Dong-Yue Zhang (March 30, 1994-2003/04), known as Cecilia Zhang, was a 9-year-old girl who went missing from her Toronto, Ontario, Canada family home in fall 2003, making Canadian and international headlines. Her remains were found months later in Mississauga, Ontario. First-degree murder charges were laid in July 2004.

Appearance

Zhang was female, Chinese-Canadian, 9 years of age, 4 ft 11 in (1.50 m), 70 lb (32 kg), a thin build, shoulder length black hair with blonde highlights, and brown eyes. Cecilia was a grade 4 student at Seneca Hill Public School. Her parents last saw the child when she went to bed on Sunday night (October 19, 2003). Her disappearance was not noticed until Monday morning shortly before 8:30 am.

Known facts about Cecilia's kidnapping

Sometime after 10 pm October 19 and before 8:30 am October 20, 2003, Cecilia Zhang was kidnapped from her family home in North York, an area in the north of Toronto, Ontario. Police presume that the kidnapper(s) entered through the window of her second floor bedroom, as the screen was broken the next morning. Police say there were probably multiple kidnappers involved, discarding their "lone kidnapper" theory.

On the other side of the Toronto area, two phone calls were made to the Zhang home, and have been traced to different Brampton pay phones. These were made just minutes before her parent realized she was missing. Both calls were completely silent when answered.

Neither the Zhangs nor police received ransom demands, and neither party had any contact with the abductors.

Search effort

On the day Cecilia was taken, a province-wide AMBER Alert was issued. Along with notifications running along the bottom of television screens, all highway signs alert motorists about the abduction, providing a description. The alert was called off a day later.

Numerous hotlines were set up for reporting information on Cecilia, both in English and in Chinese dialects. Anyone with any information on Cecilia Zhang's abduction is asked to contact the Toronto Police's 33 Division at (416) 808-3300 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Two rewards totaling $200,000 were being offered.

Local stores, businesses, and other locales posted posters and flyers, with 1700 displayed at bus stops and subway stations alone.

An e-mail message was circulated through a chain of forwarding, to try to raise awareness.

The website ceciliazhang.org was created by the family to provide information on the girl, and to provide an "absolutely untraceable" text box to put forth information.

A segment about Cecilia ran on America's Most Wanted on November 1, 2003. The day after, thirteen fresh tips were turned over to police; still this didn't give detectives any definitive leads.

Police encouraged the kidnappers to return Cecilia during Santa Claus Parade, an annual event held in downtown Toronto in late November. As there are typically thousands of kids along the parade route, this would be an opportune time for the kidnappers to release Cecilia, without drawing any attention to themselves. This Christmas wish did not come true for Torontonians.

Finding of remains

On March 28, 2004, police confirmed that remains, discovered by a hiker in a Mississauga wooded ravine, were those of Cecilia Zhang. A recent winter thaw exposed the evidence; remains which seem to have been idle for quite some time. Peel Regional Police called in national forensic experts and stated that "this is now a homicide investigation."

Charges Laid

On July 22, 2004, police charged Chinese visa student Min Chen with first-degree murder in the case of Cecilia Zhang. Chen, a Shanghai native who has lived in Canada on a visa since 2001, allegedly entered Zhang's home through a kitchen window and removed her from her home between 3 am and 4 am, leaving by a side door. According to Police, Min Chen knew a female boarder who lived at the Zhang home between September 2002 and March 2003, and had visited the Zhang home at least four times. Police said that Cecilia would have been comfortable in Chen's company under normal social circumstances.

Min Chen and a second person were arrested on July 21, 2004. However, the second person has not been charged and was released shortly thereafter.

At a press conference on July 22, 2004, police noted that the investigation was global, involving the RCMP, Vancouver Police, FBI, and police in mainland China. The conference was not without public criticism mainly due to the emotional comments made by the Peel Regional Police Chief Noel Catney. At the time, Catney, who was appearing live on television, held a photograph of 21-year-old Min Chen, a man who is accused of murder but has not been put on trial, stating that "he is not just a murderer. This is the most despicable of criminals. This is a child murderer."

Several prominent members of the legal community felt that the Peel police chief has crossed a line by disregarding Chen's presumption of innocence, which could taint his right to a fair trial.

Min Chen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on May 09, 2006. According to an agreed statement of facts read out in a Brampton, Ontario courthouse, Chen was failing in his college studies and feared deportation back to his native China. Being a visa student who was broke, he desperately needed $25,000 to enter into a marriage of convenience as a means of obtaining right of permanent residence in Canada. Cecilia's death was the result of Chen botching up his poorly planned kidnapping during the early hours of October 20, 2003 at Cecilia's home. When Cecilia tried to scream, Chen covered her face with a towel and held his hand over her mouth. Cecilia had stopped struggling by the time Chen placed her inside the trunk of his car. When Chen checked on Cecilia later on, he discovered that she had stopped breathing. [1305]

Chen was represented by well known criminal lawyer John Rosen, who had defended killer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo.
[1306] Min Chen faces life imprisonment for his criminal offence.

External links

CBC: The Cecilia Zhang case

Toronto Star: Cecilia Zhang special report

Background info about how common kidnappings are in China and why families don't normally want to report them to the police