Data Journalism-All or Nothing: Where are the other 826 missing people?
On January 3, 2025, actor Wang Xing went missing in Thailand after sending a distress signal and was successfully rescued and returned to China in mid-January 2025 through the joint efforts of multiple parties. Between 2024 and 2025, several Chinese citizens experienced similar disappearances under comparable circumstances. Our analysis of the data on these missing individuals has revealed a series of significant findings.
Location: Hangzhou
Date: Mar.9th.2025
Role:
Video Investigation/Editing/Editing: Taoren Chen
Investigative journalist: Jiaxin LV & Wei Ma
Analysis: Chen Yuan
Proofreading: Chao Xu
Review: Ningxiao Wang
Project type: Data Journalism
On January 9, a document with a list of victims trapped in Myanmar was circulated in multiple family mutual assistance groups. In less than two days, the document had collected hundreds of missing persons.
China is the safest country in the world. So many people are missing in Thailand and Myanmar, which is obviously beyond our general understanding.
Missing Persons Data Keywords
The online document initiator Xiao Dai's younger brother lost contact after going to Myanmar in 2024, so she joined the family mutual assistance group in northern and eastern Myanmar. In order to help more people find their relatives, Xiao Dai collected information from netizens in the group and established a missing person document.
Age Distribution of Missing Persons
In terms of the age ratio of the victims, 70% are young people under 30 years old, among which those aged 19-30 account for the highest proportion, more than 60%. The second is the middle-aged people aged 30-40, while those under 15 and over 40 are relatively few, especially those over 40, who are almost non-existent.
Analysis of Case Filing Year
The number of cases filed was relatively low from 2014 to 2017. It began to rise gradually from 2018 to 2023. The sharp increase in the number of cases filed in 2024 was mainly due to the rampant activities of cyber fraud criminal groups in northern Myanmar, which led to the disappearance of a large number of people.
Case Filing Status
In addition, the international community has increased its attention to the problem of telecom fraud in northern Myanmar, and relevant countries have stepped up investigations and filings into missing persons cases, which has also led to a significant increase in the number of cases filed.
Analyzing the data and combining it with the statements of public security officers engaged in anti-fraud and repatriation rescue work, many young people go to northern Myanmar to make money quickly. They cannot resist the temptation of so-called high salaries, so they choose to go to northern Myanmar to seek opportunities. Most of these people are young people born in the 1980s and 1990s.
Missing Location Overlapping Keywords
In recent years, fraud methods have emerged in an endless stream and have become increasingly rampant. The key to their success is to take advantage of human weaknesses, such as life difficulties, financial pressures, or the desire to get rich quickly. According to the above data survey, many victims fell into the scam without any precautions, suffered property losses and even psychological trauma.
I hope this form can be taken seriously and that every missing person can return home safely.