Singaporean woman and mother found in Romania, not victims of any crime

Singaporean woman and mother found in Romania, not victims of any crime

UPDATE: The Singaporean woman who allegedly went missing after travelling to Romania with her mother has told a Romanian television station that she had travelled to the country to meet her boyfriend, whom she had befriended online two years ago, The Straits Times reported.


SINGAPORE - The Singaporean woman and her mother who went missing in Romania have been found.

On Tuesday (Feb 2), the Romanian police wrote in a Facebook post that officers from Olt County there had met with Cheryl Yap Lay Leng, 25 and Madam Foo Li Kheng, 61.

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

The post was accompanied by a photograph of the two women, together with Romanian police officers and another man dressed in a black jacket.

According to The Straits Times, a Romanian newspaper had reported that the pair had been found in Vulturesti, a village commune in Olt County about 150km from the Romanian capital Bucharest.

The pair had been missing for 10 days since reportedly leaving for Romania on Jan 22.

Polițiștii din Olt le-au întâlnit pe cele două doamne din Singapore, aflate în vizită în România, al căror caz a fost...

Posted by Politia Romana - www.politiaromana.ro on Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Chinese evening daily Shin Min Daily News reported that Ms Yap, an administrative officer, had brought along her four bank passbooks containing savings of at least $40,000, as well as cash and some SG50 commemorative notes.

Ms Yap's father, a 59-year-old taxi driver, had returned from work at 5am on Jan 23, only to discover that both mother and daughter were not at home. He was also unable to contact them on their mobile phones.

But he only reported their disappearance to the police five days later, as he thought that the pair might have gone overseas for a holiday together since his wife's birthday was last Saturday (Jan 30). According to Shin Min Daily News, he was worried that the two might have fallen prey to a scam.

He later found out about the mystery trip from his daughter's credit card bill, and that they had booked their return for April 16, The Straits Times reported.

Shin Min also reported that Ms Yap's elder brother discovered that she had erased files, including photos, from her computer before the trip.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement that they had approached Romanian authorities for assistance.

"We are monitoring the case closely and will continue to keep in close touch with the family members," MFA added.

seanyap@sph.com.sg

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