By Derek Cornet

La Ronge man found after going missing during holiday in Vietnam

Dec 17, 2018 | 11:00 AM

A former resident of La Ronge is back in Canada after disappearing for nearly a week in Vietnam.  

“I can’t thank everyone enough for supporting me and my family and helping my son come back home,” Sandra Charles said about Tye Finley, who arrived Dec. 15 in Saskatoon. 

Finley left Canada Nov. 8 for China where he began what was supposed to be a five-week tour of Asia. After spending some time travelling different regions, Charles said Finley landed in Hanoi, Vietnam, Dec. 5 for a short excursion with plans to move on to Cambodia the next day. Finley sent a photo of himself to let his mother know he went through water caves during the excursion, but she didn’t hear from him again until she received an email from the Signature Inn three days later.

According to the email from a person named Thomas, Finley failed to return a motorbike he rented from the Inn and he hadn’t been seen since an employee returned his passport eight hours earlier. The email stated Finley left his cellphone and bag as assurance he would return, which is how the Inn was able to contact Charles. The letter also stated local police were informed and they hoped the incident is merely a misunderstanding.

“Thomas called me back that night and I asked him if authorities had been notified, and he told me at that time contacting the authorities only costs money,” Charles said. “Yet he explained to me in the [email] they had contacted the authorities.”

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Around the same time, another family member was contacted by via Facebook by My Lihn, who said she works at the Inn and was the person who gave Finley’s passport back. She didn’t ask for money, but stated the bike was the most expensive at the shop and she would have to work for months to pay it off.

“I told her ‘If you find him, you’re going to find the bike. Don’t look for the bike, look for my son and you’ll find it. He didn’t steal it as you’re suggesting,’” she said.

At this point, Charles believed her son could have been involved in a motorcycle scam popular in Asian nations. The scam typically involves a tourist renting a bike from a shop, who is then followed by someone who has a key to the bike lock. When the tourist isn’t expecting, the person following takes the bike and it seems as though it was stolen. When Charles brought the scam up to Lihn and Thomas and told them she was calling the police, all communication stopped.

It wasn’t until Dec. 10 when Charles learned Finley had been contacted when she received an email from Global Affairs Canada consular case management officer Francis Sevor. He explained Finley was staying at a hotel, and confirmed he lost a motorbike at another hotel he was staying at and owed them money. Sevor wrote the motorbike was estimated to cost $550 and Finley was requesting help from family and friends for financial support.

“We tried contacting him and we couldn’t get through to the number [he provided],” Charles said. “Francis said it would be wise to make the payment as soon as possible.”

Global Affairs Canada confirmed with larongeNOW.com that “consular services were provided to the Canadian citizen and the family.”  However, in an email they noted “due to the provisions under the Privacy Act, no further information can be disclosed.”

It wasn’t until later the next day when Charles received a message from Lihn stating she was with Finley and asked if she wanted to talk to him.

“She called and I see my son sitting there,” she said. “I don’t even know how to describe the way he looked. It looked like he hadn’t bathed. He looked completely unaware of what was going on around him. I don’t know if he was drugged. He wasn’t the same person. He just sat there and was looking at the individual standing in front of him. We couldn’t see the person standing in front of him, all we could see was my son.”

Charles stated Lihn told her Finley was found walking along the streets alone and didn’t know his name or where he was from. She also said she was going to take Finley to get the money he owed and then he could go. Charles then contacted the RCMP, who arrived at her house in Air Ronge and took over the conversation.  

“My son is sitting there and he looked so dumbfounded,” she said. “He really and truly did. He seemed very unaware of what was going on around him.”

 After the video call ended, it’s unknown what happened to Finley between then and when Charles confirmed his arrival Dec. 16 in Canada. As an effort to protect the safety of Finley, larongeNOW agreed not to publish this article sooner and to wait until he was back in the country.

larongeNOW reached out to Global Affairs Canada about the case, but has not received a response. 

derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno