Man's ad for missing daughter a fragment of a rocky marriage
The missing person ad in The Straits Times on July 25 showed the photo of 11-year-old Vera Feng, who apparently was last seen by her father at Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy on July 22.
The ad put up by 50-year-old businessman John Feng raised concerns among members of the public as it has been only days since a six-year-old girl in Johor Bahru was kidnapped.
The distraught father was appealing for information regarding the whereabouts of Vera, who was allegedly taken by her 47-year-old mother from the hotel room. He last saw his only child at about noon on the day of her disappearance.
“I had told Vera to go up to my room and take my sunglasses, and my wife went with her,” Mr Feng told TNP.
“That was the last I saw of them and Vera's clothes were gone."
Mr Feng was at the time paying the bills for his room at the hotel's front desk and extending his stay to July 23, when the family was supposed to return to Taiwan.
Mr Feng and his family are Singaporeans but they moved to Taiwan two years ago because of his business.
He explained that his wife of 12 years had taken Vera away on July 4 while the family was in Taiwan. Mr Feng was in the shower after dinner when his wife took Vera away.
According to Mr Feng, his wife told him last month that she wanted a divorce, saying that she "just wasn't happy". He was agreeable to the divorce but she changed her mind and they continued to live together.
After looking for Vera in Taiwan for five days, Mr Feng flew to Singapore to look for her. His relatives managed to track down his wife and eventually brought the family together for dinner at Grand Mercure Singapore Roxy.
Mr Feng said that when he confronted his wife, she "acted like everything was normal" and didn't give any reason for taking Vera away.
Since July 22, Mr Feng has repeatedly tried to get in contact with his wife but she had replied only once, calling him "crazy" and telling him to seek professional help.
"If she wants a divorce, we can do that, but leave the child out of this," said Mr Feng, adding that he wanted to put an end to this.
The police are aware of the missing person notice and have confirmed that the father had lodged a police report on July 22. The 11-year-old girl, according to the police, "was safe and sound with her biological mother".
Mr Feng was made aware of this information on July 23 and advised to seek mediation.
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