Woman kidnapped as small child finally reunited with family 25 years later

**Max** Fri May 23, 2014 4:12 am

Women kidnapped as small child finally reunited with family 25 years later

By: Sarah Ann Harris
Published: Thu, May 22, 2014

Woman kidnapped as small child finally reunited with family 25 years later Cen_mi10

Cai Ruru was reunited with her mother after 25 years apart

Cai Juanjuan, 53, was devastated when her daughter, Cai Ruru vanished when she was just four years old.

Cai Ruru was left with her grandmother in the city of Ruian in east China's Zhejiang province.

Her mother explained: "My mother-in-law knew that our daughter was well-behaved, so she hadn't bothered to lock the door when she went shopping, and when she came back 30 minutes later the house was empty and daughter had vanished."

Despite searching the area for their daughter, she and husband Li Mianquan, 57, could find no trace of her.

Although Cai Ruru's grandmother died broken-hearted four years ago, her parents never gave up hope of finding their daughter and were some of the first people to register at a new country-wide DNA database in 2009.

Although years went by without any response, it was only when Cai Ruru – who was told she was adopted at the age of eight – went looking for her birth family that they were finally reunited.

Woman kidnapped as small child finally reunited with family 25 years later 16175810

The reunion was emotional for both mother and daughter

Cai Ruru was unaware that she was one of the tens of thousands of children that are kidnapped in China each year for sale into adoption, street life, forced labour and prostitution.

She was one of the luckier ones, as she ended up with a good family in Beigao township in Putian city in southeast China's Fujian province.

The unwitting family, who gave her the surname Wong, believed that they were adopting an abandoned child.

They paid out money for the adoption as they thought that it would go towards speeding up the paperwork.

Cai Ruru, now 29-years-old, said: "My adoptive parents had two sons but no daughter, so they had arranged to adopt me. I was the oldest child in the family.

"I have to say they treated me very well, I don't have any complaints, but I wanted to find out who my real parents were. I wanted to tell them I was okay and didn't want them to have any regrets."

Woman kidnapped as small child finally reunited with family 25 years later 16175910

Cai Ruru was adopted by a family who believed she had been abandoned

It is estimated that as many as 70,000 children are kidnapped every year in China.

Cai Juanjuan was thrilled to finally be reunited with her daughter, who now has a husband and a child of her own.

She said: "I couldn't believe it, I was almost too scared to believe it. But then I bought a ticket straight away and flew to meet her.

"I was determined not to cry, but when I saw the beautiful young woman my daughter has become I couldn't help it."

The family is now making up for lost time getting to know each other.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/477574/Women-kidnapped-as-small-child-finally-reunited-with-family-25-years-later

**bb1** Fri May 23, 2014 8:27 am

Thanks, Max - this seems to be a real problem in China?

Woman kidnapped as small child finally reunited with family 25 years later

Woman kidnapped as small child finally reunited with family 25 years later

Re: Woman kidnapped as small child finally reunited with family 25 years later