The parents of a missing mother of two from Coquitlam pleaded for anyone with any information about their daughter's whereabouts to come forward.
Hu Nu Ming, the father of Yating (Lancy) Hu, who has been missing since last month, said his daughter loved her children and would never go anywhere without them.
"There's no way she would leave the kids," he told the CBC through an interpreter. "There's lots of groceries at home that she bought for the kids and there's lot of stuff in the house. So if she was going to do that, she would have a plan."
Ming and his wife travelled from China this week to speak to the media in the hopes that the publicity will turn up new leads in the investigation.
Last week, homicide investigators told The Tri-City News that police believed Hu's disappearance was suspicious and that foul play may be involved.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team spokesperson, Sgt. Jennifer Pound, however, would not say what led police to believe they are now dealing with a murder.
Hu's estranged husband, Zhongming Mou, originally told police he had last seen his wife on July 15 when he dropped her off at her home near Metrotown Mall. He has since changed his story, saying he last saw Hu leaving the couple's shared Nash Drive home in Coquitlam at 5:30 a.m. on July 16.
"It is a concern that he is now changing his story," Pound said. "That is something investigators are looking in to."
Mou, a software designer, was charged with assault and uttering threats against his wife in 2006 but those charges were later stayed.
Hu's father told the media on Wednesday that his daughter had been the victim of domestic abuse and was separated from her husband at the time of her disappearance.
Hu is described as a 27-year-old Asian female who is five-feet seven inches tall and weighs 119 pounds; she has shoulder-length black hair and brown eyes, and is fluent in both English and Mandarin. She is known to use public transit and may have been carrying a black backpack with an Apple MacBook computer inside.
Anyone with information on her whereabouts is asked to call the IHIT tip line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
gmckenna@
tricitynews.com
