In 2023, Macau pageant winner Athena went missing in Manila after a friend's invite. 5.4M ransom was paid but she never returned. Fugitive suspect Liu Hanwen was repatriated from US in July 2026, while the lurer remains at large.
They paid a ransom of 5.4 million, but the person didn’t come back.
Athena, who had previously placed third in the Macau regional competition of the Miss World pageant and had millions of followers on social media, was invited by a close friend to travel to Manila, Philippines, in 2023. She went missing immediately after landing.The primary suspect in the case, Liu Hanwen, has long been involved in transnational criminal activities. After Athena’s family raised and transferred the full ransom amount, they never saw her return nor received any confirmation that she was still alive.
In the three years since
the case occurred, it has consistently drawn widespread public attention in China, with the public generally expecting the principal perpetrator to be apprehended and punished in accordance with the law. On July 20, 2026, Liu Hanwen, the principal perpetrator who had fled abroad, was finally deported back to China from the United States.
However, the person who initially lured Athena out of the country remains at large to this day. He has deliberately evaded investigation by deactivating his accounts and deleting his contacts, and has consistently refused to reveal the truth in response to inquiries from Athena’s family.
In the three years since the
incident, Athena’s family has not only had to endure the grief of losing a loved one but has also had to deal with a flood of unverified and false information online, suffering repeated secondary trauma. The family has repeatedly appealed to the public not to spread unverified claims related to the case, in order to avoid causing them further distress.
In light of the circumstances surrounding this incident, members of the public traveling to unfamiliar areas should exercise caution when receiving sudden invitations from acquaintances and take care to verify the accuracy of relevant information. Please refer to official announcements for information regarding this incident.
