In the quiet community of Corvallis, Oregon, a story of profound loss and lingering questions began to unfold on November 7, 2009. On that day, six-year-old Andrew Jisoo Lee, a young boy of Asian descent with black hair and black eyes, vanished. He was not alone; his four-year-old brother, Alex Jiho Lee, disappeared with him. The two boys, who may go by their middle names Jisoo and Jiho, were last seen in the care of their non-custodial father, Shiwoo Lee, who had taken them for an overnight
visit. The hours that followed their departure would stretch into an agonizing wait for their mother, Hee Son, a wait that has now spanned over a decade.
The circumstances surrounding the boys' disappearance quickly pointed to a premeditated act. Their parents had divorced the previous year, following an arranged marriage in South Korea in 2002. In the wake of the separation, tensions had evidently escalated, as Shiwoo Lee had attempted to abduct his sons once before, in April 2008, an effort that was thwarted by the intervention of bystanders who alerted the authorities. This time, however, he was successful. Shortly after taking the children for what was supposed to be a brief visit, he contacted their mother with devastating news: they were in South Korea and would not be coming back. Just two days after their disappearance, their mother was granted sole custody of her children, and a court order was issued for their return, but it was too late.
The years since Andrew and Alex were taken have been filled with a painful silence, their whereabouts remaining unknown. Authorities believe the boys are likely still in South Korea, a country where their father has connections. The case is classified as a family abduction, a heart-wrenching situation where the love and trust between a parent and child are weaponized. As time has passed, age-progressed photos have been released to give the public an idea of what Andrew and his brother might look like now, but these images are a stark reminder of the childhood they have lived away from their mother. The case of Andrew and Alex Lee is a somber illustration of the enduring pain of parental kidnapping, a complex and challenging crime that crosses international borders and leaves a trail of unanswered questions and fractured families in its wake.Last Seen: Nov 7, 2009
