Missing Chinese girl found safe with her parents

ASAM NEWS

A 12-year-old girl thought to be in “extreme danger” has been found safe in Queens, NY, reports ABC7 News.

JING JING MA

Friday afternoon (Aug. 3), The Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority reported the girl had been found safe.

CNN reports the girl is now in the custody of her parents, who have been living in the U.S. for two years.

According to ABC12, the whole thing had been a misunderstanding. The parents saw the news stories about the girl’s disappearance and phoned the Demidchik Law Firm in Flushing, New York, according to the law firm. The family visited that firm on Friday.

Virginia State Police on Thursday had issued an amber alert for a Chinese student visiting the U.S. with her tour group from China, reported ABC6.

Jing Jing Ma, 12, had been seen leaving Reagan National Airport, with an unknown Asian woman.

Police held a news conference this morning.

The incident happened shortly after Ma received her passport. She then separated from the group and left with the woman in a White 2016 Infinity driven by a man. In a news conference this morning, authorities reported several agencies including the FBI had joined the investigation. FBI agents met with the family at the law firm today and are no longer treating this as an abduction, but a misunderstanding.

The identity of the individuals who left with Ma was not known. However, Ma had contact with several people during a tour of the World Trade Center in New York. Police this morning said they suspect those people have something to do with Ma’s disappearance, but could not say if they were the same people Ma met in Washington. The meeting was described as cordial.

The tour group has since left Washington and is on is now in the San Francisco to continue its visit. Many in the tour group have been interviewed by authorities.

Missing teen found in Mexico with married man

Sixteen-year old Amy Yu and her mother Mui Luu.

ASAM NEWS

A MISSING Pennsylvania teen who disappeared to Mexico with a 45-year-old man has been found and has been returned to the United States, reports ABC.

The two were found in the Mexican resort town of Playa del Carmen.

“I’m really happy. Please let everyone know,” Amy Yu’s mother, Mui Luu, told ABC News. CNN reports that Yu was unharmed and in good health. 

Kevin Esterly

The older man, Kevin Esterly, was also returned to the United States to face charges in Pennsylvania. The family said Yu and Esterly, who is married with four children, knew each other through church and were in a secret relationship for one year. The girl’s mom said the two exchanged hundreds of texts.

A passenger told CNN he was “close to 100 percent” certain he saw Esterly and Yu board a flight to Mexico. The two asked passengers to exchange seats so that they could sit together.

“It seemed odd the way she was leaning up against him and how he was rubbing her leg and it seemed like his hand was quivering a little bit,” said the witness, Frank Castrovinci.

“The Allentown Police Department would like to thank Homeland Security Investigations, Policia Federal Transnational Criminal Investigative Unit and the United States Marshals Service for their help in locating Amy Yu and Kevin Esterly,” Allentown police said in a statement quoted by Lehigh Valley Live.

It’s not clear what charges Esterly will face. “The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape told CNN the age of consent for sexual activity in Pennsylvania is 16.

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Father fears missing girl is human trafficking victim

Tyla-Ann Placencia has been missing for two months.

ASAM NEWS

THE FATHER of a missing 14-year old girl fears his daughter may be the victim of human trafficking.

Tyla-Ann Placencia had just been elected class president at Oceana High School in Pacifica near San Francisco when she went missing on September 27.

“When you have a beautiful young lady that can make herself look almost 18-years-old, why would not some guy take advantage of that young lady? And that’s the worst nightmare,” said her father Aaron Placencia . “That’s the worst thing that can happen at this point.”

Her dad said she had good grades and they had talked about her college plans. She moved from Hawaii a year ago where she lived with her Filipina mother.

Police are treating the case as a runaway and believe Tyla-Ann does not want to be found. The anti-human trafficking group East Bay foundation Love Never Fails has been working with the father, according to NBC Bay Area.

“Children don’t plan on being exploited and abused when they run away but it’s a harsh reality,” Vanessa Russell said. “Within 48 hours, one-third of runaway youth will be recruited for human trafficking. That alone is reason enough to fervently search for a missing loved one.”

Police are asking people with information about the case to call 650-738-7314.

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