Family of missing student Laurence Wu fly home still unsure if he is alive or dead

Friday, 10 May 2019

Guoquan (Laurence) Wu has been missing since March 10. His family are urging the public for any information on his disappearance.

The family of a student who has been missing in Auckland for two months have flown back to China not knowing if he is dead or alive.

Guoquan Wu, also known as Laurence, was last seen at St Lukes Liquor Centre in central Auckland on March 10 and, according to a friend, his ex-girlfriend was the last person to have spoken to him.

The 22-year-old student, whose friends and family described him as funny and happy, was set to graduate with a degree in computer science this year.

His car was later found at West Auckland's Piha Beach where his phone was also last used. But despite multiple searches of the area, his whereabouts remain a mystery.

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When friends reported Wu as a missing person to police, his family travelled from the south of Guangzhou to Auckland to help with the search.

They plastered posters around Piha Beach and near the central Auckland home where he had been staying.

The family even hired a helicopter and boat to search the beach.

One of the posters his family put up said: 'Mum and Dad have arrived, please come home soon.'

In March, Wu's brother Lucas Wu told Stuff the family felt desperate and helpless.

'In the first 10 days, we went out everywhere to search for him,' Wu said.

CCTV footage shows Laurence Wu was last seen wearing long black/charcoal coloured pants, a grey plain t-shirt and a green jacket and possibly white Adidas shoes, with black stripes.

'Right now, all we can do is wait – we've been out there, we've been out to Piha and places where we think my brother can be.

'We've checked everywhere and there's nothing so far.'

Mother Gui Ting Huang was quiet while in New Zealand, filled with worry over her son.

She said she hoped to find Laurence alive, saying he may have left Auckland or was hiding.

In a police statement, Wu's father, Zhen Zhou Wu, said he was desperate to find his son and reached out to the public for help.

Laurence Wu, who was reported missing in March, has not been seen or heard from since.

A friend who had reported Wu missing, Sandy Li, told Stuff on Wednesday her friend's family had gone back to China.

His group of friends had gone back to their daily routines, she said.

Another friend said she had been asking for updates from mutual friends but did not know what else she could do to help.

THE LAST TIME FRIENDS AND FAMILY HEARD FROM WU

Li said on March 9, a group, including Wu, had spent the evening at Chancery Square in Auckland's CBD. They later went to karaoke.

A sign the family put up in March said: 'Mum and Dad have arrived, please come home soon'.

Wu had been 'really sad' that evening and the group dropped him home, she said.

The pair, who had been friends since high school, spoke on March 10 about 11am but after that, she stopped hearing from him.

Li received a call from their mutual friend in Wellington on March 11, who told her people could not find him.

Wu's ex-girlfriend told their mutual friend he called her at 4pm on March 10.

'He told her that he was going to Piha.'

Li called Wu again, but it went straight to voicemail.

That evening, Li and some friends went to the police station and filed a missing persons report before deciding to drive to Piha Beach.

Data from Laurence Wu's missing iPhone X showed it was last used in Piha, West Auckland.

They spotted his car, a grey Hyundai Santa Fe, and contacted police at 1am.

POLICE CALL ON THE PUBLIC FOR HELP

In April, police said they had 'grave concerns' for Wu's safety.

The last known sighting of him was on Sainsbury Rd in the Auckland suburb of St Lukes.

CCTV footage showed he was wearing long black/charcoal coloured pants, a grey t-shirt and a green jacket at the time.

He was possibly also wearing white Adidas shoes with black stripes.

Since his last sighting, police had conducted land and air searches.

Lifesaving clubs and volunteers had also taken part in the search.

In April, Sergeant Tania Kingi from Auckland City Police said a number of staff had been working 'tirelessly' to find Wu.

Police were eager to hear from people who had seen Wu and were working hard to find the student's iPhone X, which it believed may be vital in finding him.

Data from his missing phone showed it was last used in the Piha area, she said.

'As you can understand his family are incredibly worried about him, and this has been a very trying time for them,' Kingi said.

They want to know what has happened to their son and we would like the public's help, to help us give them answers.'

Since April, Stuff has contacted police four times to ask if there had been any progress in finding Wu.

To date, there have been no new updates and his phone has still not been found.

Anyone with information was asked to contact Sergeant Tania Kingi on 021 191 0895. Anyone wanting to speak to someone in Mandarin was asked to phone Justin Zeng on 021 191 0463.

Information could also be provided anonymously through the organisation Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.