23, Du Xiaohua visited Cao County and paid a visit to “Dragon Uncle’s” home.
Facing Du Xiaohua’s inquiries, the 78-year-old “Dragon Uncle” claimed not to know Meihua’s hometown and insisted that they had a late marriage, explaining that he brought Meihua back from Shangqiu, Henan, over twenty years ago. However, there have been rumors among the local villagers that “Dragon Uncle” was a human trafficker.
That day, after leaving “Dragon Uncle’s” home, Du Xiaohua immediately reported the incident to the police and exposed it on Douyin. That evening, he received a call from the Cao County police pressuring him to delete the video, which he refused to do.
The following day, the Cao County Criminal Police Brigade interviewed Du Xiaohua, claiming that Meihua was brought from a village in Shangqiu, Henan by “Dragon Uncle” in 1997 (an earlier year than later claimed by the family), and that she had a mental disability at the time. The police denied allegations of abduction, abuse, and forced prostitution, stating that after inquiring with the village secretary and villagers, they found no evidence of illegal activity.
Du Xiaohua immediately raised questions: why was no blood sample taken for household registration in 2020, and why was Meihua left with the “old man” even after her identity was confirmed with a blood sample in May of this year?
A week later, Du Xiaohua received a call from the Cao County Public Security Bureau stating that Meihua had been placed in a local nursing home on August 31. On September 4, Sun Baohua received notification from the Xicheng police in Beijing, and four days later, he and his son went to Heze to bring Sun Meihua back to Beijing.
However, Sun Baohua did not notify his younger sister’s in-laws before or after picking her up. It was only after the younger sister called Sun Baohua that she briefly saw her sister Sun Meihua in a video. In the video, the younger sister mentioned that “there was fear and apprehension in her sister’s eyes”.
Subsequently, Sun Baohua “blocked” his younger sister-in-law and her husband, refusing to allow them to communicate with Sun Meihua or visit her in person, accusing them of having “ulterior motives”. Sun Baohua cited public pressure as the reason and demanded that “Chuxin” delete all related videos.
Cao County in Shandong, Shangqiu in Henan, and Fengxian in Xuzhou are neighboring areas located at the intersection of the four provinces of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, and Anhui. This region is considered one of the hotspots for the trafficking of women in the country.
Several villagers disclosed that with the escalation of public opinion on the internet, the local police recently took “Dragon Uncle” away for investigation, although it remains uncertain whether any coercive measures were taken. As of now, official statements have not been issued, and extensive discussions on the topic on domestic social media platforms have been heavily censored.
In response to online rumors, Liu Anjun (Sun Meihua’s brother-in-law) clarified that Meihua did not come from an “elite” or powerful family background but was a regular worker with a junior high school education. The “Friendship Hotel” she mentioned was where her father had worked in the past.
According to Liu Anjun, Sun Meihua was born in 1968 and worked as a service staff member in a state-owned hotel under the Grain Bureau after junior high school. Later, she shifted to the front desk as a cashier. During her time at the hotel, she allegedly encountered harassment from her superiors, leading to depression when her family failed to intervene promptly. After receiving treatment, she gradually recovered.
Following pressure from his wife at home, Sun Meihua’s father urged her to get married. In 1992, Sun Meihua married a worker from the Sanyuan Milk Factory named Fang and gave birth to a daughter the following year. Three years later, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia, received a disability certificate, and took early retirement.
Liu Anjun revealed that Meihua’s life after marriage wasn’t happy, and the stress led to her developing schizophrenia. Despite this, her condition was not severe. After retiring due to her illness, she continued to sell milk and cook for her mother-in-law, and was able to travel by public transportation on her own. During that time, Sun Meihua often expressed a desire to visit her parents’ home, leading her husband, Fang, to escort her back about once or twice a month.
One day in August 2000, Fang suddenly appeared at Sun’s home, claiming he had come to take his wife. Sun Meihua’s mother was shocked, stating that her daughter had not returned. It was then revealed that Fang had dropped her less than a kilometer away at a crossroads near her parents’ home a week prior, assuming she would find her way back home while he hurried off to work.
Upon learning this, Liu Anjun visited to question, “Why did you stop bringing her home after two to three years?” He distinctly remembered that the Fang family’s reaction to Sun Meihua’s disappearance was unusually calm, especially since it coincided with a critical time for the Fang family regarding relocation compensation and the imminent move, raising suspicions.
Sun Meihua’s sister also emphasized that her sister was timid and would never casually eat from strangers or accompany them.
Back then, Liu Anjun searched everywhere in Beijing on his bike, while Meihua’s sister and parents posted missing person notices everywhere, searching for her for more than half a year to no avail. Approximately four years after her disappearance, around 2004, Sun Meihua’s Beijing Hukou registration was canceled.
On September 12th this year, Liu Anjun went to the Guangnei Police Station in Beijing to report Fang for abandonment and abduction, but the police refused to accept the case, citing an ongoing investigation and confidentiality regarding non-immediate family members.
Liu Anjun stated that his and his wife’s core demands currently are to urge the brother publicly to disclose Meihua’s current situation, ensure the sister’s legal visitation rights, prevent the sister from being hidden or sent to closed institutions to avoid further harm. They are working on assembling a team of lawyers to continue gathering evidence related to Sun Meihua’s abduction case, push for thorough investigations by the police in Beijing and Shandong, and fight for Sun Meihua’s guardianship. They are prepared to bear all subsequent medical, care, and living expenses.
On September 14, Liu Anjun called for Meihua to be promptly examined at a reputable third-tier hospital. Subsequently, the Xicheng Public Security Sub-bureau contacted him, informing him that the injury assessment process had been initiated. Police also proposed to coordinate a meeting with the family but added a “secrecy condition”: the meeting strictly prohibited photos, recordings, required the dissolution of online group chats, and barred any future mention of Sun Meihua’s case.
Liu Anjun promptly refused, stating clearly that he would not compromise and believed that silence would not be in Meihua’s best interest. He insisted on ensuring the ability to visit at any time in the future. Once he sees Meihua, he will personally commission a reputable third-party independent forensic institution in Beijing to conduct a comprehensive assessment of her disability, causes, and overall physical condition at his own expense.
As of now, the couple, Liu Anjun and his wife, have been unable to re-establish contact with the brother, and their visitation requests remain unfulfilled.