CHENGDU, April 4 (Xinhua) -- A toddler who disappeared from her parent's fruit stall in southwest China's Chengdu 24 years ago was reunited with her family Tuesday, after a tireless search by her father.
Wang Mingqing, 50, and his wife Liu Dengying have been ceaselessly searching for their daughter Qifeng since she disappeared one afternoon in 1994. Qifeng now bears the name of Kang Ying and lives in the northeastern province of Jilin with her husband, son and daughter.
On Tuesday afternoon, Kang Ying boarded a flight from Changchun, capital of Jilin to visit her parents, 2,400 km away.
"I want to tell the world, I have a mother. I'm not a child who never had a mother," Kang said through her tears.
"I never thought about giving up, never. I thought when my wife and I die, our other children would carry on the search for their sister. My 24 year quest finally paid off," her father said.
LIFE CHANGED FOREVER
Wang Mingqing and Liu Dengying, originally from Tongxian Township, over 200 km from Chengdu, provincial capital of Sichuan Province, sold fruit near the Jiuyanqiao Bridge in the city.
The afternoon of Jan. 8, 1994, was a cold and wet one, but nonetheless, a busy day. Wang ran out of change and went to a nearby stall to get some.
When he returned, his daughter was gone. "I looked up and down the street, crossed the bridge, looked everywhere. She was nowhere to be found," Wang said.
"We told the police, put advertisements in newspapers, spent years searching the city and my hometown," he said.
The couple have since had a son and daughter, but never left Chengdu, always hoping that Qifeng would find her way back.
In the end of 2014, twenty years after Qifeng's disappearance, Wang started working for Uber and later for Didi. He put a sign in the rear window of his car appealing for information and gave cards and leaflets about his missing daughter to passengers.
"I feel sorry for my daughter. She never had good things to eat and did not even have a photo. The picture on the notice is of her younger sister. They look quite similar," Wang told Xinhua.
"She has a scar on her forehead. She felt nauseous when she cried. Please share this information, and help me find her," he told every passenger.
In three years as a driver, he carried over 10,000 passengers, telling and retelling the sad story of what happened that fateful afternoon when his life changed forever.
REUNION
Police officers sometimes accompanied by Xinhua reporters, have travelled to many parts of the country to identify women who could have been Qifeng, but DNA tests all drew a blank.
"I've contacted 20 people who could have been her," said Wang.
Last year, the breakthrough finally came. Police sketch artist Lin Yuhui read about Wang's story and decided to find time to help.
Lin is a forensic artist in eastern China's Shandong Province. He famously produced the sketch of the suspect in the disappearance of Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying in the United States last year.
Based on pictures and family information, Lin made two sketches of how Qifeng may have looked today and the pictures were put online.
"For the second sketch, it occurred to me that trafficked girls usually live in the countryside, so the second one looks more like a rural woman," Lin told Xinhua.
While Wang was frantically looking for her daughter, Kang grew up in Laifeng Township, just 20 kilometers from her parents' hometown.
Kang said she was told that she was picked up by a man on the roadside near Jiuyanqiao Bridge. Police suspect that the man who raised her was the kidnapper, but as he is now deceased, further investigation is almost impossible.
Wang Hongwei, an officer with the anti-human-trafficking squad in Chengdu police said they will continue to look into how she was taken, though it is a cold case and evidence hard to find.
"We will try everything we can to find out what happened," Wang said.
Kang met her husband while working in Jimo City in east China's Shandong Province. Four years ago, the couple moved to Jilin.
"I wanted to look for my own parents. The desire became stronger after I became a mother. I started to search information online. It was like I was bewitched those days. I kept checking reports. When I saw the sketches I just stared. They were so similar to me," Kang said.
She contacted Wang in March. A DNA test was conducted. On April 1, the result was positive.
NEVER GIVE UP
Wang expressed gratitude to volunteers, media and police officers who helped him with the search.
"I thank you so much. My daughter is finally back," he said in tears. Kang Ying plans to stay for a week and will travel with her parents to their hometown for the upcoming Tomb-Sweeping Day.
"I thank all the people who helped me return to my family. In the future, I will try my best to stay with my family," she said.
Jiang Xiaoling, head of anti human-trafficking division in Sichuan public security department, said the father's persistence was the key to their success.
A national anti human-trafficking DNA database has helped 5,000 families to reunite. Jiang advised people who suspect they are trafficked to take DNA tests with their police department.
"For those families who are still enduring the agony of a lost child, please don't give up. Never give up. There is always hope ahead," she said.
