By Sara Payne
Parents of BYU student David Sneddon, who has been missing in China for five months, say they think their son is alive and is being detained against his will.
Sneddon, 24, was studying at a university in Beijing when he decided to tour inland China for a couple days before returning home to Providence, Utah. He was last heard from on Aug. 10.
His parents, Kathle en and Roy Sneddon, said they believe someone must know where their son is located.
?When Kathleen was first in contact with the U.S. embassy in China, an embassy employee said it was impossible to lose an American in China,? Roy said. ?An American simply just can?t disappear over there.?
Roy said he didn?t think David slipped through the cracks when Roy went to China, either. A month after his son went missing, Roy and his two sons went to China to search for David. From Roy?s experience, he said the Foreign Affairs office in the Yunnan Province where David was last seen observed the family closely. They knew where the Sneddons were most of the time and where they were going. Sometimes, officers would show up at a location before the Sneddons arrived.
?We think it is possible that Beijing doesn?t know anything about [David],? Kathleen said. ?Senator Bennett said it?s like the Wild West. It?s [Yunnan Province] so far-removed from Beijing. Local people can know about something and Beijing could not.?
Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, is aiding in search efforts. He regularly talks with U.S. Ambassador to China Clark Randt on the search progress. Randt was unavailable for comment.
So far, family members and officials have unsuccessfully searched hospitals, prisons and mental institutions in China.
Although Kathleen and Roy said the process of finding their son is slow, they said the Chinese government and the U.S. Embassy have been helpful in searching for their son. David?s brother Nathan agreed with his parents that weekly e-mails from the embassy keep Nathan positive.
?That [the weekly e-mail] is important because I know from their point of view it would probably be really easy to say, ?Hey this kid is dead,?? Nathan said. ?Maybe they?re thinking, ?Yeah this kid?s gone,? but they haven?t told us that. They?ve told us that they?re working on finding him. It?s nice to know you have the government working for you.?
David?s parents said they are confident David is still alive, even though they won?t speculate on where he could be, who he is with or what he is doing.
Nathan, a BYU alumnus, also believes David is alive. When he heard his brother was missing, he said he thought there was a chance David might be dead. But shortly after, Nathan had a dream that his brother came home. When he woke up, he said he believed David was still alive, even before the family had conclusive evidence.
Finding that conclusive evidence was the reason Roy and his sons went to China last September. One initial belief was that David fell at Tiger Leaping Gorge, a dangerous stretch of narrow, unpaved paths and steep hills. But after locals in Shangri-La, a city over a hundred miles beyond the gorge, positively identified David?s picture, his parents dismissed that theory. Roy and Kathleen also said they have evidence that locals saw their son only hours prior to his scheduled return bus trip.
The Sneddons attribute their positive attitude about David?s situation to strong evidence and personal instincts.
Although trying to maintain a positive attitude, David?s sister Jenny, who was on a mission in Poland when her brother went missing, said going back to BYU winter semester was tough. David and Jenny both attended BYU simultaneously in 2002.
?We used to e-mail once or twice a day and we would we meet up sometimes on campus. Every Tuesday night we?d have dinner together,? said Jenny, an English education major. ?The first day on campus was really hard just because I would see places where we?d meet and talk.?
Still, the family continues on as if David will come home. Jenny drives his car to school. Kathleen still pays his cell phone bill. Until David comes home, Kathleen said she?ll rely on her ?motherly instincts? and hope her son is being treated well.
?I hope he?s warm enough,? she said.
