Burlingame Child is Missing

Burlingame child missing for over six months By Dana Yates, Daily Journal Maxim Yu went missing Aug. 17, 2008, from Ann Arbor, Mich. The Burlingame community is rallying to support a mother whose 8-year old son is still missing after his father abducted him late last year. Maxim Yu went missing Aug. 17, 2008, from Ann Arbor, Mich., where he was spending the summer with his father, Jason Yu. Instead of delivering his son to his mother at a Detroit airport, Yu took the boy and vanished. The younger Yu was supposed to board a plane back to the Bay Area so he could return to school at Burlingame's Washington Elementary. Parents are just now learning of Yu's abduction and spreading e-mail alerts through the community. Everyone is being asked to be on the lookout and forward the information to everyone they know. Yu's last message to his ex-wife said he was planning to leave the country with Maxim, making it impossible for Yuhong Zhou to ever see her son again. Zhou is not convinced the two ever made it to another country because Maxim Yu's passport was in court custody at the time of his abduction. She is hoping someone somewhere has information about her son's whereabouts. His birthday was Dec. 8. He turned 8. It was really hard for me. I don't know where he was. I don't know where he is,? said Burlingame resident Zhou. Zhou learned of her son's abduction when she stepped off a flight from the Bay Area to Chicago on Aug. 17, 2008. She was to spend an hour in Chicago before connecting to Detroit where she would be reunited with her son. She checked her cell phone voice mail and heard a message from her ex-husband. When he left the message, he said he was taking Maxim out of the country and I would never see him again,? Zhou said. She immediately called police in Ann Arbor to report the incident. She then alerted her attorney in Michigan who went with police to Yu's residence. The FBI later issued an unlawful flight to avoid prosecution warrant for Yu on Sept. 15. Washington Elementary School crossing guard and parent Megan Brownlow recently learned of the abduction and forwarded the information to her contacts in the community. The e-mail has spread quickly in Burlingame, but many hope the message can travel further than the borders of Burlingame and somehow find its way to someone who has seen Maxim and Jason Yu. I'm heartbroken. I can't even imagine how devastating this must be for [Zhou]. I'd like to believe the Internet can be used for something good,? said Lix Gindraux, Burlingame Elementary School Board trustee. Thousands of children are reported missing each day, according to a 2002 study issued by the Department of Justice. According to the study, 797,500 children under 18 years old were reported missing in a one-year period, resulting in an average of 2,185 children being reported missing each day. Of those, 203,900 were victims of family abductions. I think sometimes finding them is not difficult, it's getting them back,? said Maureen Heads, manager at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The NCMEC works with parents to get law enforcement immediately involved and helps distribute fliers nationally about missing children. The organization will work with local, state, federal and international law enforcement to ensure laws are followed to bring children home once they are located, Heads said. It's important to make sure parents call us right away,? Heads said. There is an element of family law that works better the sooner a child is reported missing, Heads said. Yu, 57, has family in Taiwan but there is no indication he ever visited, said Zhou. Maxim Yu was 4 feet 1 inch tall and 50 pounds when he was abducted. He has brown eyes and black hair. Zhou believe that he may be homeschooled by his father. I just hope everything is going well for Maxim and he'll be back soon,? Zhou said. Anyone with information about Yu should call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) THE-LOST.

- Written by Fiona

Comments

[JD]

That is a very great article.
However,it may have more "behind the scenes" issues.
What are the people of Burlingame doing about the homeless we see every day in li our small city.

[Pastor Peter Garrison]

The local almshouse is Call Primrose at the corner of Primrose and Howard. Locals and their churches give food, money, clothes and supplies for the homeless, poor, sick and sad.

The director of Call Primrose is Ms. Mary Watt.

A happy update:

Missing boy found in Mexico
By Dana Yates (Daily Journal)

An 8-year-old Burlingame boy has returned home after six months on the run with his father, who abducted his son during a summer visit in August.

Maxim Yu went missing Aug. 17, 2008, from Ann Arbor, Mich., where he was spending the summer with his father, Jason Yu. Instead of delivering his son to his mother at a Detroit airport, Yu took the boy and vanished. The younger Yu was supposed to board a plane back to the Bay Area so he could return to school at Burlingame's Washington Elementary School.

Yu was recently located in Mexico City and the boy was reunited with his mom, Yuhong Zhou, who traveled to Mexico to retrieve her son.

I would like to express my gratitude to all of you who have supported me and helped with locating Maxim. Maxim is doing fine, and we are still working on the readjustment,? Zhou wrote in an e-mail yesterday.

Zhou learned of her son's abduction when she stepped off a flight from the Bay Area to Chicago on Aug. 17, 2008. She was to spend an hour in Chicago before connecting to Detroit where she would be reunited with her son. She checked her cell phone voice mail and heard a message from her ex-husband stating that he was taking their son out of the country, she told the Daily Journal in February.

Thousands of children are reported missing each day, according to a 2002 study issued by the Department of Justice.

According to the study, 797,500 children under 18 years old were reported missing in a one-year period, resulting in an average of 2,185 children being reported missing each day. Of those, 203,900 were victims of family abductions.