Two Missing Brothers
For over two years, Hongying Buckalew continuously warns officials that her ex-husband, Foong Chin, is going to abduct their two sons, William (4) and Samuel (7). While they were married, Foong controlled every aspect of Hongying’s life, forcing her to live frugally and preventing her from providing for their two boys. After a contentious divorce, Hongying marries Raymond Buckalew, and the two embark on a years-long custody battle to force Foong to honor their custody agreement. Then on January 11th, 2019, Foong retaliates and doesn’t return the boys at the required time. What is supposed to be a regular weekend visitation turns into a child abduction across the border into Mexico. Neither Foong nor the boys have been seen since. With no sightings or leads, the search for the missing brothers has grown cold. Hongying and Raymond are desperate to have the boys return to them. Where are Foong Chin and the two missing brothers?
If you have spotted Foong, Samuel, or William, or have any information about their whereabouts or events that lead to their disappearance, you can contact the National Center for Missing or Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST, or submit at tip at missingkids.org. You can also contact the U.S. Marshals by phone at 1-877-WANTED-2, or submit a tip online at www.usmarshals.gov/tips or here at unsolved.com.
SUBMIT A TIPDownload a transcript of this episode
Robert
Anyone else wondering who the hell this guy is, that a Mexican Drug Cartel actually got involved to help hide him and these kids?
Elizabeth
You know I really don’t think the drug cartel is involved with that man and hiding his kids. The private investigator had said that he has used that hotel for years, so my guess is that someone from the cartel had been watching him and noticed his pattern and went after him but, I honestly don’t think it’s related at all. I am surprised that no one has come forward to say that out of all the places in the world you have Tijuana MX and NO ONE saw a man of Asian decent with 2 kids moving around that area. If he is anywhere in South America it’s in either Brazil, Peru , Chile where they have larger Asian communities and that way to blend in better. If he did manage to get on a cargo boat and went to China… he’s gone unfortunately. My heart goes out to this mother and I pray that she does find her kids or gets a lead! I feel that the truth always comes to light!
Who knows
What I would do is make Instagram reels and tik tok videos. Keep posting reels of the boys missing. I feel like they are in China and easy to hide. I would just keep making videos and to get it viral. Tag things that kids think is popular now.
abbi
What I’m thinking is, the father stole the money to get to Singapore by plane because tickets for three people to Singapore from Tijuana are like 1,000+ dollars each for them to get back to Singapore, which is the parents home country, meaning that the boys’ dad most likely had connections in Singapore, like friends, family, etc. I believe that the reason that he was extremally cheap and got angry whenever Hongying spent money, was because he was trying to save the money to buy the tickets along with the fact that he stole lots of money from his former employer. Before they got a divorce he threatened the mother that if she ever left him he would take the boys and he would disappear, so most likely while they were divorcing he made the plans. He had taken Samuel from school claiming to have taken him to the doctor because he had the flu, but when confronted about it and asked for a doctor’s note or any prescriptions, Foong refused to present anything of it. Samuel had claimed that his father had taken him to get his picture taken by a so called person or place named TJ (?) for something to do with a passport which I’m assuming was around the time when the father had stolen the money and combined it with his and got tickets to Singapore. If you look at maps on your phone and zoom into Tijuana you can see right on the border is a airport, which they could’ve easily gotten to and immediately got on a flight to Singapore, because there are flights to Singapore directly from Tijuana. Foong could have easily gotten to Singapore, considering he already had a passport due to the fact that him and Hongying moved to the U.S in 2000, so he just needed a passport or some sort of identification for Samuel and William to get on the flight, which usually takes a few months to get, which is why they didn’t go missing until a few months after Samuel claims to have gotten pictures for a passport.
April
I’m so sorry this is happening to you. A parents worst nightmare come true. Shame on the judge and the system that allowed this to happen. I pray for the safe return of your boys.
Tracy
I will pray everyday for the return of the boys. I cannot imagine how you make it through everyday. God bless all 4 of you.
David
What the father did was reprehensible. The handling of this by the legal system, which basically enabled the father’s actions, was beyond reprehensible.
johnny
What a sh*tty court. If he’s doing those things you take away unsupervised visitation rights.
Britteny
I fear that the father took them back to their homeland. Cause this case reminds me of the movie called Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story where the father kidnapped his own kid from his mother and went back to South Korea. So I hope this can lead them to see if they went back to their home country.
Anik F
Man, people suck these days.
Karl
This makes me so sad hearing this.
Amber
What beautiful boys – they will not forget their mother no matter how far away he takes them. My guess is that the passports were under false identities which is perhaps why they have not been flagged yet. I would not be surprised if the father crossed the border then flew out of Mexico City and is now living back in Singapore with the boys. Does the father have family in Singapore? Sons are a big deal in some cultures and I couldn’t imagine the father to have no contact with his own parents (the kids paternal family).
Sammi Tait
I pray for the family
Patricia Yacoub
Hongying I am so sorry this has happened to you and your boys. The court system failed you. I pray you see your sons again very soon
Laura
I pray for this mother and the return of her sweet boys!
Kay
Just breaks my heart – it kills me that their biological father sees them as leverage