Missing BYU Student Reportedly Kidnapped and Forced to Tutor North Korean Dictator

BYU student who disappeared in China 12 years ago was reportedly kidnapped and forced to work as Kim Joung Un’s personal tutor, until this day, according to an activist in South Korea.

The 24-year-old BYU Student, disappeared in August 2004 while hiking in Yunnan China. Chinese police and the US Embassy could not found the victim and claims that David Snedoon fell to his death in Tiger Leaping George, but despite the theory his parents did not believe and created a website devoted to the search for him.

On Wednesday Yahoo News Japan reported that the student was abducted by North Korean agents. The newsroom also reported that Sneddon became the personal tutor of Kim Joung Un as an English Tutor, David Sneddon is believed to now have a wife and two children and lives in Pyongyang according to Deseret News.

However, The US State Department says there is no evidence to confirm reports that the missionary was abducted by North Korea while hiking in China’s Yunnan province according to CNN.

​He grew up in Nebraska and served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Korea.​

The Sneddons said that they’re grateful for the progress in their son’s case but they believe their son is likely just one of many who have been abducted and held captive in North Korea as told by The Deseret News.

“One young man from Utah is a sad and woeful story. But when you look at the total number,” Roy Sneddon, David’s father, told The Deseret News. “Pray for the people of North Korea that their lives will change.”