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it was a beautifully warm sunny

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and gorgeous afternoon in downtown

0:43

honolulu thousands of residents

0:45

walked and drove the streets setting off

0:47

to work or school or out for an

0:49

adventure on the beach somewhere

0:52

, since of the hustle and bustle of city

0:54

life a little girl wandered

0:56

back and forth between two convenience

0:58

stores stores

1:00

year old aziz our league was

1:02

excited for school was conducting

1:04

a fundraiser selling tickets for a chilly

1:07

dinner for a trip to the big the

1:09

he was hopeful about the event and wanted

1:11

to earn yourself a seat on the flight begging

1:14

her mother to allow or to go out and sell

1:16

out tickets after a lot

1:18

of begging and maybe a little whining use

1:21

our got her way as long as she promised

1:23

to be back promised five pm beaming

1:26

her irresistible smiles ease our

1:28

bounce out of the family home but

1:30

she the made it back initially

1:33

investigators assume they were working on a case

1:35

of a runaway or a lost child however

1:38

it quickly became clear that something more sinister

1:41

may have been involve multiple witnesses

1:43

reported seeing she's our talking

1:45

to an older man and the moment before

1:47

he vanished while others claim

1:50

to have seen her being held hostage by

1:52

an unknown man days later

1:54

soon the outlook turned grim with

1:56

detectives assuming the child headlights

1:59

leave until what happened

2:01

disease our league has

2:03

she been abducted at random by someone

2:05

she attempted to sell a raffle tickets to

2:08

or had someone specifically targeted

2:10

the child with plans of taking her far

2:12

away from the islands of islands waffle

2:16

this is trace evidence episode

2:18

one ninety nine the disappearance

2:21

of she's our lease

2:29

welcome

2:31

to trace evidence i'm your host

2:33

stephen pacheco the day

2:35

will examine the mysterious disappearance

2:38

of twelve year old disease our only

2:41

before getting into the case just a few

2:43

quick notes about the show trace

2:45

evidence is a weekly true crime podcast

2:48

focused on unsolved murders and disappearances

2:51

you can follow the show on social media

2:54

on twitter at trace of pod

2:56

instagram at trace evidence pod

2:59

or by searching facebook for trace

3:01

evidence if you're interested in

3:03

supporting the show and getting some trace evidence

3:05

merch, there's a patreon

3:07

at patreon.com trace

3:09

evidence you can donate

3:11

directly by a paypal visit

3:14

trace dash evidence.com for

3:16

also media links donation options

3:19

and contact information you

3:21

can submit the case suggestions through the website

3:24

or email me directly at

3:26

trace evidence pod at gmail

3:28

dot com the final note

3:30

before jumping into the episode i just wanna

3:32

apologize in advance for my pronunciation

3:35

of certain words in this episode i

3:37

did get assistance and pronounced in them but i

3:39

guarantee you i'm going to mess some of them

3:42

twelve year old geez our lee was

3:44

excited to participate in her schools

3:46

fundraiser learning about a trip

3:49

to the big island she was determined to

3:51

sell enough tickets to get herself a seat on

3:53

the plane bradley one

3:55

february afternoon and nineteen

3:57

eighty eight the left her home to sell

3:59

target and never made it back

4:02

this is episode one ninety

4:04

nine the disappearance of

4:06

she's our leave

4:11

the capital

4:14

city of honolulu was seated

4:16

along the southern shore of oahu

4:18

the third largest of the hawaiian islands

4:21

the population of more than three hundred and

4:23

fifty thousand residents spread across

4:25

less than seventy square miles

4:28

it's a bustling city which aside

4:30

from it's beautiful location described

4:32

so often as paradise is

4:34

also known as the gateway to the world

4:36

for the hawaiian islands being the central

4:39

hub for business finance hospitality

4:41

and military defense known for

4:44

it's diversity not just in

4:46

its population but also cuisine

4:48

and tradition on a lose made

4:50

up of a mix of asian western

4:52

and pacific cultures there

4:55

is a unique dichotomy defined by the

4:57

contrast a beautiful ocean views

4:59

far green fields and picturesque

5:01

cliffs blended with the ash

5:03

and scars of dusty gray highways

5:05

abandoned buildings and congested city

5:08

streets on any given day

5:10

thousands upon thousands of residents hit

5:12

the streets in their cars on their

5:14

bikes and walking the sidewalks as

5:16

they go about their days heading

5:18

to school to work to their

5:20

houses or out for a little fun

5:23

in the sun there's a steady flow

5:25

of motion as waves of people fled

5:27

the city throughout the day before the tide

5:29

pulls back in the streetlights click on

5:31

to illuminates the approach of evening

5:35

well for many the slow flicker in buzz

5:37

of lights along the roadside signal be

5:39

end of another busy day the

5:41

warm winter evening in february of nineteen

5:44

eighty eight these lights transform

5:46

the concern of one small family into

5:48

panic and worry leon

5:52

and her husband d chang looked

5:54

out the small windows of their tiny apartment

5:56

hoping for the return of their twelve year old

5:58

daughter she's

6:00

hours earlier the eager child had begged

6:03

her mother to allow or to go out for just an

6:05

hour to try and sell some raffle

6:07

tickets handed out by her school for an

6:09

annual field trip he'd

6:11

promised to return home before dinner

6:13

at the table have been set hours earlier

6:16

and there was no sign of she's out

6:18

together geez parents left

6:20

their cailloux street home i made the

6:23

short walk towards new ah new

6:25

avenue the main thoroughbred stretching

6:27

through their little corner of honolulu

6:30

they bring along a stretch of road that she had

6:32

planned to try and sell her tickets apparently

6:34

moving back and forth between two seven

6:36

eleven convenience store is located at major

6:39

intersections just three tenths of a mile

6:41

apart for an hour

6:43

to the couple walked back and

6:45

forth looking for any signs of their daughter

6:48

or anyone who may have seen her earlier that

6:50

evening being immigrants

6:52

from china who didn't yet speak english

6:55

trying to track down the missing twelve year old

6:57

was only made more complicated by the language

6:59

barrier there was a fruitless effort

7:02

and after realizing that the situation

7:04

required more than their own means

7:06

believe family returned home and contacted

7:08

the honolulu police to report

7:11

their daughter missing within

7:13

an hour of the initial report detectives

7:16

from the missing persons units the juvenile

7:18

divisions and officers from the patrol

7:20

unit hit the streets in search of she's

7:22

out the time they imagine

7:25

they'd find the twelve year old quick perhaps

7:27

he'd met up with friends and lost track of time

7:29

or maybe she'd gotten lost him was attempting

7:32

to find her way back in the dark no

7:34

one involved in the case nor in geez

7:37

hours own family could ever have

7:39

imagined that more than thirty years later

7:41

the mystery of she's hours disappearance

7:44

would endure as one of the oldest

7:46

and most frustratingly painful missing

7:48

persons cases in the history

7:50

of hawaii the

7:53

thou lee was born on thursday

7:55

april tenth nineteen seventy five

7:57

to parents leon and d chang

7:59

can't in china today

8:02

known as guangzhou the

8:04

was the least second born child and

8:06

second daughter while her birth

8:08

was expected and joyously celebrated

8:11

by her family it was at the time

8:13

against china's policies regarding childbirth

8:16

when he was born families were expected

8:19

to keep a gap of four years between

8:21

births and in the vast majority of

8:23

instances where a woman to become pregnant

8:25

during this gap but she would be encouraged

8:27

to have an abortion the was

8:30

born just two years after her older

8:32

sister which resulted in her family

8:34

having to go above and beyond to keep

8:36

her existence hidden from local authorities

8:39

leon had had a difficult upbringing

8:42

losing both of her parents by the time she was

8:44

nine years old orphaned and

8:46

with nowhere to run to survive by wandering

8:49

from town to town seeking work in

8:51

an interview conducted but the honolulu star

8:54

bulletin leon explain that

8:56

as a teen she often took jobs

8:58

baby sitting in exchange for little

9:00

more than a bowl of watery rice gruel

9:03

her later teen years leon picked

9:05

up work on a farm and it was then that

9:07

her life began to develop some level of

9:09

security and stability the

9:12

go on to meet fall in love with

9:14

and married d chang and together

9:16

they have their first daughter there

9:20

was been described by her family as a devoted

9:22

helpful kind and loving child

9:25

who went out of her way to help others and never needed

9:27

to be asked to complete a task taking

9:29

it upon herself to help her family as much

9:31

as she could the yarn once

9:33

recalled to a reporter how

9:35

during difficult times they had very little

9:37

food they couldn't technologies

9:40

birth they couldn't receive an increase

9:42

to their food and milk rations making

9:45

things even more difficult one night

9:47

there wasn't enough food to go around and

9:49

leon sat down to an empty plain

9:52

suddenly she appeared and placed

9:54

in a gun her mother's played explaining that

9:56

she'd saved the for her mom so she'd have

9:59

something to eat

9:59

the

10:01

for years leon had dreamed of escaping

10:04

china which she described as living

10:06

entirely without freedom

10:08

the or to get her family to a new country

10:10

a place where they would have a chance to forge their

10:12

own futures without the oppressing rules

10:14

and regulations set by the government the

10:17

mid nineteen eighties that dream came

10:19

true when relatives living in hawaii

10:21

contacted leon with the exciting

10:24

news they'd finally been approved

10:26

for visas and were free to come to hawaii

10:28

and start their lives in new the

10:30

li family were thrilled to discover they'd found

10:33

a way out though it wouldn't be an easy trip

10:35

nor would they find starting from the ground up

10:37

all that welcoming or comforting either

10:40

but as leon's interpreter explained

10:42

to reporters quo he really

10:44

wanted to come to this country and she wants

10:46

to stay here and become a citizen he

10:49

says there is no freedom in china here

10:51

at least she is free and

10:54

quote the nineteen

10:56

eighty five the family picked up steaks

10:58

and left china behind heading towards the hawaiian

11:01

islands where they would settle on a wahoo

11:03

hi this time there unit had grown by

11:05

one more with leon and

11:07

d chang been the parents have three daughters

11:10

giving she's out both an older and

11:12

younger sister then years

11:14

old at the time geez i was excited

11:16

about the moved to a new country where she'd no

11:18

longer have to be hidden away and concealed

11:22

they didn't go quite the way the leave family

11:24

had imagine though arriving in

11:26

hawaii they managed to find a place to

11:29

live but it wasn't much they

11:31

moved into a garage which had been converted

11:34

into a living unit there was running

11:36

water but no hot water

11:38

requiring the family to heat their own water

11:40

for bad the bathroom itself

11:43

was remarkably small with the tub jutting

11:45

out from the wall requiring them to

11:47

walk around it as they entered the room

11:50

the floor was stained with paint and oil

11:53

much of which was hidden beneath a patchwork

11:55

of carpet scraps would simulated

11:57

a living area for the family

11:59

there were

11:59

those in the walls patched over and stuffed

12:02

with folded over sheets of aluminum foil

12:04

living conditions were tough then

12:07

in exchange for an escape from china

12:09

it was to the leaf family a price

12:11

worth paying the

12:13

dow was enrolled at the royal elementary

12:16

school along with her younger sister her

12:18

older sister was just beginning high school

12:21

she was placed in what are known as

12:23

slept classes with slap

12:25

s l e p meaning

12:27

speakers was limited english proficiency

12:30

he would attend classes in two phases

12:33

one from nine thirty the ten thirty

12:35

am and another from twelve thirty

12:37

to two fifteen pm while

12:39

she was learning to speak english there

12:41

was slow but steady progress resulting

12:44

in her speaking in somewhat broken

12:46

english though her teacher stated they

12:48

can understand her easily and while

12:50

she couldn't speak english fluently

12:53

she understood the language far more than

12:55

she could adequately communicate harry

12:57

kim one of the she's slept instructors

13:00

described her as a kind and generous

13:02

child telling the star bulletin quote

13:05

she was very giving choose to bring

13:07

a lot of candy to school she was always

13:09

sharing her candy with other kids

13:12

and close other teachers

13:14

described her as shy but somewhat outgoing

13:17

she made friends she laughs she played

13:19

with others wells and she didn't seem to encounter

13:21

too many issues adapting to the vastly

13:23

different society she now found herself

13:25

in mary tune

13:28

a part time teacher at the school got

13:30

a nosy very well from working closely

13:32

with her you got to know he is

13:35

an independent young woman who stood up for

13:37

others and didn't let other kids mess with her

13:39

he explained quote the

13:41

the very sensitive girl when

13:44

her little sister was picked on by another slept

13:46

students geez i was crying

13:48

and let us know what happened during the morning you

13:51

wouldn't let anyone push her around the

13:53

enjoys playing hopscotch at recess

13:56

she loves candy tiny

13:58

for her age she dresses

13:59

well

14:00

i picture her wearing sneakers

14:02

i never saw her were slippers she'd

14:05

wear a dress or a t shirt and long

14:07

pants

14:08

and quo

14:10

while he was adjusting nicely to school

14:12

in the ways of her new home or family

14:14

also began finding their footing

14:16

chang picked up work as a kitchen helper

14:19

y leon was brought on to work

14:21

as an on call me for a waikiki

14:23

area hotel we weren't exactly

14:25

pulling in a ton of money but it was enough

14:27

to cover their small apartment as well as clothes

14:30

and food due to the erratic

14:32

nature of their schedules the children had

14:34

to help around the house quite a bit but

14:36

geez i was always willing to do whatever she

14:38

could to make the struggle easier yeah

14:41

unexplained saying quote that

14:43

girl is a very good girl you

14:46

see that the clothes are piled up she

14:48

gather up the clothes and do the laundry you

14:50

wouldn't have to tell her to do these things

14:53

and co these

14:55

older sister was more social going

14:57

out with friends and spending less time at the house

15:00

but she liked to be there she took

15:02

pride in helping out and saw it as her responsibility

15:05

to do what was necessary the

15:07

yarn says she was conscientious

15:09

and gave her little trouble explaining

15:11

to the star bulletin saying quote if

15:14

i ever had to worry about my girls

15:16

i never thought i'd lose this one the

15:19

ground that li that's

15:21

exactly what happened one quiet winter

15:24

afternoon in february nineteen

15:26

eighty eight when she was just twelve

15:28

years old each

15:30

year royal elementary school would hold a

15:32

fund raiser selling tickets for a chilly cel

15:35

students would sell the tickets in order to hit

15:37

a goal of one hundred and fifty dollars each

15:40

which would afford them the ability to participate

15:42

in a field trip to the big island according

15:45

to teacher sherry kim ji was

15:47

not initially interested in participating in

15:49

the event until she learned that her classmate

15:51

and close friend away soon

15:54

lou was planning on going on

15:56

the trip the seemingly cause

15:58

she'd want to go along too there

16:00

she began participating in the ticket sales

16:02

just her first two or three days

16:05

he showed tremendous progress selling

16:07

forty dollars worth of tickets which were priced

16:09

at two dollars and twenty five cents apiece

16:12

royal elementary had an explicit policy

16:15

in place regarding any fundraising events

16:18

dude and had to be instructed about safety

16:20

techniques and given tip somewhere to sell

16:22

and were not too according to

16:24

sherry kim they told students to make

16:26

sure they had a partner with them when they went out to

16:28

sell their tickets whether it was a friend

16:31

or relative in addition teachers

16:33

instructed them to try selling to relatives

16:35

and neighbors predominantly and advised

16:37

against trying to sell to strangers

16:41

had followed those instructions but apparently

16:43

it hit a dead end issued run out of people

16:45

see new to try and sell the tickets do

16:47

so the twelve year old decided that she had to find

16:50

other opportunities for new sales

16:52

the morning of thursday february eleventh

16:55

nineteen eighty eight began as many others

16:57

had g awoke in the morning

16:59

and sat down for a quick breakfast before

17:01

getting ready to head off to school arriving

17:03

around her normal time everything seem to

17:05

be going well and she was excited

17:08

as she always was to see her friends and

17:10

teachers as far as

17:12

is ever been revealed by investigators

17:14

she's day of school went off without a

17:16

hitch when the bell finally rang

17:18

a to fifteen the twelve year old was

17:20

eagerly anticipating a few hours after

17:23

school to try and sell more tickets according

17:26

to leon g arrived home

17:28

and her normal time having come straight home

17:30

from school which was located less than

17:32

a half a mile away resulting in

17:34

a fifteen minute walk for the twelve year olds

17:37

according to leon upon arriving home

17:40

is he immediately began asking permission

17:42

to go out and sell some more chile tickets

17:45

the yeah was opposed to the idea not

17:47

wanting you to go out on around let

17:49

the child was persistent continuing

17:51

to beg her mother leon

17:53

later explained the moment when she agreed

17:56

telling the honolulu advertiser that

17:58

she promised quote let

18:00

me go for one hour this is my last

18:03

day to sell the tickets i have to sell

18:05

the tickets tomorrow i'll turn

18:07

in the tickets i can't sell i won't

18:09

go far i'll only be gone for

18:11

one hour this is my last chance

18:13

to sell the tickets and co the

18:16

on explain that before she allowed her daughter

18:19

to leave the house she made or agree to several

18:21

condition firstly he

18:23

was instructed not to enter any ones car

18:25

or home regardless of whether or not she

18:27

was invited secondly you

18:29

was told to be very careful and to

18:31

avoid any one who seem strange are made

18:33

her feel uncomfortable finally

18:36

he had to be home by five pm

18:38

for dinner in order to ensure

18:40

her mother that she would be back in time

18:42

the twelve year old borrowed a wash from her sister

18:45

and confirmed the she'd be back by fi while

18:48

we don't have an exact timeline to work also

18:51

there are certain moments throughout the day that

18:53

investigators managed to pin down according

18:56

to detectors she left her family's

18:58

tyler street home and approximately three

19:00

thirty pm before leaving

19:02

she's mother gave her a few dollars which

19:05

the child tucked into a small coin purse

19:07

she wore around her neck the

19:09

first confirmed stop was at the home of a neighbor

19:12

just down the road one of use

19:14

friends live nearby and so the twelve year old

19:16

stopped over and knocked on the door

19:18

asking for friend could come along with her

19:20

to sell tickets unfortunately

19:22

she's friend wasn't able to go at that moment

19:24

and as a result the twelve year old pressed

19:27

on alone hi lou street

19:29

runs north away from the pali

19:31

highway to where it intersects with

19:33

new ah no avenue the longest

19:36

stretch of road or many businesses strip

19:38

malls gas stations and convenience

19:40

stores there are two seven

19:42

eleven spaced out by no more than three

19:44

tenths of a mile the northeast

19:47

there's the seven eleven at the intersection of

19:49

new want to avenue and north cool hakim

19:51

history the south west

19:53

was the second store located at the intersection

19:55

of new ah no avenue and north

19:58

school st

19:59

the director

19:59

later revealed that the walk from one store

20:02

to the other took approximately three minutes

20:04

and based upon witness statements it

20:07

appeared that she had been walking back and

20:09

forth between the two stores asking

20:11

customers as they stepped out of their cars

20:13

if they wanted to buy a ticket the

20:16

ninety minutes after she left the family

20:19

home at five pm she was supposed

20:21

to return then she didn't her

20:23

family didn't immediately break down with panic

20:26

initially they figured you might have lost track of

20:28

time or was on her way home but running

20:30

low six pm hit

20:33

and there were still no sign of g her

20:35

parents decided to go out and look for her

20:38

following the same route the twelve year old would

20:40

likely have used they arrived on

20:42

new law know avenue and began going

20:44

from business to business asking if

20:46

anyone had seen their daughter unfortunately

20:49

with neither paris speaking english it

20:51

was difficult for them to get across the urgency

20:54

in their request after

20:56

walking up and down the avenue and not having

20:58

any luck tracking down z or anyone

21:00

who had seen her leon and

21:02

d chang returned home decided

21:05

they had no other option but to call the police

21:07

and report their daughter missing the

21:09

call came into the honolulu police dispatch

21:12

at eight forty five pm approximately

21:15

five hours after leon had

21:17

last seen her daughter assuming

21:19

that the child was lost are still lingering

21:21

in the area selling tickets the police

21:23

figured it wouldn't take them very long to try

21:26

and track her down unfortunately

21:28

there's no way of knowing that the child's mysterious

21:31

disappearance would not be solved

21:33

so easily the

21:35

first night search failed to yield any

21:37

results and as more time to by

21:39

investigators began considering the possibility

21:42

that there may have been some kind of foul play involved

21:45

now instead of searching for a missing

21:47

child they had the vastly more challenging

21:49

task of trying to locate what was seeming

21:52

more and more likely to be the victim

21:54

of an abduction quickly

21:56

officials reached out to the media issued

21:58

alerts about the missing twelve

21:59

their own

22:00

these photo was broadcast on television

22:03

and published in local newspapers along

22:05

with a physical description the

22:07

time the police couldn't be certain of

22:09

what is he was wearing the last time she

22:11

was seen to do an issue with interpreting

22:14

what her parents were trying to tell them wires

22:17

were produce using a recent image of

22:19

g and they were posted all over town

22:21

and local businesses on telephone poles

22:24

trees fences and everywhere in between

22:27

the flyers describe g as being four

22:29

feet eleven inches tall weighing approximately

22:31

seventy pounds and say that the she had

22:33

brown eyes black hair and affair

22:36

complex though investigators

22:38

were still trying to determine where she had gone

22:40

after leaving her family home they

22:42

did manage to find a series of witnesses

22:45

who recalled seeing the twelve year old as

22:47

a result of multiple interviews detectives

22:49

added to the flyers that she was last

22:52

seen that the seven eleven convenience store

22:54

in the northeast at the coup a kimi

22:56

street intersection during

22:59

these first days of the investigation into

23:01

geez abduction while law enforcement

23:03

were trying to find any clues they could grasp

23:05

on to believe family were struggling

23:08

to accept the harsh reality neighbors

23:10

and friends came over each day bringing

23:12

food and supplies to chinese some of

23:14

the families burden we yeah

23:17

i was heartbroken believed her daughter

23:19

would be located in brought home safely

23:22

it's difficult to imagine what must have been going

23:24

on in her mind as they come to america

23:26

just two years earlier hoping to provide

23:28

a better life for their children the now

23:31

their daughter was gone and they were nearly

23:33

alone in a strange new country

23:36

the hopes of establishing some kind of a timeline

23:39

and perhaps the direction to look the

23:41

honolulu police began a large canvassing

23:43

operation which first focused in on the least

23:45

neighbors

23:47

one neighbour who had previously purchased tickets

23:49

from he explained to police that shortly

23:51

after three thirty she'd spot of

23:53

the child approaching cars driving down

23:55

the road tried to sell tickets to the

23:58

another neighbor told the average

23:59

is your that he had attempted to sell him a ticket

24:02

but he'd already bought one earlier in the we

24:05

the mayor it seemed he left her street

24:07

and made her way towards one of the to seven

24:10

elevens according to leon

24:12

gino her limits and when she left the house

24:15

she never went any further away than

24:17

school st the clerk working

24:19

at the cool keenly street store believed

24:22

he saw as you that afternoon the

24:24

explained to the advertiser quote can't

24:27

remember whether it was wednesday or

24:29

thursday but she was here by yourself

24:32

you picked up a notch yo and tried to give me a

24:34

chilly ticket i don't know she was trying

24:36

to pay for the not you with a ticket i

24:38

told her i couldn't take it then she laughed

24:41

and

24:42

while the clerk saw lot of different people

24:44

every day he remembered she's telling

24:47

police that she often came by with her older

24:49

sister in the afternoons to pick up a can

24:51

of soda and sometimes some candy

24:54

according to the clerk his interaction

24:56

with g occurred around four pm

24:58

which at this point in the investigation

25:00

was now the latest time they had a confirmed

25:03

sighting of the twelve year old in

25:05

an attempt to track you down investigators

25:08

brought in tracking dogs who were given a sample

25:10

the child's sense before being brought

25:12

out to search long new ah no avenue

25:15

unfortunately the dog seemingly never managed

25:17

to pick up on she's sent em were unable

25:19

to tracker while canvassing

25:22

had turned up the seven eleven clerk at it

25:24

yielded few other results essentially

25:27

investigators managed to confirm what they'd

25:29

suspected that she had been at seven

25:31

eleven but it didn't give them anywhere new

25:33

to go asked about the possibility

25:36

that g may have been a runaway rather than

25:38

having been abducted sergeant arthur

25:40

lead word told the advertiser quote

25:43

i'm not saying there is foul play

25:45

i'm saying we suspect south

25:48

quick

25:49

new jersey his disappearance spread

25:52

across the island the honolulu police

25:54

began receiving calls from all around

25:56

a waffle people everywhere claim

25:58

to have cited the child and the day then hours

26:00

after her disappearance leaving investigators

26:03

to sort through countless leads many

26:05

of which were ultimately dead ends

26:07

as a result the honolulu police

26:09

and out an island wide alert and patrol

26:12

officers who's beats were in the general area

26:14

of she's out disappearance were

26:16

put on high alert to keep their eyes open for

26:18

the child or anything suspicious

26:20

that might be connected to her the

26:23

morning of monday february fifteenth

26:25

g had been missing for nearly four days

26:28

and a weekend worth of searching and canvassing

26:30

haven't turned up a great deal of information

26:32

although some new witnesses were discovered

26:35

their statements now adjusted the timeline

26:37

moving the last confirmed sighting of g

26:40

from four pm to four forty five

26:43

though would still place to at the same seven

26:45

eleven according to sergeant lead

26:47

word all of the sightings after

26:49

four pm were of she outside

26:52

trying to sell tickets to customers in the parking

26:54

lot explained quote we

26:57

have a lot of information to check out but

26:59

none that we've already looked at has giving

27:01

us anything from to go on the

27:04

still was last seen outside

27:06

the store the and co wednesday

27:09

february seventeenth marked the celebration

27:12

of chinese new year but for the li family

27:14

there would be no happiness or excitement

27:17

while concerned friends and neighbors came by

27:19

to try and support the family they found

27:22

them in a dark states and little could be

27:24

done to shake them free of the grease that

27:26

was overwhelming them speaking

27:28

to the star bulletin leon explained

27:31

quote there is no new year

27:33

for us there is no joy in my

27:35

heart only of she comes home

27:37

only then will my heart be at peace

27:40

he didn't even have a meal before she left

27:42

that afternoon the isn't a

27:44

reckless type or naughty girl

27:47

if you told or a certain time to be home

27:50

she be home

27:51

and co

27:53

the same day the honolulu police

27:55

once again appeal to the public for assistance

27:58

they noted that since

27:59

initial report of these disappearance more

28:02

than thirty officers had been involved in

28:04

search efforts though they were struggling to pick

28:06

up any solid leads while

28:08

they were leaning heavily towards a belief that this

28:10

was indeed a case involving foul play

28:13

detectives noted that they hadn't yet spoken

28:15

to any witnesses who had seen g

28:17

in any suspicious or dangerous situation

28:20

mild witnesses had been helpful it

28:23

also managed to create a state of confusion

28:25

making the investigation all the more difficult

28:28

while some witnesses place g at

28:30

the cool a kieny street seven eleven around

28:33

for forty five pm others

28:35

place or at the north school st store

28:37

at the same time the urgent

28:39

lead word would later explained saying quote

28:42

we can't be sure where she was

28:44

last

28:45

and quote on thursday

28:47

february eighteenth one week

28:49

after she had last been seen the

28:51

police decided to organize a series of roadblocks

28:54

along new one new avenue near each

28:56

of the seven elevens as well as on kailua

28:59

street where she lived more than

29:01

forty police officers were involved in

29:03

these roadblocks at which they spoke to drivers

29:05

and showed them photos of g asking

29:07

whether or not they recalled seeing the child

29:09

a week earlier or in the days since

29:12

the dot on the buses that stopped in the area

29:15

in question drivers and passengers

29:17

they hung around the seven elevens and question customers

29:20

and teenagers hanging out they

29:22

were also able to expand their description

29:24

of the child as an interpreter working

29:26

with the family explain that when last

29:29

seen g had been wearing white

29:31

shorts with three hearts on them

29:33

a beige or light yellow t shirt

29:35

was a single long some flour on

29:37

it and blue slippers sergeant

29:40

roy are a coward explain the road

29:42

blocks telling the advertiser quote

29:45

we're hoping somebody might have seen something just

29:47

helping this happened in the daytime

29:50

so i feel somebody must have seen

29:52

something the and cool the

29:54

digital camera thing was going on at the same

29:57

time with detectives going door to door all

29:59

around the area

30:00

wilders didn't result in a great deal of new

30:02

information they did manage to track

30:04

down at least one person who claim to have

30:06

seen she's on her own street

30:09

near her home at approximately

30:11

five pm the witness

30:13

however claim to have seen she's

30:15

speaking to an unknown man and

30:17

while police believe this could be a positive

30:20

lead they needed more time to develop

30:22

a composite sketch before they could announce

30:24

to the public exactly who they were looking

30:26

for on saturday

30:28

february twentieth investigators

30:30

finally issued a description of someone

30:33

they were looking to question according

30:35

to lieutenant gary d as g

30:37

had been seen speaking with an unknown man

30:40

outside of the school streets seven eleven

30:42

between four thirty and for forty five

30:44

pm the man who would also

30:46

been seen in the same area by another

30:49

witness earlier in the day had

30:51

been represented by to composites

30:53

based on interviews with different witnesses

30:56

the man was described as being why six

30:58

feet tall and slender with a high

31:01

forehead and long dirty blonde

31:03

hair brushed back from his face his

31:06

appearance was described as needs

31:08

with witnesses putting him in a blue green

31:10

plaid shirt and ten pants

31:13

lieutenant the as made it clear that while they wanted

31:15

to speak to this man they had no evidence

31:18

to suggest he was involved in any crime

31:20

lieutenant the as explained quote we

31:23

aren't accusing him of anything we're

31:25

not calling him a suspect we just

31:27

want to talk to him we're not saying

31:29

he's the last person who saw her in

31:31

fact we have sightings of her from

31:33

three thirty to five fifteen pm

31:36

and while

31:37

i'm going to release of the sketches the police

31:39

were flooded with more than fifty calls

31:42

attempting to identify the man or give

31:44

locations where he had been seen

31:46

several callers please the unknown man in the waikiki

31:49

area saying that is often seen hanging

31:51

around the beach in hopes of drumming

31:54

up more participation from the public to

31:56

rewards were organized for information

31:58

leading to she's safe

31:59

turn

32:01

the be restaurant who created the chili for

32:03

the fundraiser and southland corporation

32:05

who operated the seven elevens combined

32:08

to offer two thousand five hundred dollars

32:10

the chinese chamber of commerce

32:13

of hawaii and the united states

32:15

chinese society also started

32:17

a fond and were at the time offering

32:19

twenty thousand dollars that

32:22

about progress on the investigation lieutenant

32:25

the as told the media that they were still in search

32:27

of solid leads them are working to track down

32:30

all of the cause they'd receive for

32:32

the coming days the has announced they

32:34

would once again be canvassing the neighborhood

32:36

in the meantime a private search

32:38

effort was being executed run

32:41

by the why state emergency unit

32:43

a nonprofit search and rescue squad

32:46

volunteer searchers we're focusing in on

32:48

areas which had been reported as potential

32:50

hot spots by to so called psychics

32:53

no traces of g were found unfortunately

32:57

on monday february twenty seconds the

32:59

honolulu police issued new information

33:01

to the public this time searching

33:03

for the driver of a very specific

33:05

car according to lieutenant

33:07

the as witnesses called in a reported

33:10

sighting of she which took place on

33:12

valentine's day three days

33:14

after she had disappeared according

33:16

to the witnesses they saw a young

33:18

girls who closely resembles g

33:21

sitting in the back seat of a car at a sunset

33:23

beach area service station approximately

33:26

forty miles north of honolulu and on

33:28

the opposite coast of allahu the

33:31

witnesses described the vehicle as being

33:33

and nineteen fifty four to nineteen

33:35

fifty seven chevy yellow

33:37

and color they described the car

33:39

is having multiple primer spots on

33:41

it specifically on the hood driver's

33:43

door and rear quarter panel the

33:46

vehicle had chrome rims and a

33:48

swan lake hood ornament the

33:50

car did not have the classic chevy

33:52

finn tailed back but was square

33:55

bad

33:56

reportedly he had been seen

33:58

in the car at approximately three

33:59

thirty pm while the driver was filling

34:02

the gas tank

34:03

the driver was described as a dark

34:05

skinned man in his thirties with

34:07

his hair pulled back into a ponytail

34:10

which had been died orange or orange

34:12

he blonde lieutenant the as

34:14

noted that they were going to be running computer checks

34:16

for the vehicle and would begin running down

34:18

the owners of similar vehicles in hopes

34:21

of finding the man described by witnesses

34:24

the as along with fifteen other officers

34:26

had already canvas the area and ask people

34:28

about the vehicle but no one knew the driver

34:31

nor seem to be familiar with the car

34:33

or if they were they couldn't offer much

34:35

information other than having seen the

34:37

car in the past the

34:40

yard noted that ten officers from the missing

34:42

persons unit we're still working the case

34:44

and they'd still receive ten to fifteen

34:46

calls per day on their tip line the

34:50

days following the release of this information

34:52

more than sixty people called in in an attempt

34:54

to identify the driver of the chevy the

34:57

kennedy as told the advertiser that

34:59

for the moment they were prioritizing

35:01

callers over the computer printout

35:04

explaining quote computers

35:06

will just give us a list of license numbers

35:08

for the four years that's quite a few

35:10

cars and we can spend a good deal

35:12

of time on each one just to locate

35:14

a car and then meet with it's own or to

35:16

see if he fits our description we

35:19

don't get anything right away from the public will

35:21

be going to the computer this week

35:24

but as a last resort remember

35:26

this car driver is not wanted as

35:28

a suspect we just wanna talk with

35:30

him there can't be but one

35:32

maybe two of those chevrolets here

35:34

but the yellow paint and primer in the right

35:36

place all we need is someone

35:39

who saw it and new what color was yellow

35:41

with gray spots on valentine's day

35:44

the call us today

35:45

and while

35:47

valdez secretary

35:50

for the royal hawaiian plastic chevy

35:52

club stated that she had spoken with

35:54

police though no one the club seem to recognize

35:56

the description of the chevy that have been given

35:59

in addition

35:59

this she explained that while the

36:02

dmv print out listed approximately

36:04

four hundred and twenty five vehicles registered

36:06

that fit that description there

36:08

were likely well over two hundred more

36:10

on the island which were not registered

36:14

that no one recognized the car or a description

36:16

of the driver valdez speculated

36:19

that the man was likely a loner and

36:21

not someone who was associated with their club

36:24

while the hunt for the chevy and it's owner was

36:26

a top priority a d

36:28

as wanted to make it clear that this was

36:30

not their own we leave telling

36:32

reporters quotes were still asking

36:35

for information about that caucasian

36:37

man who sketch was released last

36:39

week and quo in march

36:42

three weeks after she's disappearance

36:44

the honolulu police received a bizarre and

36:46

disturbing call at ten

36:48

pm a man dialed nine one one operator

36:51

and related grim story

36:53

according to the color who the operator

36:55

described the sounding frightened

36:58

another man he was spending time with

37:00

admitted to him that he had killed

37:02

z the color abruptly

37:05

ended the call saying that the man was coming back

37:07

and for police to call him the next day not

37:09

wanting to wait lieutenant the as

37:12

in several officers went to the man's home

37:14

and questioned him about at all the

37:16

end it added up to little more

37:18

than a drunken call from someone who'd made

37:20

up a disturbing story that

37:23

wasn't bad enough it was but one

37:25

prank of many with the as telling

37:27

the advertiser quote i can't

37:29

begin to tell you how many of these calls

37:31

we've had let me tell you that

37:34

was not the worst and quote

37:37

according to the as they were receiving between sixty

37:39

and seventy tips a day for the first weeks of

37:41

the investigation but that number

37:43

was beginning to drop off down

37:46

every lead they had and while some

37:48

took only hours others two days

37:51

and in the end didn't bring them any closer

37:53

to finding out what had happened to see that

37:56

about their investigation into the yellow chevy

37:59

the explain that of the four hundred and

38:01

twenty five cars on the list given to them

38:03

by the dmz been already checked to

38:05

three hundred and twenty five

38:07

this point d as noted investigators

38:10

were beginning to question the veracity of

38:12

the reporting explaining quote the

38:15

public's focus has been on the yellow

38:17

car we have lots of people

38:19

seeing her at the seven eleven store encore

38:21

kieny streets on the day she disappeared

38:24

there is not one sighting of that car

38:27

we can either get more information from the

38:29

driver or weaken eliminated

38:31

as a possibility com

38:33

a tips we get the don't know until

38:35

you check it out we have to look into

38:37

them no matter how time consuming and frustrating

38:40

it is you can ignore it

38:42

you never know

38:43

maybe tomorrow we get a tip that

38:45

solves the mystery for us

38:47

and quo

38:49

unfortunately the investigation

38:51

began growing stagnant and the honolulu

38:54

police acknowledge that as tips were drying

38:56

up so we're directions to take

38:58

the case the number of officers

39:00

assigned was reduced little by

39:02

little as other crimes required

39:04

immediate attention law

39:06

enforcement slowly pulled back from searches

39:09

a private group began organizing

39:11

large an expansive search efforts focus

39:13

on covering every square inch of the island

39:16

the group led by retired military

39:19

policeman frank lead and honolulu

39:21

attorney wilson m n loose

39:24

drew and thousands of volunteers right

39:27

we organize the searches to begin close

39:29

to where she was last seen and then

39:31

slowly span outward going

39:33

to the most isolated valleys and streams

39:35

in search of the child among

39:37

those who volunteered was susan suzuki

39:40

the sister of diane suzuki

39:42

a nineteen year old university of hawaii

39:45

student who had mysteriously vanished

39:47

three years earlier in nineteen eighty five

39:50

why who was carved up into twenty one

39:52

designated areas for volunteers to

39:54

search i agree gave extensive

39:57

instructions on what to do should anything be

39:59

found

39:59

the trust their instincts and how to not

40:02

disturb potential evidence

40:04

locals were joined by off duty military

40:06

members rotc students

40:08

off duty firemen and others who

40:10

wanted to help give their time to try and track

40:12

down the missing twelve year old

40:15

multiple searches were held over the next few

40:17

months with thousands involve researchers

40:20

covered a large area of a was who

40:22

though in the end they never found anything

40:25

that could bring them any closer to z

40:27

or the person responsible for her disappearance

40:30

despite sat back after setback

40:33

they were unwilling to give up with lead

40:35

telling the advertiser quote we'll

40:37

keep on going until we find

40:39

that girl how can we give up

40:42

and co

40:43

by the end of april more than two and a half

40:45

months had passed and still there were no new

40:47

leads developments and

40:49

the men sought by police remained on identified

40:52

wilson lou the lawyer

40:54

who had helped organize searches revealed

40:56

to the media that they'd found a witness who

40:59

claim to have seen g being pulled

41:01

through the seven eleven by her arm

41:03

by another boy believed to be

41:05

around her age the boy

41:07

allegedly introduce is he as his

41:09

sister know the twelve year old did not

41:12

have any brothers while they

41:14

were excited about this lead lieutenant

41:16

d as was less enthusiastic

41:18

reporting that they'd heard the same report but

41:21

their investigation had determined there was

41:23

little too the lead citing

41:25

occurred at approximately ten am on

41:27

the day of geez disappearance and

41:29

school records confirm that z was

41:31

at school all day meaning

41:33

she could not have been at the seven eleven better

41:36

blue also reported that they were searching

41:39

for an older aged man allegedly

41:41

seen talking to g around five

41:43

pm on the day of her disappearance for

41:46

his part lieutenant the as noted

41:48

that they hadn't had any witnesses telling

41:50

them anything like that and as such they

41:52

had no additional information about who

41:54

the man may have been where the conversation

41:57

might have taken place or if indeed

41:59

it was the that was seen at all

42:02

they're me

42:03

this is where the search for g begins

42:05

to drop off more rapidly

42:07

throughout the spring and summer of nineteen

42:09

eighty eight details regarding her

42:11

case slipped from the headlines

42:14

and while her case continued to be work

42:16

it doesn't appear as though a daily hunt

42:18

was occurring anymore the

42:21

november nine long months

42:23

after she's disappearance it seemed

42:25

that all avenues had been exhausted

42:28

investigators noted that they hadn't had a new

42:30

lead in a long time and they

42:32

hadn't been able to track down either of

42:34

the men they wish to question nor the

42:36

yellow chevy that witnesses claim to

42:38

have seen she and during

42:41

his time running search efforts for the girls

42:43

frankly told reporters that he'd received

42:45

a few different tips suggesting

42:47

that the twelve year old may have been abducted by someone

42:50

with ties to sex trafficking

42:53

as for the honolulu police the

42:55

end of nineteen eighty eight while she's

42:57

case was still classified as an endangered

43:00

missing person the majority of

43:02

investigators believe that the child

43:04

at likely been the victim of a homicide

43:07

they're the case truly began growing

43:09

cold and soon they turned

43:11

two weeks weeks to months and

43:14

months to years in

43:17

august of ninety ninety four

43:19

frankly was continuing his search

43:21

for g older and in

43:23

worse shape and struggling with medical issues

43:26

leave was still determined as ever to find

43:28

the missing child asked about

43:31

his involvement li explained quote

43:33

it's something i can forget

43:35

i told my wife i can truly see a

43:37

light at the end of the tunnel

43:39

if i get well i'll start all

43:41

over

43:42

what got me was these people didn't know the

43:44

society they were lost and

43:47

they needed help shame on me

43:49

if i don't share my knowledge and

43:51

close attorney

43:53

wilson lou had not yet given up either

43:56

and both men acknowledge that they had been in communication

43:58

with and working with

43:59

the national center for missing and exploited

44:02

children or nicht mack

44:04

in hopes of revitalizing the case nick

44:06

mack was developing a new age

44:09

progressed photograph to show woodsy

44:11

would look like six years later when

44:13

she would have been nineteen years old

44:16

eight months later in april of ninety ninety five

44:19

nick mack finally completed the age progression

44:21

and was ready to distribute the new updated

44:23

image of she however this

44:26

would not be a mere flyer campaign

44:28

instead nick mack teamed up

44:30

with advo incorporated a

44:32

direct mail based company in connecticut

44:35

who have an extensive address book adverb

44:38

have been issuing advertisements for their products

44:41

which also showed the images of missing persons

44:44

on monday april tenth what

44:46

would have been seized twentieth birthday

44:49

became the launch day for this new program

44:52

more than fifty seven million

44:54

households across the country would

44:56

receive the advertisement which she's

44:58

photos both the original

45:00

and the age progressed along

45:02

with a detailed description and information

45:05

regarding her disappearance

45:07

and clerk in a coordinator working

45:10

with nick mack explain that after

45:12

the first mailings one out they began receiving

45:14

calls from all across the country

45:16

any calls was vital information were

45:18

immediately directed to the honolulu police

45:21

of they could conduct follow ups and try

45:23

to track down potential leads

45:25

according to investigators they received

45:27

approximately thirty leads with potential

45:31

officer just of self was optimistic

45:33

telling the star bullets in quote

45:35

the been seven years someone

45:37

may have come up with a good lead we

45:41

just have to work with whatever we get

45:44

unfortunately like so many other

45:47

tips investigators would find

45:49

themselves no closer to the truth and

45:51

she's case by the summer of ninety ninety

45:53

five began growing cold again

45:57

three years later in january of ninety nine

45:59

the aid the star bulletin sat down

46:02

for an interview with leon just

46:04

one month before february would mark

46:06

ten years that she had been missing

46:08

while as time passed

46:10

the perspective on the case grew darker with

46:12

many investigators believing that she

46:15

had likely been killed leon

46:17

refuse to accept this saying that

46:19

until her daughter was found alive

46:21

or dead

46:22

they had no way of knowing what had happened to

46:24

her

46:26

they would become more difficult for the li family

46:28

over the previous decades dre

46:30

pain and grief about the loss of their daughter

46:33

made it hard to maintain a job to

46:35

get heavily involved and family events

46:37

and to move on one

46:39

point the couple were moved out of the small

46:42

garage apartments and while they appreciated

46:44

the effort which had placed them into a more proper

46:46

home leon didn't wanna lose

46:48

out on the possibility of g calling

46:51

home one day those use maintain

46:53

the same phone number since nineteen

46:55

eighty eight leon was continuing

46:57

to work hard to support her family though

46:59

medical issues and signed lines her husband's

47:02

unfortunately the family had little they could

47:04

cling to to remind them of their daughter

47:07

leon kept a valentine's day cards z

47:09

had given her in the days before her disappearance

47:12

the only one photo which remains

47:15

the rest having been given to the media

47:17

and never returned two

47:20

years later in january of two thousand

47:22

leon finally achieved one of her

47:24

dreams by obtaining american citizenship

47:27

the years she had tried to become a citizen

47:29

the found herself unable to focus overwhelmed

47:32

by stress and pain asked

47:34

about the development leon gave

47:37

a thumbs up saying that she was thrilled to have

47:39

seen her dream come true but

47:41

that her most powerful wish continues to

47:43

remain her desperate hope that someday

47:45

somehow she will see her daughter

47:48

again eight

47:50

years later in february of two thousand

47:52

eight is it officially been twenty years

47:55

and z mysteriously vanished from the streets

47:57

of honolulu

47:58

the an effort once

47:59

then to revitalize the case nick

48:02

mack issued another age progressed

48:04

photo showing what she would look

48:06

like at the age of thirty two

48:08

using photos of she his parents and siblings

48:11

spread out over the years they

48:13

hope to develop what her appearance would most

48:15

closely resemble after twenty years

48:18

while we yeah and said they hadn't been in contact

48:21

with police for quite some time run

48:24

jones nick max senior case manager

48:26

explain that they maintain contact with

48:29

investigators on a monthly basis

48:31

but there's been no recent developments

48:35

then years later in may of two

48:37

thousand and eighteen former lieutenant

48:39

gary d as sat down for an interview

48:42

with khl when news about several

48:44

cases he been involved in the

48:46

most prominent and most difficult

48:48

case for the as bushies abduction

48:52

his thoughts about the disappearance

48:54

the as replied quote well

48:56

i'm i'm on the group of people who believe the she

48:58

met with foul play

49:00

that being said i would pray that

49:02

i'm wrong that nothing happened to

49:04

her and somehow somewhere she's

49:06

alive and somewhere somehow

49:09

she will come forward if she is alive

49:12

you kind of always say did i do enough

49:15

did we do enough we felt

49:17

that the time of the incident we did the best

49:19

we could to try and locate her and

49:21

quo while

49:24

dsl day a done everything they could to

49:26

try and track down g and the person responsible

49:28

for her disappearance there was one

49:30

person one lead than

49:32

he could never pin down that

49:34

continues to haunt him to this day

49:38

in the early two thousand as the as released

49:40

a book about his experiences working

49:42

as a cop and honolulu

49:44

the book entitled on a lulu

49:46

homicide murder and mayhem and

49:48

paradise

49:49

in many cases the former investigator

49:52

were these cases

49:54

one that the as goes into in great detail

49:57

and it's their that he revealed for the first time

49:59

a lead

49:59

that's always stuck out in his mind

50:02

recorded a d as a beat cop

50:04

directed him to a local man who had gotten

50:07

himself into trouble on several occasions

50:09

for harassing young women as they walked

50:11

down the street

50:13

the man later diagnosed with schizophrenia

50:16

talked and behaved in an odd manner

50:18

the often would refer to himself in the third

50:21

person saying he did this

50:23

or he did that when really he was talking

50:25

about himself

50:27

at one point when asked about g

50:30

the man told lieutenant the as that

50:32

quote

50:33

he took her up to new one and stream

50:35

and co

50:37

cause the as the launch a massive

50:39

search of the stream which involve tracking

50:41

dogs adapter dogs the swat

50:43

teams and countless others who offered

50:45

to search every inch

50:47

unfortunately they never found

50:49

anything to bring them closer to see according

50:53

to lieutenant d as they questioned

50:55

the man multiple times but they couldn't get a great

50:57

deal of information out of in

50:59

an effort to push him d as told

51:01

the man they no longer needed is help and

51:03

wouldn't be talking to him anymore while

51:05

they hope this would cause the man to give them additional

51:08

information to keep their attention instead

51:11

it resulted in the man coming to lieutenant

51:13

the as his home with a gun to threaten

51:15

him ultimately the man was

51:17

arrested and given mental health care

51:20

but he never revealed what if anything

51:23

he truly knew about the disappearance

51:25

of she's out late

51:29

the valley was last seen between

51:31

four thirty and five pm in

51:33

the vicinity of the seven eleven at the intersection

51:35

of new want to avenue and north korea

51:37

kieny street on thursday february

51:40

eleventh nineteen eighty the

51:43

diner for disappearance g was described

51:45

as being an asian female with black

51:47

hair and brown eyes standing

51:49

four feet eleven inches tall and weighing approximately

51:52

seventy pounds the

51:54

teeth were slightly crooked at the time

51:56

and her eye teeth were only partially grown

51:59

in the was born in china

52:02

but lived in honolulu from nineteen eighty five

52:04

until her disappearance

52:06

he was still learning the english language though

52:09

she can understand more of it than she could speak

52:12

he was last seen wearing white shorts

52:14

with three hearts on them a beige

52:17

or light yellow t shirts with a single

52:19

long stem flower on it and

52:21

blue slippers the was

52:23

twelve years old at the time of her disappearance

52:25

and if alive today she would have

52:27

turned forty seven years old this

52:30

past april in nineteen eighty

52:32

five believe families dreams

52:34

came true there were finally able

52:36

to escape the oppression in control of

52:38

the chinese government's coming to america

52:40

in search of a better life for them and their

52:42

children that me within

52:45

two years of arriving in their new country

52:47

believe family would suffer the painful and

52:50

haunting loss of their daughter she's

52:52

out

52:53

now more than thirty years later they

52:55

continue to hope that someday they'll

52:57

learn the truth the she

53:00

believes her daughter might still be out there somewhere

53:03

leon replied quote i

53:05

still think about her everyday

53:07

i'm still hoping she can return because

53:09

they can find her body and there is

53:11

no proof she is death

53:14

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53:16

heart

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56:55

williams jr

57:04

the man more

57:08

live , laos murder

57:23

some music group

57:28

the disappearance of she's our least

57:30

one of those cases where it's overwhelmingly

57:32

frustrating because it seems like almost

57:34

anything is possible twelve year

57:36

old girl leaves home and heads out to sell

57:38

tickets for a school fundraiser something

57:41

that happens in this country almost every

57:43

day this time now the

57:45

child didn't make it home and in the more

57:48

than thirty years since she was reported missing

57:50

the truth of what became of her and

57:52

who was responsible has remained elusive

57:55

in some cases you can become easily frustrated

57:58

because of the utter lack of evidence in

58:00

others it seems impossible that a case hasn't

58:02

been solved because there's so much evidence

58:04

the those cases a blending

58:06

of the two investigators have a fairly

58:09

good idea of what happened the just don't

58:11

have what they need to figure out where to go next

58:14

when you look over what we know for certain it doesn't

58:16

exactly add up to much the

58:18

to seven elevens that she's our was walking

58:21

back and forth between the day she went missing

58:23

were just a block north of where she lived

58:26

the doors were spaced out along new

58:28

ah new avenue with just three tenths of a mile

58:30

between them according to multiple

58:32

witnesses geez our would hang

58:34

out at one spot approach customers

58:37

as they drove into the parking lot to try and sell

58:39

them tickets and periodically she'd

58:41

walk down to the other store to continue the process

58:44

of course created a lot of confusion because

58:47

investigators were getting statements from witnesses

58:49

that place z's our both locations

58:52

at the same times clerk

58:54

working at the cool kieny street store

58:56

told police that he specifically remember

58:58

z coming and by herself strangely

59:01

for as many people actually saw z that

59:03

afternoons no one seems to seem

59:05

where she went after seven eleven

59:08

depending on which tips you follow they

59:10

take you in different directions the

59:12

first account police received which made them believe

59:14

they were on to something came when several witnesses

59:17

reported seeing she's speaking to an unknown

59:19

white male between four thirty and for

59:21

forty five pm reportedly

59:24

this interaction occurred outside of the to a

59:26

keenly store and depending

59:28

on which witness you rely on the to seem

59:30

to be speaking for anywhere between five

59:32

and ten minutes while several

59:34

people saw this interaction no one actually

59:36

saw what happened after while

59:38

it's entirely possible that the man went on

59:40

with his day and thought nothing of it it's also

59:43

possible that he convinced she'd come along

59:45

with them no one reported

59:47

screams of any kind or a struggle sir

59:49

whether or not he did go with this man

59:51

remains unknown the

59:53

day the composite sketch is are available

59:56

but investigators never managed to track down

59:58

and identified the person witnesses

59:59

described

1:00:01

that lake a white guy was long

1:00:03

dirty blonde hair wearing a blue green

1:00:05

flannel and ten pants isn't exactly

1:00:07

the kind of description that really makes someone

1:00:09

stand out from the crowd

1:00:12

next up is the tip regarding the little girl

1:00:14

being seen in the backseat of an older model

1:00:16

shabby the countess fascinating

1:00:18

for two reasons it's highly

1:00:20

detailed at least regarding descriptions

1:00:23

of the vehicles and it's the same time

1:00:25

there's nothing to support

1:00:26

police were contacted by group of friends

1:00:29

who were in the sunset beach area on valentine's

1:00:31

day february fourteen

1:00:33

three days after she had last been

1:00:35

seen according to them they

1:00:37

saw a child sitting geez description

1:00:39

sitting in the back of a nineteen fifty four

1:00:41

to nineteen fifty seven chevy the

1:00:44

car was yellow and color at chrome

1:00:46

rims and a swan like hood ornament

1:00:49

the witnesses stated that the chevy needed work

1:00:51

as there were gray primer spots on the hood

1:00:53

driver's door and rear quarter panel

1:00:56

the driver himself was described as a dark

1:00:58

skinned man in his thirties with his

1:01:00

hair in a ponytail that was died orange

1:01:02

or orange blonde while

1:01:04

on it sounds very intriguing there's a couple

1:01:06

of details that police found confusing was

1:01:10

it that the witnesses got such a good look at the car

1:01:12

but such a fleeting glance at the girl in the backseat

1:01:14

and the driver according to investigators

1:01:17

it sounded like the person reporting this tip

1:01:19

was very familiar with cars and

1:01:22

was able to describe details that the average

1:01:24

person might have missed but it's the same

1:01:26

time mile they could give a super detailed

1:01:28

description of the vehicle the never saw the

1:01:30

license plate what direction the car

1:01:32

was going to were coming from any

1:01:35

interactions between driver in the child

1:01:37

there sure is all can have happened relatively

1:01:40

fast but investigators were hesitant

1:01:42

to rely too heavily on these witness accounts

1:01:45

it wasn't just because of what the witnesses

1:01:47

said but more so because of what

1:01:50

other witnesses didn't say while

1:01:52

plenty of people had seen see that afternoon

1:01:55

on our own street going door to door walking

1:01:58

along new one new avenue stopping

1:02:00

any to the seven elevens not one

1:02:02

person had reported any vehicle in the

1:02:05

area that match the yellow chevy nor

1:02:07

did anyone give a description of someone

1:02:09

interacting with geez that even

1:02:11

remotely resemble the driver witnesses

1:02:13

described according to detectives

1:02:16

while they found people who claim to have seen

1:02:18

that car around the area they

1:02:20

never managed to track down anyone who actually

1:02:22

knew the driver or could point them in a new

1:02:25

direction it's strange

1:02:27

that so many people remember g

1:02:29

but no one could remember this car

1:02:32

of course there's always the chance that the car wasn't

1:02:34

actually there that day it it

1:02:36

is yellow chevy and the driver weren't

1:02:38

involved in any way and it was all a matter

1:02:40

of mistaken identity or

1:02:42

i think it's worth considering that just

1:02:44

because someone may have had custody of z

1:02:47

in the sunset beach area that valentine's

1:02:49

day does not mean they were directly involved

1:02:51

in the abduction now don't get me

1:02:53

wrong if she was in the car i don't

1:02:55

consider the driver innocent by any means

1:02:58

but he may have been the next lincoln the chain perhaps

1:03:01

someone abducted g and sold her to this

1:03:03

man or maybe this guy's involved and

1:03:05

trafficking children and was transporting her

1:03:07

to another location honestly

1:03:10

with as little information as we've got it's

1:03:12

hard to know for sure so if

1:03:14

you turn away from the white guy with the

1:03:16

long blonde hair or the driver

1:03:18

the yellow chevy that really only

1:03:20

leaves you with one other option lieutenant

1:03:22

d as as person of interest we

1:03:25

don't know a lot about the guy d as described

1:03:28

but just based on the things the man allegedly

1:03:30

said it's not hard to consider him a viable

1:03:32

person of interest when asked about

1:03:34

g he had several replies sometimes

1:03:37

saying she'd been taken down to the new on

1:03:39

his stream other time saying he knew

1:03:41

where she was or where she was being

1:03:43

kept unfortunately the more

1:03:45

the man was question the less reliable as

1:03:47

responses seem to become factor

1:03:49

in that he was later diagnosed with schizophrenia

1:03:52

and you have to ask yourself the i

1:03:54

actually know something about she's disappearance

1:03:56

or are his responses a result of his mental

1:03:58

health issues i think

1:04:01

it's worth noting that lieutenant the as stated

1:04:03

that the man was brought to his attention by a patrolman

1:04:06

according to the as this unidentified man

1:04:08

had gotten into trouble before for harassing

1:04:10

young women as they walked down the street

1:04:13

unfortunately no additional information

1:04:15

is given so i don't know if this is describing

1:04:17

the guy yelling out to women and harassing

1:04:20

them or things were getting physical and

1:04:22

threatening i think it also stands

1:04:24

out that it will really nice to know their definition

1:04:26

of a young woman he harassing

1:04:29

women over eighteen or was he primarily

1:04:31

targeting children that were closer disease

1:04:33

age the vita to say

1:04:36

i don't think investigators were to spend a ton of

1:04:38

time on this guy interviewing him trying to

1:04:40

get to the bottom of it if they thought he was

1:04:42

making it up or was completely off

1:04:44

base there's been a lot of time

1:04:46

talking to him and even launched a massive

1:04:48

search of the new one who stream because

1:04:50

of the things he said the

1:04:52

problem is we just don't know what's reliable

1:04:54

and what isn't it could one hundred

1:04:56

percent believe that he saw sheets

1:04:59

or saw what happened to work or was directly

1:05:01

involved in what happened and he could still

1:05:03

be wrong i tend to fall into

1:05:05

the camp with this case where i think it's possible

1:05:07

the sky news something saw something

1:05:10

or was told something about z's disappearance

1:05:13

but i don't think there's any solid way to get that

1:05:15

information out the later

1:05:17

went on into treatment and was medicaid

1:05:19

for his schizophrenia i find it

1:05:21

hard to believe detectives wouldn't have returned to

1:05:23

interview him again after he was treated

1:05:26

but it's also entirely possible that when they

1:05:28

did speak to him again the had no

1:05:30

recollection of anything related

1:05:32

to she's out i think this

1:05:34

is one of those cases where we all

1:05:36

know what likely happen the

1:05:39

twelve year old girl outselling raffle tickets

1:05:41

mysteriously disappears extensive

1:05:43

searches of the island turned up nothing

1:05:45

over months and months not

1:05:47

a trace of genius found no

1:05:49

shred of clothing know strand of hair

1:05:52

nothing

1:05:53

lead many to believe that foul play

1:05:55

had to have been involved with g

1:05:57

either being abducted in kept by someone

1:05:59

in the air the abducted in traffic

1:06:01

to another location or perhaps

1:06:03

abducted and kill

1:06:06

now while i have a rather jaded and

1:06:08

pessimistic view of this world this

1:06:10

is an instance where i can't just rule it out

1:06:12

completely that she could still

1:06:14

be alive someone

1:06:16

could have abducted her with intentions of raising

1:06:18

her as their own

1:06:20

someone else may have abducted her and soldier and

1:06:22

to some kind of human trafficking

1:06:24

while the smart money seems to be on the theory

1:06:26

that she was abducted and likely killed

1:06:28

within days there's always the chance

1:06:31

to see still out there somewhere maybe

1:06:33

she didn't know who she used to be maybe

1:06:35

she was raised by a family that convinced her

1:06:38

they were her family or perhaps

1:06:40

she's been through so many dramatic situations

1:06:42

the she has no way of remembering her life

1:06:45

before she was taken regardless

1:06:48

i think it's important to keep her story alive

1:06:50

and with nick met continuing to age progress

1:06:53

or photographs maybe there's a chance

1:06:55

that someday we'll know what happened

1:06:59

thirty four years ago twelve year old

1:07:01

geez our li mysteriously vanished

1:07:04

while selling tickets for a school fundraiser

1:07:06

for nearly four decades or family have wondered

1:07:09

what became of her where she was taken

1:07:11

and whether or not she's still alive they

1:07:14

maintain their hope that some daisy will make

1:07:16

your way back home and they'll finally be

1:07:18

reunited while investigators

1:07:21

remain grim believing that she

1:07:23

was likely killed they can't prove

1:07:25

it

1:07:26

and until that day her mother will

1:07:28

never accept that she is not alive

1:07:30

out there in the world somewhere trying

1:07:32

to make her way home

1:07:34

that li without new information

1:07:36

someone coming forward or the discovery

1:07:39

of new evidence the disappearance

1:07:41

of she's our league will remain

1:07:43

open unsolved very

1:07:46

cold

1:07:54

loading the kids in the car brokering

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peace in the backseat during the snack

1:07:58

hands off without him

1:08:01

no complicated but thankfully

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with auto owner's insurance doesn't have

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to be one of them we work with independent

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agency live in your community know you by

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1:08:14

about more important things

1:08:16

mike figuring out what's growing and

1:08:18

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1:08:18

older that symposium incense

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ask your independence auto owners make sense

1:08:23

for you

1:08:27

if you're looking for more information about

1:08:29

the disappearance of she's our leave

1:08:31

there are many newspaper articles forum

1:08:34

posts and new specials covering

1:08:36

her case the most helpful

1:08:38

articles for this story came

1:08:40

from the honolulu star bulletin and

1:08:42

the honolulu advertiser if

1:08:45

you have any information about

1:08:47

the disappearance of geez our li

1:08:50

please contact the honolulu police

1:08:52

department

1:08:54

zero eight five to

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nine three one

1:08:58

one one

1:08:59

the case number is before

1:09:02

nine zero three

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what do you believe happened

1:09:07

tweet me at trace of pod

1:09:10

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1:09:12

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1:09:14

at trace evidence pod at gmail

1:09:16

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1:09:18

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1:09:21

would not be possible without support

1:09:23

from amazing listeners like you

1:09:26

and now i'd like to take a moment to thank

1:09:28

are fantastic patriarch producers

1:09:32

only issue lorraine

1:09:33

in birch room

1:09:35

brittany bibbins

1:09:37

christine greco

1:09:39

cove and

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denise things down

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donna bathroom yeah

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me dyson human

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brady delaware

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and meyer eric sumpter

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the air may pinto nearly

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christie

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the game

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the entry

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the

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jennifer winkler

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the ill send the

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only berkowitz julie

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mangano

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thera moreland

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ledley be

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the support option this

1:11:12

completes our look into the mysterious disappearance

1:11:15

of geez how li next week

1:11:17

i'm planning to release the q and release the

1:11:19

in celebration of our upcoming two hundredth

1:11:21

episode so if you've got a question

1:11:23

you'd like to ask about a case the show

1:11:26

me or anything in between send

1:11:28

it over to trace evidence pod at gmail

1:11:30

dot com or tag me with your

1:11:33

question on social media i'm

1:11:35

looking forward to answering anything you want

1:11:37

to know so once again thank

1:11:39

you again for listening and i hope you'll listen

1:11:41

next week to a special listener

1:11:43

q and a

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peace in the backseat during the snack

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hand off without even looking wires

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i'm no complicated but thankfully

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