An undergraduate student in Hanoi went missing for months despite her family’s tracking efforts. Private investigators found out she was being held ‘hostage’ by her boyfriend, a thug active in drug dealings.

A detective agency in the capital had a visit from an elderly couple wrinkled by the stress of worries over their daughter, Hong, who had been missing for months.

From their account, Hong was a university sophomore and was considered a good girl with fine looks.

Last year, she was regularly returning to her hometown in Nam Dinh Province, 84km south of Hanoi, bringing along academic results on a high scale.

For a few months, however, school representatives contacted her family, saying Hong had been constantly playing truant and had to retake three courses.

Unsettled, her parents sent Mai, their niece, to Hong’s place in Hanoi as a roommate, but more importantly as an undercover supervisor.

Mai said that Hong frequently came home late, and sometimes she would be away for days.

Once she saw a spiky-haired man with tattoos all over his arms and a huge necklace escort Hong back home on a black bike with no license plate.

Over a phone conversation, her parents forbade her from getting anywhere near such a man. A few days later, Hong left without a note. Her whereabouts remained a mystery for months.

The number one suspect was the black bike without a license number and the tattooed man. Almost sure that he had taken her, detectives had a quick meeting to run through previous cases where thugs were involved, but nothing sprang to mind.

Duong, a member of the detective team, came to see Mai for further clues. She said that Hong often talked on the phone to a person named Thang.

“Once Thang said he would take her back to Hai Phong City [120km east of Hanoi], but she was very scared,” said Mai.

The search was narrowed down to the northern city, but the reason why Hong was terrified was still a mystery.

The investigators believed this was likely a blackmail case.

Detective Ngoc Anh managed to access Hong’s phone dial list. The final call was made to number 0913 xxx.

Duong dialed that suspected number, saying, “Is that Thang? Are you home? Tell Hong to call me now.”

“I’m at the club. Speak up!” a male voice answered.

“Which club?”

“Tran Nhat Duat. Who are you?”

Once the conversation stopped, the team got one more important clue -- Thang was probably working for a nightclub on Tran Nhat Duat Street.

That night, four investigators disguised themselves as motorbike taxi drivers and took their positions near beer bars around Tran Nhat Duat Street.

At around 2:00 am, a black bike bearing no license plate shot out heading toward Vinh Tuy Bridge. He was tailed by one detective, who got spotted because of the headlight.

The thug cut his tail at the corner of Nguyen Trai-Van Quan Streets in Ha Dong District in Hanoi.

The dead end

The next evening, Duong and a female colleague, both dressed up smartly, got into the club where their suspect was possibly working. Ordering two Mojitos, they settled for ease of observation.

The female agent asked the bartender, “You’re from Hai Phong, too, like Thang?”

“Well, Thang the ‘bald head’? He’s based around the toilet area.”

Duong searched for him there several times but he did not turn up. They saw him ride his bike away at around 3:00 am, however.

They let him go so as not to be conspicuous.

The team decided to capture his image and sent back to Mai for verification, so they equipped themselves with a hidden camera.

They tricked him into getting out of the place by faking a phone call, saying there had been a package delivery for him from his hometown.

They got his image, which was confirmed by Hong very soon afterward.

That very night, the detectives tailed Thang again after his night shift and found that his flat was located around Buou Bridge, near K Hospital in the capital.

On the following evening, the investigators came to that neighborhood looking for Hong. The landlady said that a girl came to stay with Thang last month, but she left the next day and had not come back since.

That must have been Hong, but where could she be then?

The team decided to confront their target.

To the rescue

Once again, the detectives dropped by the club, but their suspect was not there. They learnt that he had asked for one week off for a home visit.

They got his home address after a little quarrel with the receptionist, and set off immediately that night.

The next night, the thug came out with a masked girl riding pillion. They stopped by a hotpot restaurant where a dozen thugs were waiting.

The girl removed her mask and joined the feast. She had no idea her picture was already taken and sent to the agency.

Notified, her family immediately caught a taxi to go straight from Nam Dinh Province to Hai Phong, 86km apart. Meanwhile, the team of detectives hit the road from Hanoi.

The two ‘parties’ agreed to meet in Hai Phong.

At 9:00 pm, Thang, Hong, and the other drunkards left the place for round two at a karaoke parlor.

Two hours later, police officers from Le Chan District, Hai Phong budged into their room.

More than 20 people were dancing vehemently. Pink pills were scattered on the table.

They were taken to the police station where Hong’s parents were waiting.

Later, the young girl wrote a thank-you letter to the detective agency, telling them how thankful she was to have been rescued.

She said that only two months after their first date, she realized Thang was such a dangerous thug, and he forced her to do as he said.

Otherwise, he would have hurt her and her family.

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