Mother and Daughter from Hunan Found Separately Through TikTok Search by Same Volunteer Group

Liu Zili nearly didn’t recognize his daughter, Xiaoying, after just three days apart. The 15-year-old, who has an intellectual disability, had been missing. When he saw her, she was sporting clean clothes, her face, usually obscured by a heavy fringe, was now fully visible and radiant. Her hair was neatly tied back. Xiaoying beamed at her father and reached out to touch his face. Exclaimed overjoyed volunteers, “We found her!”

Liu Zili reunited with his missing daughter, Xiaoying

“Xiaoying’s gone!” On July 16th, upon discovering his daughter missing, Liu Zili urgently contacted his nephew, who also resides in Guangdong. The news swiftly reached their hometown in Loudi, Lianyuan, over 700 kilometers away. Xiaoying’s sister, Liu Jieying, was stricken with panic: “They said my sister was missing over the phone, I was so worried!”

Fate has once again smiled upon this family. After three days, Xiaoying was safely returned to her family thanks to the combined efforts of the police, volunteers, and users on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. In a remarkable coincidence, just this past May, Xiaoying’s mother, who had been missing for three years, also returned home with the assistance of the same volunteer group and Douyin’s search capabilities.

No Identity

On July 16th, in Dongguan, Guangdong, officers from the Tutang Police Station of the Changping Public Security Bureau were on routine patrol when they spotted a disheveled young girl on a street. She stood there, seemingly lost, without shoes and only one lone sock. Sensing something amiss, the officers approached her: “What’s your name? Are you in trouble?” The officers were met with silence.

Xiaoying wandering lost on the street

Dazed and unresponsive, the girl was unable to provide any information about her identity or destination. Assessing the situation, the police determined that she might have an intellectual disability. Concerned for her safety, they took her to the police station to attempt identification through the national citizen database.

“No identity information was found.” The girl, who appeared to be a teenager, carried no identification. Facial recognition and fingerprint scanning yielded no matches. Without an identity, the task of finding her family felt like searching for a needle in a haystack.

“Let’s contact Lao Chen and ask for their help.” Lao Chen is Chen Jinman, the team leader of the “Let Love Come Home” volunteer service team in Changping, Dongguan, and also a Douyin missing person volunteer. Over the years, he has collaborated with the police to help many people find their way back home or to their relatives, making him a “regular” at the police station. Chen Jinman noted, “Our station is near five highway entrances and four train stations, so there’s a high volume of people passing through, and we encounter a lot of missing person cases.”

Upon seeing the girl, Chen Jinman asked three female volunteers to give her a bath and provide her with clean clothes. “The young girl has no identity information. If anyone recognizes her, please contact the Changping service team of ‘Let Love Come Home’,” Chen Jinman posted a short video on Douyin on July 16th, at 4 PM, after gathering some information. The official account of “@Let Love Come Home” also followed up the next day.

Videos posted on Chen Jinman’s personal account and the official account of “@Let Love Come Home”

Douyin to the Rescue

Meanwhile, over 700 kilometers away in Huquan Town, Lianyuan City, Hunan Province, Xiaoying’s sister, Liu Jieying, was frantically worried. Unable to immediately travel to Guangdong, she maintained close contact with her father and cousin.

Liu Jieying, 21, comes from an unstable home. Her mother suffers from mental illness and is in a mental hospital, and she must stay home to care for her. Her sister, Liu Xiaoying, also suffers from intellectual disability and epilepsy, making her unable to care for herself for basic tasks or communicate effectively.

To support the family, her father, Liu Zili, took Xiaoying to Dongguan to work as a sanitation worker. Liu Zili leaves early in the morning and does not return home until 8 or 9 PM. Overwhelmed with work, he cannot give Xiaoying to much care. When he has time at noon, he returns home to make lunch for Xiaoying, but on days that he doesn’t, he leaves two buns for her to eat to stave off the hunger. “She was probably hungry and went out to find something to eat, then couldn’t find her way back,” Liu Zili said. He does not have much of an education, and pinned his hope on his daughter and nephew to find Xiaoying.

“Is this your sister?” On the evening of July 17th, Liu Jieying, who was at a loss, suddenly received a Douyin video forwarded by a fellow villager. Overjoyed, she immediately confirmed that it was. Based on the contact information provided in the video, Liu Jieying and her fellow villager called Chen Jinman.

“Send me pictures of your sister from before, what’s her name, where is she from, and how old is she?” “I have her residence permit, but no ID card, and no photos from before.” To verify the identity, Chen Jinman carefully questioned Liu Jieying and asked her to provide relevant information. Because Xiaoying is underage, she did not have an ID card. Fortunately, her cousin found her disability certificate from Liu Zili, which had a photo on it, confirming that the missing girl was Liu Xiaoying.

Xiaoying with the volunteers

On July 18th, Liu Zili and his nephew went to the police station to register and take Xiaoying back home. Under the care of the volunteer aunts, Xiaoying was in good condition. Liu Zili was not good with words, but he was moved and excited and could only keep saying, “Thank you.”

A Mother’s Disappearance Echoes

While taking Liu Xiaoying home, familiar address triggered a memory for Chen Jinman. After several checks, he was surprised to find that he had had an encounter with Liu Xiaoying and the family before.

As it turned out, in 2022, Liu Xiaoying’s mother, who suffers from mental illness, went missing, and because her information could not be confirmed, she had been staying at the Loudi Rescue Station. This past April, Chen Jinman and his colleagues went from Guangdong to Hunan to organize an open day event at the rescue station, and that was when they got into contact with Liu Xiaoying’s mother.

The volunteers immediately looked for more information from multiple avenues. They coordinated with the public security department to extract DNA for big data comparison, which confirmed the ancestral home of Xiaoying’s mother. Furthermore, they tried to engage with and collect more information from Xiaoying’s mother. After gathering this information, volunteers followed a previous case, by posting a search video on Douyin directed towards Xiaoying’s mother’s ancestral home. Indeed, the video was bumped into by someone familiar, and Xiaoying’s mother successfully returned home.

This unexpected discovery added a dramatic element to the happy ending. Chen Jinman and his colleagues couldn’t help but be impressed that current technology promoted search support, giving this family two chances to be together.

Liu Xiaoying’s mother was rescued by the same group of volunteers after going missing

Considering the dire straits of Liu Xiaoying’s family, volunteers from the Dongguan Changping service team launched a donation drive to help them overcome current difficulties. Next, the volunteers look to provide more help to the family by helping Xiaoying register for a identity card, as another addition to protection and safety.

Volunteers spontaneously donated money and materials and sent Xiaoying home

“The internet is too powerful!” Chen Jinman exclaimed. “We post videos to find people and have also established a national exchange group. So far this year, we’ve already successfully helped more than 130 people find their relatives.”

In 2020, Chen Jinman became a missing person volunteer under anti-fraud and advertising training, dedicating himself to the mission for 5 years. Chen Jinman’s previous impression of the search for relatives, was running all over the world, constantly distributing flyers and newspapers, met more often with failure. “It was like looking for a way to get out of the sea, but it was difficult when you are just an individual.”

With the development of technology and the internet, posting a short video can be seen by millions of users all over the country. Since 2016, Douyin Seeking People has established connections with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, public security systems, rescue stations, volunteer organizations, and others, for example, “Let Love Come Home.” Whenever they receive help from those searching for relatives, the volunteers will post the information on their personal and official Douyin accounts, soliciting leads from netizens. Statistics show that by March 2023, the Douyin Seeking People public welfare project has cumulatively released 200,000 missing person notices, successfully helping 23,700 families reunite!

Behind the numbers are families spared from complete destruction. Chen Jinman describes it as an indescribable sense of inspiration driving them forward.