Conclusion| Interview
with George Bailey |
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| David's
Values and Relevant Character Traits |
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| Conclusion
about Character Traits |
Finding David Sneddon
| Conclusion |
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We have proven that David made it out of Tiger Leaping Gorge alive. We have proven that it was not in his character to go into hiding voluntarily. We, therefore, conclude that David Louis Sneddon disappeared involuntarily in Shangri-La, sometime between 12:00 noon and 3:00 PM on Saturday, August 14, 2004. We feel that it is reasonable to assume that some individual, group, or even an organization knows more about David's whereabouts than we were able to discover.
We believe in our hearts that David is alive but not in a position to leave or communicate with his family. We believe that David intended to leave Shangri-La the afternoon of August 14, 2004, travel to Qiaotou, retrieve his backpack, and continue to Lijiang for the night. He would have just enough time the next day, August 15, 2004 to travel by bus to Kunming and make his 10:15 PM flight for Haiko. David did not retrieve his large back pack and plane tickets from the guest house in Qiaotou. Therefore, we conclude that something happened to David after he left the Korean Café (Yak Bar) in Shangri-La, but before he reached the guest house in Qiaotou.
There are several possible reasons for David's disappearance. David could have been injured in an accident, murdered, or taken against his will. We, as well as the U.S. Embassy, contacted hospitals and mental institutions and concluded that David is not in a hospital. We find it difficult to believe that David was murdered in broad daylight in Qiaotou or Shangri-La. Neither the local Chinese police or government authorities have offered evidence or even suggested that David was murdered. This remote region in China solicits foreign tourists and urban Chinese alike as a source of badly needed revenue. Indeed, our own experience gained over three days as we walked the streets and met the kind-hearted people of Shangri-La tell us the possibility that David was murdered is very, very remote.
At this point, we are left assuming that David was taken against his will. What motive would someone have for doing this? We have not received a ransom note, so it is difficult to conclude that he was kidnapped by someone interested in gaining a reward. We visited police stations, spoke on multiple occasions with police officials, and are satisfied that he is not being detained by the local police for an infraction of local laws. We have no information to indicate that David inadvertently broke a national law or intruded into an area closed to foreigners. If this were the case, we would have no difficulty paying a reasonable fine or penalty.
We have no proof of any motive. However, we have wondered whether David's skill with multiple languages (especially his fluency with both Chinese and Korean) may have caused an organization or group to have more of an interest in David than they would have had in most other western tourists. We note that in this part of China where David was traveling, it is unusual to see any westerners, particularly Americans. (While we Sneddons were in Shangri-La, we met no Americans. The only western trekkers we met during our three and one half days in Shangri-La were a couple from Belgium and two young men from Europe.) We never met a westerner who was traveling alone. We wonder if a young American traveling on his own might have caused some group or persons to question his purpose for being there.
We have shown earlier that David's interest in languages, originally spurred through his two-year missionary service in South Korea, was purely educational and part of his family's background. David's own e-mails state that he was traveling China for the experience of travel itself. He writes to his mother about his excitement to do "some hard-core traveling" and to take "fun trips to various parts of China" and see "lots of places with really neat-sounding names." 1 However, those who may have been observing him would not have known his situation. They may have had reason to suspect that a young American traveling alone in this part of China, speaking well both Korean and Mandarin, could have been doing so for suspicious reasons.
Further, although there may be no connection, we have wondered about the visit that David had with his friend Justin Richmond in Beijing in the summer. His friend had been studying North Koreans living in China. Shortly after he requested a visa to visit North Korea, he was asked to leave the university and return home. He stayed with David while he arranged for his return trip.2 If Justin was asked to leave for some reason connected to Korea, it is reasonable to wonder whether David, who also is fluent in Korean, might have come under some suspicion by association.
While in China we consulted on numerous occasions with local police, hospitals, and local government officials, all of whom were most gracious, sincere, helpful, and concerned about David's well being. We are grateful for their kind efforts. However we believe that an agency or organization with broader power or more resources at their disposal would be able to do more than we are able.
We respectfully request the assistance and full support of the Provincial and National Government of the Peoples Republic of China and the U.S. Department of State in furthering the search for David Sneddon.
The local Chinese police and U.S. Embassy officials have spent most of their search efforts in Qiaotou and the Gorge. Based on the information that we have obtained through our nine sightings, detailed above, David safely exited the Gorge and made his way to Shangri-La before disappearing. Therefore, further search efforts in Qiaotou and the Gorge are unwarranted. We request that the officials of the U.S. and Chinese governments continue to search for David, starting in Shangri-La.
We further request that the officials of the U.S. and Chinese governments interview peoples, groups, and organizations that may have an interest in detaining a young American with language skills.
Respectfully submitted,
Roy V. Sneddon
Michael V. Sneddon
James H. Sneddon
__________________________
1. E-mail to K. Sneddon, August 3, 2004. See Appendix C: Sample e-mails from David Sneddon.
2. While at Yangian University in Yangi, a city near the North Korean border (see Map 6, Appendix F: Maps) Justin Richmond was studying Korean minorities. We have no knowledge of any connection, but during a telephone interview on October 6, 2004, Justin did confirm to Kathleen and Roy Sneddon that he (Justin) is being evaluated for employment with the CIA.