David Sneddon, a student of Brigham Young University went missing 12 years ago when he was on a hiking trip in China’s Yunnan province. He was 24 years old then and after few search operations, he was presumed dead by the Chinese police and the U.S. Embassy.
Recently, a Japanese news agency reported that David was kidnapped by the North Korean government back in 2004. He was abducted to serve as an English tutor to the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un.
The Evidence
On August 31, 2016, the Yahoo News Japan reported that David was spotted in Pyongyang, North Korea, where he is believed to live with his wife and two children. Reportedly, he serves as an English tutor to Kim Jong Un, the supreme leader of North Korea. With this revelation, the US Department of State announced that they will begin a search operation for David in North Korea.
This has rekindled hope for the parents of David, who never believed the official story of David’s death by drowning in a river in the Tiger Leaping Gorge. Over the past 12 years, David’s parents kept campaigning for American officials to investigate into the case of their son’s disappearance.
David’s mother said:
“We knew in our heart that he was alive, so we had to keep fighting.”
Representative Chris Stewart, who serves on the US House Intelligence Committee said in a February statement:
“The evidence indicates that there are still a lot of unanswered questions about David’s disappearance. David’s family deserves answers to those questions, and until we find those answers, I will continue urging the State Department to pursue all possible explanations for David’s disappearance.”