Chen Yi-ching (
Canadian police said on Friday that Chen, a high-school exchange student from Taiwan, has not been seen since Wednesday, Nov. 1, when she failed to show up for school in the Cloverdale neighborhood. But police are not linking her disappearance with that of 10-year-old Heather Thomas, who vanished Oct. 1 and whose naked body was found three weeks later in a lake 45km away.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector Bud Mercer pointed out that the cases are remarkably different, saying "both girls went missing from the Surrey area, but there are differences."
Heather vanished without a trace, but police said they have at least one clue regarding Chen's disappearance, namely that her purse and other personal belongings were found in a garbage container near a downtown Vancouver SkyTrain station. The teen has no history of running away and has regularly kept in touch with her home-stay hosts.
"We're obviously looking at the criminal side as well," Mercer said.
Chen, nicknamed "Summer," moved to Canada about a year ago. Although her first language is Mandarin, police said that her English is quite good.
Taiwan officials based in Vancouver have visited Chen's home-stay residence to gain a better understanding of the situation and to render assistance if needed.
Police have also been investigating reports of more than a dozen attempted abductions of children and young teens in the Vancouver area over the last few weeks. Since August, there have been 17 such attempts, police records show.
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