'Missing' woman back in S'pore with Romanian boyfriend and mother

The Singaporean mother-daughter duo, who went 'missing' back in January this year but were later found in Romania, are now back in Singapore, according to Shin Min Daily.

They have reportedly returned with the daughter's Romanian boyfriend and his mother as well.

Cheryl Yap, 25, and her mother, Madam Foo Li Kheng, 61, had travelled to Romania to look for her boyfriend of over two years, Alexandru Donea, without informing their family members.

They had been 'missing' for 10 days but it was only after five days of their disappearance that Ms Yap's father filed a police report after failing to reach his his wife and daughter on their mobile phones.

The 59-year-old taxi driver was worried that his wife and daughter had fallen prey to a scam, especially since his housewife spouse had "never gone overseas before".

However, the pair was found soon after news broke that they had disappeared.

On Feb 2, Romanian police wrote in a Facebook post that officers had met with both Cheryl and her mother in Vulturesti, a village commune in Olt County about 150km from Bucharest.

"They were not victims of any crime," the Romanian police wrote, before wishing the pair a pleasant stay in Romania.

Now, it seems that Mr Donea and his mother, Aurelia, are in Singapore to visit Cheryl's family.

According to Shin Min Daily News, both Mr Donea and his mother arrived in Singapore about two weeks ago, and intend to stay here for three months.

In a Facebook post on March 12, Mrs Donea said: "In Singapore with my daughter and son shopping!"

She also uploaded a picture of herself with Mr Donea, Ms Yap and Madam Foo that was taken in a shopping mall and geo-tagged "Singapore".

Mrs Donea also posted other pictures taken around Singapore.

Mr Yap said that he does not object to the romance, and just wants his daughter to be safe, Shin Min reported. He had also previously told the media back in February that he had no objections to his daughter's plans for her personal happiness as "she is now grown up".

It was reported earlier that Ms Yap and Mr Donea have plans to get married in one to two years' time and relocate to the United States.

The two met online two years ago and grew closer because of their shared interest in manga.

ssandrea@sph.com.sg