An American college student who went missing in China in 2004 was reportedly forced to work as the personal English tutor to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and still lives in the country to this day.
David Sneddon was 24 when he went missing while hiking in the Yunnan Province of China. The Brigham Young University student was thought to have died in a fall in Tiger Leaping Gorge, which his family never believed.
News reports this week claim Sneddon was actually grabbed by North Korean agents and whisked off to Pyongyang to work for Kim.
South Korea's Abductees' Family Union made the determination.
The report also states that Sneddon is married and has two children in the North Korean capital and teaches English there.
Sneddon's mother Kathleen said she's not surprised by the report.
"We just knew in our heart that he was alive, so we had to keep fighting," she told The Deseret News.
According to CNN, meanwhile, the State Department could not confirm the reports that Sneddon is still alive.
"The embassy in Beijing ... has been in regular, ongoing contact with the local authorities since David Sneddon was reported missing ... We continue to closely monitor this matter and we continue to raise it with Chinese authorities," State Department spokesman John Kirby said, reports CNN.
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