Do Lai Luat, deputy chairman of Quoc Oai District who has been assigned to take charge in Lam’s absence, provided Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Tuesday with the piece of information that could be key to unraveling the chairman’s mysterious disappearance.

According to Luat, Lam had called in early Tuesday last week asking to skip a regular meeting at the office, saying he was occupied with some personal business.

Around the time, the chairman also called his son and said he was “in trouble” before abruptly hanging up without giving further explanations, Luat said, citing investigation reports from police officers.

It was after that last call that his phone began to be out of reach, and Lam has since failed to show up for work while no one knows his whereabouts, the deputy chairman said.

According to the deputy chairman, Lam had been to work as usual on Monday last week – the day before his disappearance – “without showing any sign of being troubled.”

Nguyen Hong Lam, chairman of Quoc Oai District in Hanoi. Photo: Quoc Oai District Portal

That evening, Lam attended a party with his colleagues to bid farewell to a district official who was entering retirement, Luat recalled.

The party ended at around 8:00 pm, and “Lam drove his car out of the office’s parking lot at just over 9:00 pm.” It was the last time his colleagues saw the chairman.

Colonel Duong Van Giap, chief of Hanoi Police’s criminal division, said police had been able to locate the point where Lam had made his last call on December 26, which is near Den Lu Lake in Hanoi’s Hoang Mai District.

His car was found at the site on the afternoon of the same day, and has since been kept at the headquarters of the Quoc Oai People’s Committee for investigation.

Initial police probes found Lam to have arrived there at around 9:53 pm on December 25.

The Den Lu Lake in Hanoi, where Nguyen Hong Lam is believed to have come on December 25, 2017 before going missing. Photo: Tuoi Tre

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