9 Months After A Six Year Old Was Kidnapped, His Father Accidentally Spotted Him In A Shopping Mall

9 months after a 6-year-old was kidnapped, his father accidentally spotted him in a shopping mall. A Chinese family's life was turned upside down when the baby of the household was kidnapped from their home, in May 2016. And after an exhaustive search, the 6-year-old boy was seemingly nowhere to be found. But, almost unbelievably, 9 months later, the dad was shocked to the core when he happened to spot his son in a local shopping mall. There was a problem, however, the little guy was not alone. On May 27, 2016, Shen Zhonghong lived with his wife and two kids in the village of Matang in the southeastern province Guangdong in China. That day, he reportedly went to work as usual, but with his wife elsewhere, he was forced to leave his Shen, therefore, left his daughter in charge of her younger brother, Shen Jiefu, Cheng Jiefu. Little did the dad know, that would be the last time he saw his elementary school-aged son, for approaching a year. Shen later told police that he had left his children watching TV in the family home, but according to reports, little Jiefu had been abducted from the residence just two hours later. A neighbor is said to have called by the house, at which point the daughter explained that a stranger had visited and swiped her sibling. So it seemed that the father returned from work and discovered the devastating news that Jiefu had been snatched. The family then called the police and reported the abduction. That is when a major missing person search was launched to try and locate the boy. Understandably, Shen appeared totally distraught about his son's disappearance. He and the rest of the family had, after all, just been plunged into a nightmare world of not knowing who took Jiefu, where he could be or why anyone would do such a wicked thing. Shen undoubtedly just hoped that somewhere out there his little boy was still alive. The Chinese police reportedly worked hard to track down the child and the people who kidnapped him. According to Chinese press reports, the authorities received hundreds of tips from the public concerning the missing boy too. The police were also informed about many potential sightings. Sadly, however, it turned out that none of these witnesses had seen the real Jiefu. So despite all of the exhaustive efforts of those involved, the police did not find Jiefu. And with no promising leads, the trail had gone cold. It wouldn't be surprising if, at this point, the family began to worry that he would never be found. Then, three quarters of a year later, a chance encounter led By February 21, 2017, Jiefu had been missing for almost nine months. But that was the day that the bereaved Chen chose to visit a shopping center in the nearest big city to their village. The mall in Kingsin was located just a half hour away by road from the family home in Matang. And it was while he was walking through Kingsin Town Plaza that Chen was stopped in his tracks. He saw something that he just could not believe. Not an amazing bargain or spectacular window display, but something much more valuable and precious. His Jiefu. But Chen's son was in the company of three adult strangers. What could the poor man do now? In fact, as soon as Chen recognized his son, he seemingly knew that there was only one thing he could do, perhaps believing that if he had to wait for the authorities to arrive, the gang would have fled with his son. Chen hung back and waited until the two men and one woman guarding the boy were distracted. Then he managed to seize Jiefu and swept him up out of harm's way. Chen next made an emergency call to the cop to tell them that he bumped into his son, snatched him back and that he had seen the criminals responsible. Fortunately, the authorities arrived at Kingsin Town Plaza with speed. Indeed, officers were able to successfully apprehend the trio before they had a chance to flee the mall. Chilling security camera footage of part of the events has been released to the public. One sequence shows a man holding Jiefu's hand and striding with him through the mall. The video also reveals the moment that officers swooped in to capture the criminals. In this clip, two plain-clothed officers outside the shopping center run up to and then pull a suspect off a motorcycle before they could make their escape. After saving him from the abductors, a no-doubt jubilant Chen was later able to take Jiefu home. Although the little boy had been away for many months and was allegedly in danger of being sold, he fortunately suffered no abuse at the hands of his abductors, and needless to say, his family were thrilled to have him return safely home. Meanwhile, the perpetrators were taken into custody and charged with their crimes, including suspected human trafficking. The members of the gang were identified to the media only by their family names. The ringleader was called Yu, and his accomplices were a female Li and another male by the name of Chen, no relation. The trio were arraigned to appear in court later in 2017. So it was that Yu, Li, and Chen were brought before the bench at the Qingshan People's Court on November 10, 2017. Judge Hu Xiaoyang officiated over the trial. Summing up, he said Yu had planned to sell Jiefu to another family. The judge also stated that Yu had planned to sell other kidnapping victims to people who did not have children of their own. Indeed, the court heard that Yu was the one who took Jiefu from his Meitang home that day in May 2016. The Li perpetrator had lured the child away with the promise of buying him candy. According to the court, there were other claims that Jiefu had been specifically targeted by the gang because of a grievance held against the boy's mother. At the conclusion of the trial, Judge Hou pronounced the three defendants guilty. Yu was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 10,000 yen, or some $1,583 for kidnapping and human trafficking. Meanwhile, Li was handed three years jail time and Chen two years, both for child abduction. Although the combined 11-year sentence and relatively minuscule fine may seem like a small price to pay for such appalling actions, it is standard criminal procedure in China. In fact, Chinese law states that people who are caught abducting and trafficking women or children are to be sentenced to five to ten years in prison plus fine. Those who are found buying abducted children or women can receive a maximum of three years behind bars. Nevertheless, sentences can be longer if the circumstances are more serious and involve additional crimes, such as sexual assault or the use of narcotics. Criminals found guilty of kidnapping people as hostages or for blackmail purposes can expect 10 years to life in jail, and if the kidnapping results in the killing of the victim, the perpetrator will receive the death penalty. While Jaifu's time in captivity and amazing mall rescue had a happy ending, the boy was one of the lucky ones. In 2017, the U.S. State Department listed China in Tier 3 of the American Rankings for Worldwide Human Trafficking. This made it one of the worst offending countries when it came to allowing the sale of people to occur. Horrifyingly, today there are an estimated 20 million victims of human trafficking globally.