Family seeks help from Wong Siu-hung as Cantonese prisoner’s body goes missing under police custody.

Guangdong Shantou man Guo Hongming died while in custody and his body mysteriously disappeared while under the custody of the public security agency. The family believes that Vice-Director Li Shaolong of Chaoyang Public Security Sub-bureau is suspected of using his position to steal the body. Recently, the family wrote a letter requesting Minister Wang Xiaohong of the Ministry of Public Security to oversee the case.

Guo Wubin, the son of the deceased Guo Hongming, told a reporter from Epoch Times that the theft of Guo Hongming’s body occurred in 2022, but it was not until 2023 that a criminal case was filed, and then Guo Wubin was listed as a criminal suspect. The case was filed in September 2023 at the Shantou Intermediate People’s Court, and to this day, a decision has not been made, exceeding the legal six-month deadline.

“We have been submitting materials to central departments with our demands, but there has been no response and no one has contacted the family. We have reached a dead-end and can only seek other channels and ways to attract central attention to the case in hopes of finding the body. That’s why we wrote to Minister Wang Xiaohong requesting oversight of this case,” Guo Wubin said.

Guo Wubin expressed the family’s distress from various pressures after the incident, stating, “The Shantou government has been suppressing us privately, asking us to drop our complaints and protests. On the other hand, the judiciary has not investigated to reveal the truth, continuing to delay the case. Our main demand is to find the body, but the closer we get to the truth, the more we are controlled. Domestic public opinion is under comprehensive surveillance, and voices that dare to speak out are deleted within about three hours.”

“We, our social relationships in Shantou and Guangdong Province have all been privately summoned by government departments, saying we cannot participate or help. The government even pressured my lawyer from another province and asked us not to hire a lawyer,” Guo Wubin said, further adding, “Our family has completely lost faith in the law and civil rights. If the deceased cannot rest in peace, the living will also become walking dead.”

In the letter to Minister Wang Xiaohong, Guo Wubin said, “As our family disputes the cause of (Guo Hongming’s) death, Chaoyang Public Security Sub-bureau used illegal means to coerce the family into accepting the result of the investigation into the cause of death. During the stalemate, the body mysteriously disappeared from the ‘Three Nos Organization,’ Renji Shantang, controlled by the Chaoyang Sub-bureau. Renji Shantang’s responsible person, Zhao Lanqing, once told a journalist from the official media, Xiaoxiang Chenbao, that he was instructed by Vice-Director Li Shaolong of the Chaoyang Sub-bureau to transport the body, and this fact is supported by recordings, which serve as direct evidence.”

“Therefore, our family has reason to suspect Vice-Director Li Shaolong and others in the Chaoyang Sub-bureau of stealing the body and destroying the evidence,” Guo Wubin provided the following reasons: the Chaoyang Sub-bureau delayed nearly a year to report the theft of the body, and only after filing a case claimed through Renji Shantang’s responsible person, Zhao Lanqing, that he had bribed with 83,000 yuan and had the body transported away, openly falsely accusing and intimidating him.

Moreover, Renji Shantang is a “Three Nos Organization” that is not registered with the departments of civil affairs and industry and commerce. If there were no illegal financial incentives, the Chaoyang Sub-bureau wouldn’t have entrusted a large number of bodies to Renji Shantang for an extended period.

Guo Wubin said, “Renji Shantang has for years illegally received bodies related to cases handled by the Chaoyang Public Security Department. Among them, a significant number of bodies that could not be processed in a timely manner and needed long-term preservation have become fertile ground for the grave robbing by the temple. Despite Zhao Lanqing and others currently being judged by Chenghai Court for crimes of theft and trafficking of bodies, the case files bear no relation to the Guo Hongming body theft case; the Shantou public security forces are forcefully severing the case, irresponsibly withdrawing and stopping the investigation into the whereabouts of the body to cover up the long-term collaboration between the temple and the Chaoyang Sub-bureau in the theft and trafficking of bodies.”

“The case of the body theft was transferred to Chenghai Sub-bureau for investigation, but during the prosecutor’s review period, it was suddenly withdrawn on the pretext that the body was misappropriated by Xu Fengwei of Jiangsu and cremated. However, despite multiple identifications of the ashes provided by Xu Fengwei, it could not be determined to belong to my father,” he said. “After the incident, the Shantou and Chaoyang sub-bureaus didn’t focus on investigating and solving the case but instead used all means to monitor me and my lawyer, intervene in media coverage, and censor information. The family has reason to suspect the Chaoyang sub-bureau’s involvement in grave robbing.”

Guo Wubin emphasized, “Solving the case is straightforward — whoever concocted the misappropriation of the body is the true thief of the body. I request Minister Wang Xiaohong to oversee this case.”

The lawyer entrusted by Guo Wubin, Lawyer Yu Kai from Xiao Lin Law Firm in Shandong, previously worked in the public security law enforcement department. He stated that evidence used in criminal cases must be verified to be authentic. In this case, the fact of the body’s misappropriation directly impacts whether criminal proceedings should take place. If the body was indeed misappropriated, then it must be confirmed, and if the evidence cannot be mutually corroborated to exclude reasonable doubt, then it cannot be determined as misappropriation.

According to legal expert Mr. Wang, “We have direct evidence proving that Deputy Director Li Shaolong of the public security bureau committed theft, but to cover up the truth, they claim it was a misappropriation.”

“The Renji Shantang involved in this case is a ‘Three Nos Organization,’ not registered with the civil affairs and industry and commerce authorities, and its long-term custody of a large number of anonymous bodies is a significant source of trafficking, where the police are engaged in daily grave robbing and trafficking activities. Who would dare believe this? It is enough to shock the global Chinese community!”

As for why the public security would engage in the theft and sale of bodies, Mr. Wang explained, “The sale of bodies is significant in Guangdong, mainly used as an alternative to cremation, for burying oneself, etc.”

Mr. Wang also stated, “Since the Hu Xinyu case last year, the control of public opinion by the police has become more perverse, with no similar cases allowed to be reported. After the theft of Guo Hongming’s body, reports by mainstream media in China were all suppressed. Currently, the domestic public security’s power is not subject to any oversight, so we urgently call on Minister Wang Xiaohong to handle this case.”

Guo Hongming, 61, from Shantou, Guangdong, was a Vietnam War veteran who had donated to build a school named the “Hongming School” during his lifetime. He was honored as a “Star of Public Service” and a “Role Model of Public Welfare.”

In 2018, he was arrested by the local government supposedly for activities related to the campaign to combat organized crime and root out evil, charged with multiple offenses including “provoking trouble” and “operating a gambling den.” He was later sentenced to a 10-year and 4-month prison term.

Due to his serious illness, Guo Hongming’s health deteriorated multiple times while in custody, requiring several rescues to the local hospital. Before his death, he was being treated at the Shantou Central Hospital, but suddenly, on September 4, he was transferred back to a hospital in Chaoyang District, and the next day, he passed away.

As the family disputes the cause of Guo Hongming’s death, his body was kept by the public security agency in an organization named “Renji Shantang.” However, on April 12, 2022, his body suddenly went missing, and its whereabouts remain unknown.