PETALING JAYA: A software engineer has expressed concern for the safety of his wife, who was reported missing after allegedly going abroad since Jan 4.
Loh Seow Hwa said his wife, Lee Je Siang, who works as a volunteer, left their home in Bandar Puchong, Selangor, for personal matters in Taiwan on Dec 28 of the previous year.
According to him, his wife was scheduled to return to the country on Jan 7 but has since neither returned nor been contactable.
"On Jan 3, I called her (wife) to inquire about the date and time of her return flight to Malaysia.
"She informed me that she would arrive at 9pm on Jan 7. But on the day that she was supposed to arrive at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), she did not show up.
"My attempts to contact her mobile phone also failed," he said at a joint press conference with the Federal Territory PKR Complaints and Legal Bureau and Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO), here, today.
Loh said he realised that his wife was missing after checking her WhatsApp last seen status, which was last active on Jan 4.
He then contacted several of his wife's friends and the caregiver of their child to track her down before being informed by the caregiver that the woman had sent money as childcare payment.
"The caregiver sent a receipt for the payment made by my wife. Based on the receipt, the money transfer was made from Laos.
"I don't know why my wife is there because she told me she was going to Taiwan. I'm worried she may have been abducted because her mobile phone is no longer reachable until now," he said.
Following this, Loh filed a report about his wife's disappearance at the Serdang district police headquarters (IPD) and reported it to the Malaysian embassy in Laos.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) public relations officer Daniel Khoo, said they have contacted the embassy in the respective country and they are working to locate the victim.
He said the embassy always provides good cooperation and strives to assist stranded or missing Malaysians.
"In any case involving Malaysians abroad, we will refer to the embassy, and they will provide cooperation in addition to helping to resolve it.
This includes cases of Malaysians becoming victims of human trafficking. The embassy collaborates with the government and authorities of the respective country to save the victims," he said.