At 5:30 a.m. on May 4, the morning of his 20th birthday, Chi Thien Tran sent a text message to his parents, Thu and Thao Tran.
One word: “Goodbye.”
Her father woke up, saw the message and immediately “realized that something bad had happened,” Thao said.
“I tried to call him,” said Thu, his mother, “but the phone did not work. I tried to send a text message. After that, the police also tried to trace the phone. They told me that they did not locate him. “
LOOK / A parent’s plea: “We still hold out hope”
Chi Thien Tran’s parents are asking for help to find their missing son
Chi Thien Tran disappeared on May 4, his 20th birthday, and left his parents a one-word text message: “Goodbye.”
“I was going to do something, do something for her birthday. But I have no chance of telling her that,” he said.
Thao and Thu arrived in Saint John just six months ago from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The move was to establish their new life together as a family. Since 2019, Tran has been living with a host family on the west side of the city.
Tran’s parents say that until any evidence of their son’s death is found, they will continue to live in the hope that he is still alive. They ask St. John to join the search. (Submitted by Thao Tran)
“He stayed with us for two years,” said Saint Johner Amy Brideau, who hosted Tran as part of the Atlantic Education International program. “It was a pleasure to have her in our home. When she graduated from high school, she moved in with another Vietnamese family in the far north, after her parents had emigrated to Canada.
“We were very upset to hear the news.”
In 2021, Tran graduated from Saint John High School, where his younger brother, 16-year-old Chi Nhan Tran, is in 10th grade.
They are about to graduate in 2021 from Saint John High School. (Submitted by Thao Tran)
“We hoped my son would have a better environment to study and that life would be better,” his mother said. “We came here for my son. He was here. We wanted to be together again, to be a family. But now, he’s not here, and it seems like my life has stopped. My heart doesn’t beat.”
Nearly a month after his disappearance, “there is no information,” Thu said.
“We are going to many, many places. We go from this neighborhood every day [to] Rockwood Park, Romero House, St. John River, Reversing Falls, along the shore, to the forest. To see any information, any piece related to my child “.
His parents say his son had been isolated during the pandemic and looked sad and withdrawn in the days leading up to his disappearance. (Submitted by Thao Tran)
After searching the far north, a track on the west side
Tran’s first police searches were concentrated in the far north, where the family lives.
He was known to frequent Rockwood Park and police searches focused on the park, Parkwood Avenue, Thornborough Avenue, Magazine Street, Park Street and Cameron Court, according to the sergeant. Sean Rocca of the Sant Joan police force.
But on Tuesday, shortly after 8 p.m. on the west side of the city, a resident walking along Bayshore Beach near Sea Street found a black backpack containing Tran’s ID and called police. dir Rocca.
The Bay Shore Beach area near where Tran’s backpack was found on May 17th. (Julia Wright / CBC)
The backpack was full of Tran’s personal belongings, money, ID, mud and seaweed, his parents said. It was located about 500 meters to the right of the car park at the end of Carrer del Mar.
Additional searches were conducted May 18 and 19 at Bay Shore Beach and Sea Street, Rocca said.
Tran is described as five feet three inches tall and 114 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He may be wearing a black jacket, jeans and black Adidas sneakers. Sometimes he wears his hair in a ponytail at the top of his head.
The recent graduate of Saint John High School was last seen on the night of May 3 in the Parkwood Avenue area at the northern end of the city, where his family lives. (San Juan Police Force)
‘A kind boy’
His father describes his son as a “kind” child who was “very sensitive” and enjoyed playing video games. He had recently been accepted into the computer program at UNB Saint John, awaiting the completion of his English studies.
During the pandemic, Amy Brideau said, “she tended to want to stay on her computer and it was hard to get her to socialize with her family.”
Her parents also realized that she had stopped connecting with friends the month before her disappearance. Other friends moved.
Thao and Thu are now left wondering about subtle signs they may have lost.
The family reunited just 6 months ago, after Tran spent several years with a foster family in Saint John to receive his high school education in Canada. “We hoped my son would have a better environment to study and that life would be better,” his mother said. “We came here for my son. But now he’s not here and my life seems to have stopped. ‘(Posted by Thao Tran)
“Six months starting in a new country: different things, different language, different culture, different environment. We are very busy with the [paperwork]with the agreement, “Thu said.
“As a mother, I kept busy with new things. But he faced difficulties, he felt lonely. And I wasn’t alert enough to help my son.”
“He kept quiet, sitting in a room,” Thu said. “Before he disappeared, he looked very sad.”
Tran had been isolated during the pandemic, his parents said. (Submitted by Thao Tran)
“Please help my son”
With no new information since May 19, the Tran family is overwhelmed by the vastness of the area to look for. They feel stuck between hope and despair.
“As a mother, I feel in two different ways. I still think my son is still alive, just go to work, try to find a job somewhere and work, and come back. I keep praying. I pray all day and night. I pray that my son is still alive.
Until proven otherwise, “we still hold out hope that he is still alive,” the father said. “We will live with our hope. That’s all.”
The Tran family met in King’s Square in earlier times. (Submitted by Thao Tran)
Although there is no evidence that he has entered the water, Tran’s parents are concerned that if their child has drowned, his body may be stuck somewhere inaccessible, such as Partridge Island, where entry is prohibited.
Rocca said the major crime is being coordinated with Ground Search and Rescue off Riverview, which has marine capabilities. However, ground search and rescue has not been carried out and so far no maritime searches have been conducted.
The remains of the missing New Brunswickers have been recovered in the water as far as Digby, NS
The Tran family and police are asking Saint Johners to search, especially along the coast.
The sandy and rocky shoreline near Bay Shore Beach, where the missing student’s backpack was found, connects to Partridge Island. (Roger Cosman / CBC)
“My son’s body may be trapped there. We don’t have a boat. Please help my son.”
She also spoke directly to him.
“If my son can hear me and see his parents here, he will come home safe and sound. I pray to Buddhism to take him home,” his mother said.
“Like a miracle she would be born again, and we would be mother and son again.”