The Vietnam online community is closely following story of a father who set up a website (nguyenminhchau.com) to look for his daughter who has been missing for 15 years.

A photo of the missing girl on the website.

Website nguyenminhchau.com includes the information that the girl Nguyen Truong An, born in 1990, the daughter of a man named Nguyen Minh Chau, disappeared mysteriously in early 1996. The family has been searching for the girl since but has had no success.

Chau, who currently lives in Tan Quoi hamlet, Tan Hoa Thanh commune, Tan Phuoc District, the southern province of Tien Giang, told a VietNamNet reporter about the terrible day of 15 years ago.

That day, his daughter, Nguyen Truong An, and Phan Nguyen Diem My, the adopted daughter of Chau’s sister, went out to play with other kids in their village.

Until the dinner, the family didn’t see An and My. They ran everywhere to look for the kids. Some said that they saw a woman leading the two kids out of the village. Local people tried to search for the kids the whole night but they failed. Chau reported the case to local police the next morning. Villagers continued the search for three more days but there was no hope.

The missing girl and her family.

After losing their daughter, Chau and his wife were hi hard. Their business was neglected as they went everywhere to search for their child. They posted announcements in local newspapers and TV channels. Tien Giang province’s police investigated the case, also.

The family received information about their daughter from Binh Phuoc, Da Lat and even Cambodia. Each time they received the information, the couple immediately went to see the source but all they found was disappointment. However, they have never stopped the search, even with the dimmest hope.

In 2001, misfortune hit the family again. Their only son died because of bone cancer. In early 2010, Chau’s nephew Truong Hoang Thai who is working for an IT firm in HCM City helped Chau to launch this website, hoping to seek Truong An through the assistance of the online community.

Chau said: “I and my wife have never stopped missing my daughter. We love our missing daughter very much. We don’t know whether she lives happily or not. Through this website, I hope that the online community will help me to find my daughter”.

He has also delivered the information through a TV show seeking missing people on the national Vietnam Television (VTV).

The another missing girl, Phan Nguyen Diem My.

Since the day the website is launched, the father has received thousands of calls and nearly 100,000 people have visited the website to add support for the father.

“More than ever, I’ve felt boundless affection,” Chau told VietNamNet.

He said many people suggested seeing famous telepaths like Phan Thi Bich Hang or Nguyen Thi Nguyen to ask for help.

One man in the US says he is willing to upgrade nguyenminhchau.com website and add information in three more languages: Cambodian, Thai and Chinese, besides the current Vietnamese and English languages.

Little girl Truong An and her family.

Chau said that a man called him, saying that he is the director of a company that exports goods to Cambodia. This firm is about to sell a new product in Cambodia and the director asked Chau’s permission to print his daughter’s photos on these products.

Meanwhile companies other companies have offered to fund his search but Chau has refused any money-related request. 

Dam De