A civilian-driven cyber manhunt had barely starting to gather momentum as a facial composite said to be of a notorious suspect in child trafficking went viral, only to be stopped by the police who said it was all based on a rumor and the drawing was not even an official sketch.
The portrait “circulating on the internet of the suspect in the trafficking of nine children in Zengcheng, Guangdong Province, was not released by the authorities,” said the Public Security Ministry on Monday via its Weibo account which is dedicated to child trafficking.
“At this point, no further evidence is available as to whether 'Auntie Mei' exists,” said China’s top police agency, using the suspect’s alias and only name she is known as, “or what she looks like.” Nor have police in South China's Guangdong Province brought in a sketch artist to do a second drawing since they first shared Auntie Mei’s likeness with the public seeking assistance in her arrest in 2017, said the agency.
This is not the first time rumors about Auntie Mei being sighted or even arrested turned out to be false. So far, the only credible information on her, which is not a lot, came from traffickers who claimed they worked for her and a man who, according to media reports, had lived with her as her lover.
This has not stopped Chinese from obsessing over Auntie Mei. The now discredited portrait has been seen recently in some apartment buildings in the southern city of Shenzhen, warning residents to look out. “Auntie Mei is still out there,” read a social media post, “and more kids could be harmed.”
The father of her alleged first victim told news media that he believes Auntie Mei is real and she is responsible for the kidnapping of his son in 2005. He is still looking for his boy and says he will not give up.
“Child trafficking inspires the worst fear in a society’s collective consciousness,” read a commentary by the Beijing News. “‘Auntie Mei’ is like an urban legend, a constant reminder for people to stay vigilant.”
Losing a child to trafficking is an excruciating experience that families may never come back from and everyone can feel empathetic, said the author, which is why many participated in the spread of the latest rumor. “The authorities should not only get answers about Auntie Mei, but they should also do more to crack down on the crime so that families do not have to go through the horror of having their children snatched up.”
Between 2016 and 2019, the police returned 3,901 missing children to their parents, out of a total of 3,978 reported cases, using an online information sharing platform. Fifty-seven of these children had been picked up by traffickers.
Non-governmental organizations have played a big role in tracking missing children as well.
“As long as there are still child victims of trafficking, families and communities will not be able to start healing,” said the author.