Motivated by a longing for their father, three children, aged five, eight, and ten, from Dak Lak Province in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, rode bicycles to search for him and got lost about 50 kilometers away from home. 

Fortunately, the children were found by locals and safely returned, Hoang Thi Ben, vice-chairwoman of the administration in Cu Ewi Commune, Cu Kuin District, Dak Lak, said on Tuesday.

The vice-chairwoman confirmed all three children had been back to school.

On Saturday last week, Hoang Van Cao, 60, the grandfather of the three children, returned from working on the farm but could not find his three grandchildren -- H.V.K., 10; H.V.B., eight; and H.T.T., five. 

He searched around the village and asked some acquaintances if they had seen the children, but no one could find them.

Fearing the worst, he and his neighbors came to search by lakes, checked security cameras along roads, and posted information online to find the children. The information was quickly shared by local pages in Dak Lak.

Around 11:30 pm, while Cao was anxiously waiting, he received news that his grandchildren had been found at Tay Nguyen University in Dak Lak, nearly 50 kilometers from his home.

Cao said due to the posts being shared, someone spotted the children riding bicycles past the gate of Tay Nguyen University and stopped them.

Cao said, “They gave the children dinner, bought milk and candy, and kept them until the family could pick them up. I never expected the children would ride bicycles for nearly 50 kilometers like that.” 

Cao added that the children traveled a long distance in the dark. Fortunately, they were all safe and unharmed.

When the children arrived back home, the family discovered that they had decided to ride their bicycles to find their father because they missed him so much.

Cao shared that the three children set off to find their father with two old bicycles, both with broken pedals.

K., one of the children, said, "Because I miss dad," then lowered his head and quietly wiped away tears.

To Thi Luc, 58, the children's grandmother, shared that her three grandchildren have a very special background.

All three children were born and grew up in Dak Nong Province, a neighbor of Dak Lak.

In 2021, while picking cashews in Binh Phuoc Province, their mother disappeared and has not been heard from since. The family has lost contact with her and she has not returned for years. 

The children's father works on a farm in Dak Nong, nearly 200 kilometers away. The area where their father lives is remote, with inconvenient roads, and the children live with their grandparents.

Their father sometimes visits them. Recently, the children often talked about missing their father and asked to use their grandparents' phones to call him.

However, due to their father's farm work and the children's schooling, the grandparents had not been able to arrange for them to visit their father, Luc continued.

"When I heard the children say they went to find their father because they missed him, tears ran down my face," Luc said.

"My husband and I have tried, but we can’t replace the warmth and love of their parents. I truly feel guilty for not taking better care of the children."

After the incident, their father called to discuss bringing the children to Dak Nong.

However, the family advised him to leave the children with the grandparents as they have school and friends.

If they go to Dak Nong, continuing their education would be difficult.

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