GEORGE TOWN – A 15-year-old boy with Asperger’s who went missing yesterday has been found after neighbours and social media users worked together to track him down.
The community shared on social media photographs and brief accounts of the missing boy, while his father contacted Pulau Tikus assemblyman Chris Lee Chun Kit and the police for assistance.
The boy was eventually found today at the mall a few kilometres from his family home.
Single father Peter Liew Choy Gian, 52, told The Vibes that in the height of distress, he received a call last night from a man telling him to not worry, and that his son will be found around Gurney Drive and Tg Tokong area before 9.30am the next day.
“I believe that call was god-sent. I was searching for my son for 10 hours and I was so tired.
“Then I received a call from one of the people from the search party. He sent me a video asking me if the boy was my son, and it was him. We found him at 8am today.
Liew said his son ran away from home because he could not cope with the pressure of schoolwork.
The teenager is now attending online classes in a new school and finding it difficult to adapt.
“I promised him to pull him out from the stressful situation as he has Asperger’s.”
“When I found him, his hands and knees were dirty. I believe he slept in a warehouse at Paragon Mall,” Liew said, adding that his son cannot seem to recall what happened last night.
He said he is very thankful that people around the area were helping him.
“Even the people from my son’s former home-schooling centre were out looking for him. I was then added to a social media group of 10,000 members who help search for missing persons.
“One of them was riding his motorbike around Gurney Drive when he spotted my son.”
The single father said he is very happy that his son is safe. – The Vibes, February 1, 2021
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