Burglary heightens kidnap fear

Jack Ma

The family of a missing Korean student fear his disappearance may be linked to a recent incident in which their home was watched for several days before being broken into by thieves.

Young Wook Ma, also known as Jack, has been missing since Monday a week ago and fears for his safety are increasing.

Police yesterday scoured the parks, reserves and waterways surrounding his Unsworth Heights home on the North Shore but failed to find any sign of the 23-year-old.

Mr Ma's family do not believe he has taken his life or run away. They fear he may have been kidnapped.

That fear is fuelled by the fact that someone broke into the family home in April, while people were home.

A wallet, about $400 and a mobile phone were stolen from the bedroom of a Chinese student who boards with the family, but no one was aware of the theft until after it happened.

When the student rang his cellphone the thieves answered and he arranged to get back his wallet and phone, in exchange for another $400.

When the exchange occurred the student asked why his home had been targeted.

The hooded thieves said they had watched the three-storey home for several days and assumed the family were rich because of the size of the house.

Last week friends of Mr Ma who were visiting the Ma household noticed a purple car parked across the street with a man and woman inside who appeared to be watching the house.

Jack Ma's father fears his son may have left the house on Monday afternoon for a walk and been grabbed off the street. "Our main concern is his safety - that he is alive. We hope he is still alive. We worry that someone took him."

Mr Ma, a Wintec student studying computers, spent the Monday morning on the internet until it crashed during the power cut.

Mr Ma snr thinks Jack might have gone for a walk in the afternoon

He was last seen by his mother before she went out at 1.30pm and a family friend spoke to him on the phone about 2pm. When his mother returned at 5.30 the front door was still locked but Mr Ma was gone.

Mr Ma snr said his son had taken a house key and his cellphone but not his wallet, any money or his bike - the only form of transport he used.

Mr Ma said Jack was a friendly young man who had a part-time job at the New World bakery in Birkenhead. He seldom stayed away from home and would always tell his family if he planned to do so.

"If we know he's alive," said Mr Ma, in a plea to anyone with information about his son. "We need contact, we want to know if he's alive or dead."

Anyone with information about Jack Ma's whereabouts is urged to call Browns Bay police on (09) 353-0410.