Family petitions Sec. Kerry to help find missing BYU student in China


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SALT LAKE CITY — The family of a BYU student who went missing while hiking in China over 10 years ago is pushing for more action by the U.S. government and they're finally getting help.

A letter signed by every member of Utah's congressional delegation was sent out Monday asking for more efforts to help find David Sneddon and for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to take a look at the case.

Sneddon was hiking in southern China in August 2004 when he disappeared, says his parents Roy and Kathleen Sneddon. He spent the summer studying Mandarin in China while on a summer break from Brigham Young University. He is fluent in Korean after spending two years in South Korea for this mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Sneddon's family have always felt that David was alive and now believe he might have been kidnapped by North Korean officials who thought David might be helping North Korean defectors, Roy Sneddon told KSL in 2012. Now the family said they believe the North Korean government may be using Sneddon and his language skills to train government officials.

The area in southern China where Sneddon was hiking is along a known route for the North Korean underground railroad and the Wall Street Journal reported in 2013 that North Korean officials are known to operate there.

He Shuchang, a Chinese guide, is the last known person believed to have seen David Sneddon hiking in the mountains. Sneddon asked in perfect Mandarin to join their hiking group, catching Shuchang by surprise, outsideonline.com reported in May of this year.


We understand the logistical difficulty in attempting to track and locate a missing person in a remote region ten years after his disappearance. However, the lack of hard evidence surrounding David's disappearance leads us to conclude that explanations for his disappearance other than the explanation put forward by the Chinese government are at least plausible, and it is the duty of the United States government not to rest until all means are pursued for locating a missing citizen.

–Letter to the State Department


Roy and Kathleen Sneddon sent a 74-page report to the State Department in September 2004, according to outsideonline.com, but an embassy official who contacted them said an investigation into the report had not “produced any tangible leads.”

The parents felt the Chinese government was not that helpful; it said David most likely drowned in the Tiger Leaping Gorge, near the area he was hiking. However, the bodies of all persons who have drowned in the river have been found, outsideonline.com reported, and David's body has never been found. Many other witnesses have recanted their testimonies and the Sneddons believe this is due to coercion from the Chinese government, they told outsideonline.com.

The letter to the State Department gives David's history and details his parent's efforts during the past 10 years to find him.

“We understand the logistical difficulty in attempting to track and locate a missing person in a remote region ten years after his disappearance,” the letter to the State Department reads. “However, the lack of hard evidence surrounding David's disappearance leads us to conclude that explanations for his disappearance other than the explanation put forward by the Chinese government are at least plausible, and it is the duty of the United States government not to rest until all means are pursued for locating a missing citizen.”

Sneddon grew up in Nebraska and graduated from Lincoln East High School. His family moved to Utah right after his graduation.

Contributing: Devon Dolan

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