Grandmother of missing baby speaks out
The heartbroken grandmother of a missing child has spoken to the media for the first time, telling A Current Affair, “I don't know if he's died or alive”.
Hoang Vinh Le was last seen in Canberra in April, when his parents took him from his grandmother’s care. The parents claim that around May 19, they gave a woman they met at a coffee shop $200 to care for the child, but have not seen him since.
Vinh had been the subject of a bitter custody dispute between his maternal grandmother, Kim Huong Tran, and his parents. Despite several police searches and appeals to the public for more information, Vinh has yet to be found. In addition, his parents have been accused of withholding information.
Vinh was born in June last year, and six weeks later, he and his mother Lyn Kim Do, Ms Tran’s daughter, moved to Canberra so that Ms Tran could help with childcare, as Lyn has an intellectual disability.
But in February, Lyn reconciled with Vinh’s father, Hoang Thanh Le, and left Vinh with her mum. The parents eventually wanted him back, and in March a court order was made for Vinh to live with his father. Thanh has previously been found guilty of assault, stalking, and other offences unrelated to Vinh.
Ms Tran was worried about Vinh’s welfare, so she didn’t hand him over to police. On April 9, the parents received a tip off about Vinh’s whereabouts, and they made a move. Ms Tran said, "He snatched the baby from the doctor room when I take Vinh to the doctor for the check up.” She claims the parents came to the doctors with five people in the car, and that Thanh jumped in to grab Vinh before running out the door with him. She continued, "He hold the baby in his arm and he slipped on the floor with the baby … he's on the floor and then he get up to run, quick to the car. The car just on the street waiting.” That was the last day she saw her grandson.
The parents returned to New South Wales, where police conducted a welfare check. Thanh can be heard on an audio recording made during this visit telling police, "I've got the order from the federal court saying that the child's to live with me until 18, or else I wouldn't be snatching the kid off".
10 days later, a judge granted Ms Tran custody, and the parents were ordered to hand Vinh back, but they failed to do so. On May 12, Thanh posted on Facebook, "just informing everyone that myself and my partner and our son Hoang Vinh Le is safe. I don't know why we are listed as missing people." Attached were the last photos ever seen of Vinh.
On May 20, the parents were arrested. They claimed to have given Vinh to a person named Kathy Nguyen who they’d met at a coffee shop and paid $200 to take care of their son. Police have been unable to confirm whether such a person exists.
The AFP issued an urgent call for help locating Vinh in November, after several searches failed to locate him. A recovery order remains in place to find Vinh, with a judge noting he’s extremely vulnerable and possibly at significant risk of harm or even death.
Thanh posted on Facebook that he’d rather a stranger care for Vinh than Ms Tran, and added that because they were in custody, they did not know where Kathy Nguyen was.
Ms Tran appealed to the public during her appearance on A Current Affair, saying, "Please if anyone sees a baby that look a bit like Vinh, when you see the photo on the news can you please contact the crime stoppers.
“I want him to be safe home with me and I can care for him for the rest of my life, till I die."
Image: Nine