Isabella

[ssheng]

Who knows - maybe it will help to post this here; got it in an email today. I moved the English version at top and it reads a bit weird - probably translated from the Spanish or Chinese version.

Unless you are 100% positive it is a scam, please don't post anything negative about people perpetuating these irrational fears, etcetc, as I have seen in the past on Geobaby threads. If it is a scam, worst case you lost 10 seconds on it and thank goodness, because it means a child isn't lost.

***
Searching for Isabella



Dear members and friends,


The Spanish Chamber of Commerce in China (South China) would like to ask for your help in a complicated situation. This last week, we have received the petition of a family that recently has lost their daugther.



Isabella, a five-year-old girl, disappeared last July 1st in Shanghai. Since then, her family have not had news about her. The young girl has blue eyes and blond long hair, as you can see in the attached file, but the family warns that she could wear short hair now. Isabella, also known as 'Izzy',speaks Spanish and English.



If somebody see Isabella or know any information about her whereabouts, please, contact her family by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone calling 13166007760. We appreciate your help in a hard situation like this and we hope Isabella can be soon with her family again.



Please, do not forget to send this e-mail to all your contacts in China. Thank you.



Sincerely yours,




Oliver Wang
Executive Director
Spanish Chamber of Commerce in China, South of China division


To make sure you receive our bulletins, please save [email protected] in your contact list.


失踪人口--- Isabella



亲爱的会员们、朋友们：

中国西班牙商会华南代表处近段时间收到一个小孩失踪的消息。

Isabella, 5岁女孩，蓝色眼睛，长头发，她现在可能是短发。7月1日在上海失踪。从那天开始，她的家人再也没有收到她的消息，她会说西班牙语和英语。家人也称呼她为 'Izzy'，具体请查阅附件。

如果你们看见或知道 Isabella的消息和下落，请联系她的家人[email protected] 或致电13166007760. 我们非常感谢你的帮助同时也希望Isabella 能早日回到家人的身边。

再次，请把这个邮件转发给你的中国朋友，谢谢！





此致，
敬礼


王祖俤
执行总监
中国西班牙商会华南代表处


为确保已经收到我们的邮件，请把[email protected] 列入你的联系名单中

La b?squeda de Isabella


Estimados socios y amigos,



Desde la C?mara Oficial de Comercio de Espa?a en China, divisi?n Sur de China, os pedimos a todos vuestra colaboraci?n en una situaci?n muy delicada. Esta semana nos ha llegado una petici?n de ayuda de una familia que ha perdido a su hija recientemente y solicitamos vuestra ayuda en su b?squeda.



Isabella, de 5 a?os de edad, desapareci? el 1 de julio en la ciudad de Shanghai. Desde entonces, su familia no ha vuelto a tener noticias de ellas. La ni?a tiene ojos azules y pelo rubio largo, como puede verse en el archivo adjunto a este e-mail, pero la familia advierte que podr?a llevar el pelo corto actualmente. Isabella tambi?n responde al nombre de 'Izzy' y habla espa?ol e ingl?s.



Si alguien ve a Isabella o conoce alguna informaci?n sobre su paradero, rogamos que contacten con su familia en el e-mail [email protected] o a trav?s del tel?fono 13166007760. Agradecemos toda vuestra colaboraci?n en un momento tan dif?cil como ?ste y esperamos que Isabella pronto pueda reunirse de nuevo con su familia.



Por favor, no olvide de reenviar este e-mail a todos sus contactos en China. Muchas gracias.



Atentamente,





Oliver Wang
Director Ejecutivo
C?mara Oficial de Comercio de Espa?a en China, divisi?n Sur de China



Para recibir correctamente los comunicados de la C?mara, guarde [email protected] en sus contactos.

 

[howardcoombs]

1) If this happened in July, why would Google only find links to this chain mail instead of credible newspaper stories?

2) Why is the surname of Isabella not mentioned?

3) A phone number is given but no country code.

4) Email address of spanishchamber-ch.com is given but this is not mentioned in any of the chambers web pages

5) Why is there no photo of this missing girl to be found anywhere on the internet, other websites, newspapers etc?

I'm 99.999% convinced that this is a hoax and am willing to take bets. If I win, it goes to Po Leung Kuk. If you win I hand over cash.
Any takers ?

Unless you are 100% positive it is a scam, please don't post anything negative about people perpetuating these irrational fears, etcetc, as I have seen in the past on Geobaby threads. If it is a scam, worst case you lost 10 seconds on it and thank goodness, because it means a child isn't lost.

Unless you are 100% positive its not a scam, please dont post chain letters; infact dont post chain letters period.
Perpetuating such chainletters only promotes irrational fears, I've seen it world wide.
It costs you more and more anxiety believing and spreading such flimsy irrational stories.

 

[carang]

i agree. it would have been all over the news had it been true; think of the little girl in portugal who went missing about 10 years ago.

 

[carang]

i would also never have put shanghai into "south china" but i DO hope it is a hoax. it is not something i would wish on my worst enemy, to "lose" a child like that....

 

[ssheng]

lol - I knew you would respond Howard, that was exactly who I was thinking of when I wrote my comment.

The country code is 86. That's a China cell phone number, and the email was first sent around to expats in China. The email address has the last name for Isabella, since this was in an email the subject line had her full name, and yes that is the email address for the Spanish chamber but as for the specific addressee I don't necessarily think that would be listed on a page on their site.

Shanghai is in the southern region of China as defined by the Chinese. China divides itself based on the Yellow River and Shanghai is south of that. It is why there are no heaters mandated to be built into residential towers under Shanghai building codes, even though ridiculous because it is freezing there in the winter.

As for this not being in the media, a lot of missing children's cases do not get as much media attention as poor Madeline. I moved the English translation up - this email was going around to Spanish expats in China so who knows if there are stories on Spanish websites. But even if there are not, it is very optimistic to think that every missing child gets international media attention, or significant media attention at all in publications with internet sites who publish news articles.

I don't really see how this perpetuates fear, because it is not like the hoaxes in the past I have read where people start freaking out about the 'fact' that your kid could have his hair chopped off in the bathroom and whisked away, or a kidnapper could use another child and pretend your kid is his/her little sister you are trying to take away, etcetc. This story has no details on how she was lost - it's just asking for information. The only thing I can think of now that I am typing this is parents of blonde blue-eyed kids thinking Chinese people want to steal their kids, but I seem to recall on a different thread that apparently Chinese people love taking photos of those kids already, so I doubt this raises any alarm bells for those parents since they experience extra attention anyway. Either way, small price to pay if this is just getting the word out on a legitimate lost child.

So in conclusion, yes, I also used my intellect to ascertain the legitimacy of this and decided it could be true. And I wrote this response to rebut some of what was said because again, I think it could be true.

 

[howardcoombs]

So in conclusion, yes, I also used my intellect to ascertain the legitimacy of this and decided it could be true. And I wrote this response to rebut some of what was said because again, I think it could be true.

Excellent; so we have a difference of opinion which lends itself perfectly into gambling. Would you like to put a friendly wager to see if this is true or a hoax? My previous offer stands, if I win I will donate the amount to PLK - if you win, I will happily deliver the money to your home.

To settle the bet we will call that number as well as email and call the Spanish chamber mentioned in the chain letter.

All you have to do is to name the amount. If you have high confidence about this story and your intellect then this should win you some money very quickly.

I look forward to your response.

 

[AmyH]

I entered the details in to the international centre for missing and exploited children website and there were no results found. I would also assume that this is a hoax.

 

[ssheng]

Honestly, howard, you are and continue to be ... puzzling to me in your passion for these and many other topics. I didn't say I'm positive this is true, I said it COULD be, and that unless it were 100% fake, I thought it was worth the 10 second read by anyone who wanted to read through, and the 2 minutes it took me to post, just in case it could help a family who lost their child. And yes I did think that was a remote chance, but again, didn't see the harm. I'm not 'spamming' your email, at worst your mouse had to hover over this topic for an extra second or you had to click to get out of it. Never presented it as fact - quite the opposite, just by my original post you'll see I considered it might be a 'scam' (my words), so fair warning to readers. Why exactly you started talking about gambling and a wager is a mystery to me.

Go ahead and call the number or the Spanish chamber. As I also said in my original post, happy to have it be a hoax - that means one less family has lost a child, so by your measure I 'win' either way (although really - betting on whether a child is missing?? Seems like you have pretty poor taste - or a gambling addiction).

 

[howardcoombs]

Honestly, howard, you are and continue to be ... puzzling to me in your passion for these and many other topics.

My passion is quite simple : stamp out misinformation and FUD.
If that helps a parent find a logical direction, then I'm happy.
If it annoys others who have irrational beliefs, so be it.

I didn't say I'm positive this is true, I said it COULD be, and that unless it were 100% fake, I thought it was worth the 10 second read by anyone who wanted to read through, and the 2 minutes it took me to post, just in case it could help a family who lost their child.

It looks, smells, walks, talks and farts like a duck - its a duck. The fact that you believe you are doing a service by spreading inaccurate information is really not relevant.

Chain letters are a waste of time at the best of times.
When they pertain to children, I get passionate for the simple reason that such things alarm parents needlessly.

And yes I did think that was a remote chance, but again, didn't see the harm.

The harm comes from perpetuating such things. It makes parents think that there are boogieman everywhere and if they go to some random city in China their kids will get kidnapped.

I'm not 'spamming' your email, at worst your mouse had to hover over this topic for an extra second or you had to click to get out of it. Never presented it as fact - quite the opposite, just by my original post you'll see I considered it might be a 'scam' (my words), so fair warning to readers.

Would it not be better to research the claims first before forwarding such an inflammatory post around? If you considered it a scam, then why perpetuate it? It took me just a few minutes of looking to realise there was no basis to it.

Go ahead and call the number or the Spanish chamber. As I also said in my original post, happy to have it be a hoax - that means one less family has lost a child, so by your measure I 'win' either way (although really - betting on whether a child is missing?? Seems like you have pretty poor taste - or a gambling addiction).

Since a child is not missing there is no poor taste involved, just me trying to raise some awareness of a good charity who do a lot of good in Hong Kong : Po Leung Kuk.
I dont need to call the number as I've done my homework just as you should have done before forwarding on inaccurate chain letters.

In case anyone has doubts feel free and do your own research to convince yourself about the story :
The girl is real, so is the mother. She is not missing and never was. Her family know exactly where she is and sending these chain letters will do no good whatsoever but plenty of harm to the sanity of normal ordinary parents.

The little girl happens to be with her Venezuelan dad. You see Mommy & Daddy are having a lovers quarrel with this girl getting stuck in the middle. Simply put, its an international custody case.

Have a nice weekend knowing that the little girl was not kidnapped by some big bad boogieman but is part of the majority of missing kids scares - one parent took her.

 

[ssheng]

howard - as always you crack me up. I was reading your reply and thinking you called that number and proved it was a hoax and then at the end it turns out it's not a hoax at all. Sounds like from the details you provided you might have actually spoken to the poor mom herself.

So Isabella is indeed lost, and was kidnapped by her father. Thanks for clearing that up. Not sure why you think that wasn't already considered by people reading this - that was actually what I assumed. Also not sure why that somehow no longer makes it an issue. Kidnapping is kidnapping and a mother is looking for information to locate her daughter. I can only think by your condescending tone that you assume readers of this thread are hysterical women (and men?) who think the "boogieman" (your words) are out to kidnap their children. Since you mention being logical, I would say it is much more logical to assume that like the couple of people who did respond, they either glanced at it and noted the photo, or thought it was not real and didn't give it another thought. Not really logical to assume a parent read this and based on this alone decided to systematically avoid travel in China as their child would be kidnapped.

Now I'm going to be logical and close this thread from further comments from me (and I hope you).

 

[howardcoombs]

howard - as always you crack me up. I was reading your reply and thinking you called that number and proved it was a hoax and then at the end it turns out it's not a hoax at all. Sounds like from the details you provided you might have actually spoken to the poor mom herself.

I'm glad I'm able to provide a source of amusement for you but no, I've not spoken to the mum.
Whether she is poor or good or evil is not something I'm privy to. I just know what I have found out from digging around a bit which I hope you would do before forwarding on chain mails in the future.

So Isabella is indeed lost, and was kidnapped by her father. Thanks for clearing that up.

Thats a leap. Where did you get that from? I certainly didnt say she is lost and I cannot find any mention of kidnapping anywhere. If you have good accurate information to share, please let us know.

Not sure why you think that wasn't already considered by people reading this - that was actually what I assumed.

One parent taking a child while the other getting worried is an extremely common occurence. Should we be looking forward to regular alerts from you on this? In the USA alone, 350,000 children a year are taken by a parent in custody disputes. Men and Woman pretty much equally are guilty in this respect.
More USA statistics:
Mothers take the child away 46% of the time.
Fathers take the child away 54% of the time.

Also not sure why that somehow no longer makes it an issue. Kidnapping is kidnapping and a mother is looking for information to locate her daughter.

If you have some evidence of kidnapping, please let everyone know as I'm sure many are curious about this. I'm not aware of any kidnapping going on.

I can only think by your condescending tone that you assume readers of this thread are hysterical women (and men?) who think the "boogieman" (your words) are out to kidnap their children.

Some may be and some may not be but why is that even an issue. The issue at hand is the forwarding of imaginative chain mails. What does it accomplish exactly? I've pointed out to you the downside; is there any upside to propagating such information without even checking the validity of it ?

Since you mention being logical, I would say it is much more logical to assume that like the couple of people who did respond, they either glanced at it and noted the photo, or thought it was not real and didn't give it another thought. Not really logical to assume a parent read this and based on this alone decided to systematically avoid travel in China as their child would be kidnapped.

I cant assume what others do - I know what I would do and did do when confronted by a chain letter that looked out of place. I spent a few minutes searching, found what I was looking for and posted it so people dont make incorrect assumptions and have some false beliefs. At the same time, I tried politely to ask you not to continue the practice in the future.

Now I'm going to be logical and close this thread from further comments from me (and I hope you).

The logical thing would have been never to forward something without checking the veracity of it, especially when it pertains to children and their well being as its a hot-button for many parents.
I hope you will do the logical thing next time before propagating such things.
Have a lovely weekend.