Difference between revisions 134512901 and 134515278 on enwiki

#REDIRECT [[Min Chen[[Image:cecilia.jpg|right|frame|Photo of Cecilia Zhang]]

'''Dong-Yue Zhang''' (張東嶽, [[Hanyu Pinyin]]: ''Zhāng Dōngyuè'', [[March 30]] [[1994]] — [[October 20]] [[2003]]), 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.

==Abduction==
Sometime after 10 p.m. on [[October 19]], [[2003]] and before 8:30 a.m. on [[October 20]], [[2003]], Cecilia Zhang was abducted from her family home in [[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 initially thought multiple kidnappers were involved.

On the other side of the Toronto area, two phone calls were made to the Zhang home, which were traced to different [[Brampton, Ontario|Brampton]] pay phones. These were made just minutes before her mother realized she was missing. Both calls were completely silent when answered.  Her disappearance was not noticed until Monday morning shortly before 8:30 a.m..

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 was 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 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 [http://www.ceciliazhang.org 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 children along the parade route, this would be an opportune time for the kidnappers to release Cecilia, without drawing any attention to themselves.  However, the event passed without her return.

==Finding of remains==
On [[March 28]], [[2004]], police confirmed that remains, discovered by a hiker in a [[Mississauga, Ontario|Mississauga]] wooded ravine, were those of Cecilia Zhang. A winter thaw exposed the remains, which police believed had been at the location for quite some time. Peel Regional Police called in national forensic experts and stated that "this is now a homicide investigation."

With the finding of the remains in Mississauga, a task force was formed between Toronto Police Service and Peel Regional Police, headed by Peel Regional Police Inspector Frank Roselli.  The task force was comprised of homicide investigators from both police services and conducted an intensive investigation resulting in the arrest of Min Chen.

==Arrest and trial==
At a press conference on [[July 22]], [[2004]], police noted that the investigation was global, involving the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]], Vancouver Police, the U.S. [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], and police in mainland China. The conference was not without media 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 was then accused of murder but had not yet 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 had crossed a line by disregarding Chen's [[presumption of innocence]], which could have tainted 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|Brampton]], Ontario courthouse, Chen was failing in his college studies and feared deportation back to his native [[China]].  He desperately needed $25,000 to enter into a marriage of convenience as a means of obtaining right of permanent residence in Canada.  He planned to kidnap Cecilia for ransom, hoping even to return her the same day after delivery of the money from her parents.

Her death was the result of Chen botching up his poorly planned scheme during the early hours of October 20, 2003 at Cecilia's home.  When Cecilia struggled and tried to scream, Chen covered her face with a towel and held his hand over her mouth.  She had stopped struggling by the time Chen placed her inside the trunk of his car and left.  When Chen later stopped to check on her, she had stopped breathing.<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/story/tor-zhang060509.html Student pleads guilty to killing 9-year old Cecilia Zhang], ''[[CBC News]]'', [[May 9]] [[2006]]</ref>

==References==
<references />
*{{note|cbc20060510a}} [http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/story/tor-asian-kidnappings060510.html 80% of kidnappings never reported: Asian crime expert], ''[[CBC News]]'', [[May 10]] [[2006]]

==External links==
*[http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/ceciliazhang/ CBC: The Cecilia Zhang case]
*[http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Render&c=Page&cid=1066730587756 Toronto Star: Cecilia Zhang special report]
* http://web.archive.org/web/20050720084005/http://www.ceciliazhang.org/ - Archived Cecilia Zhang website
* http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/ceciliazhang/gfx/zhangstatementfact.pdf - Agreed Statement of Facts

[[Category:1994 births|Zhang, Cecilia]]
[[Category:2003 deaths|Zhang, Cecilia]]
[[Category:Chinese Canadians|Zhang, Cecilia]]
[[Category:Murdered Canadian children|Zhang, Cecilia]]
[[Category:People from Toronto|Zhang, Cecilia]]

[[fr:Affaire Cecilia Zhang]]