After searching for decades, family reunites with daughter who went missing 24 years ago
He never stopped trying to find his daughter, and after 24 years of searching, Wang Mingqing was finally reunited with Kang Ying.
In January 1994, Wang and his wife, Liu Chengying, brought their toddler daughter, Qifeng, to the fruit stall they operated in Chengdu, China. They briefly took their eyes off of the 3-year-old, and she disappeared into the sea of people. The parents tried everything to find her, including putting out ads in newspapers, but her whereabouts remained a mystery.
In 2015, Wang became a driver with a ride-sharing company, and he put up a sign in his car asking for information on his daughter and passed out fliers to passengers. Last year, a police sketch artist drew a picture of what Qifeng might look like today, and two weeks ago, a 27-year-old woman named Kang Ying saw the drawing and thought it looked a lot like her. She had been told by her parents that they adopted her after she was found on the side of a road, and she wondered if she had found her birth parents.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Kang contacted Wang on social media, and on Sunday, a DNA test confirmed she was Qifeng. It turns out she grew up just 12 miles away from her birth parents. Now married with two children, she brought the kids with her on Tuesday when she met with the family that never gave up hope of seeing her again. "From now on, Dad is here," Wang told her. "You don't need to worry about anything — Dad will help you." Catherine Garcia
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
The growing US movement to end child marriages
Under the Radar Practice is 'surprisingly widespread' but only 12 states have so far banned it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'New arrivals are more than paying for themselves'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
6 stylish homes in Portland, Oregon
Feature Featuring a wall of windows in Collins View and a historic ballroom in Portland Heights
By The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published