Abandoned at a motorbike stall 30 years ago, Vietnamese girl desperately searches for family

Unexpected results from DNA testing and questions about the sister

Living half a world away, Phoebe Nguyen always has a deep feeling for Vietnam, because this place holds an unsolved mystery about her origin.

Every time she reads the news about the search for family and relatives, the young girl's heart aches. Phoebe Nguyen seems to see her own image and desire in it.

"I have suffered a lot of pain, even faced deception. However, I will never give up," Phoebe Nguyen shared with Dan Tri newspaper reporter .

Phoebe currently lives in Sacramento, California, USA. At the age of 12, Phoebe first heard about her background.

According to her adoptive parents, she was picked up from an orphanage in Tu Liem ( Hanoi ) in February 1996.

Phoebe's adoption file also includes a copy of the minutes detailing the circumstances of her abandonment. Accordingly, at around 10:30 a.m. on October 1, 1995, while repairing a motorbike at his home in Dau Lo area, Doan Hung town, Phu Tho , Mr. Le Hoang An saw a young man about 30 years old carrying a little girl on a blue Simson motorbike to his shop.

The young man left the girl with Mr. An, saying he was going to buy something and would come back to pick her up. However, Mr. An waited for a long time but the young man did not return.

The incident was then reported to the local police. The local police representative and Mr. An made a record of the incident at 7:00 p.m. on October 2, 1995.

In the small bag the young man left behind was a piece of paper with the following content: "To all of you! I am deeply heartbroken to have to leave behind my daughter, born on September 10, 1994, named Nguyen Thanh Phuong, because her mother died in an accident. Signed: Nguyen Anh Dung".

Phoebe Nguyen at the orphanage at 18 months old, just before being adopted to the United States.

The people involved in making the record also recorded the girl's health condition as "showing signs of severe malnutrition, coughing a lot, and just learning to sit up."

Thanh Phuong was then transferred to an orphanage in Tu Liem (Hanoi) and adopted by an American couple, who gave her the new name Phoebe Nguyen.

Phoebe has long recognized her differences from her friends and those around her. Therefore, when listening to her adoptive parents' stories, she became more curious about her origins. She always wondered if she resembled her father or mother, how many people werein her family ? Why did her father abandon her when her mother passed away?...

In 2015, when Phoebe was in her third year of college, her adoptive parents hired a Vietnamese man to find a family for Phoebe.

This person found the car shop owners, who were over 90 years old at the time and had poor memories. Some of their memories did not match the information in the police report. Some other witnesses had passed away. The process of contacting and searching lasted about a month but reached a dead end.

"After talking to the couple who owned the car shop that took care of me and didn't get any viable leads, the searchers said there was nothing more they could do because my father had such a common name. At that time, even if I wanted to continue, I didn't know who else to trust," the Vietnamese girl said.

After graduating from college, the Vietnamese-American girl worked as a pet sitter and pursued her passion for singing. Phoebe's obsession with her roots and childhood traumas made her have a difficult spiritual life. Making friends with parrots, cats, and puppies helped her to calm down a bit.

In the summer of 2024, her cat of 7 years died in an accident. In September, her pet parrot fell ill and died. She felt her life was at a standstill. Her desire to escape loneliness and pain prompted her to look for her relatives for the second time.

In early November 2024, Phoebe shared her story on Facebook groups, sent information to a search program on Vietnamese television, purchased two DNA test kits, and uploaded her DNA data to family search services.

A month later, she received a notice from a biological company that offers a family-finding service. The company said that, based on its DNA database, they had found her sister.

Phoebe quickly typed her name into the Facebook search bar. When the first photos appeared on the screen, Phoebe felt like she was looking at herself in a mirror because her sister looked exactly like her.

But Phoebe's joy was short-lived. She was eager to confide in her sister, but her sister was very reserved. "When we chatted via text, she was suspicious of me and hardly shared any information with me," Phoebe recalled.

Phoebe with her adoptive parents and pets in 2012.

The older sister then blocked Phoebe on Facebook. Luckily, before being blocked, Phoebe managed to read an important information her older sister posted on her personal page and realized that her older sister had also been adopted.

"She wrote that her mother was a poor rice farmer in the North and left her at an orphanage. She was born in 1993 and was adopted when she was 18 months old," Phoebe said.

Her sister's confusing reaction hurt Phoebe for a long time. This was not the only sadness she faced on her journey to find her family.

The girl said that when she posted information about her search for relatives on social media, she received many words of encouragement and good luck wishes. Some Vietnamese people and people adopted from other Asian countries expressed sympathy, gave advice and helpful suggestions, which she greatly appreciated.

However, under many posts, there were also many malicious comments, expressing racist attitudes. Many people harshly said that Phoebe meant nothing to her parents, that she was just a zero, an abandoned child... These insensitive comments made her heart ache.

"I think people who are not adopted will not understand the feeling of wanting to know their roots and origins. I believe my father abandoned me because the economic conditions at that time were too difficult," Phoebe said.

The shock of meeting a scammer and a message from the bottom of the heart

Despite facing hatred and rejection from her blood-related sister, the Vietnamese girl continued to search for her family.

Two months ago, someone happened to read her post and offered to help. This person said that he knew someone who spoke Vietnamese. The person who spoke Vietnamese knew her father. After many attempts to connect, Phoebe received news about a person claiming to be her father.

Out of anticipation, she shared some of her personal information but later realized she was dealing with a scammer.

The girl suffered a lot of damage in the process of finding her relatives.

"I started to get suspicious when the connector asked me very personal questions that made me feel uncomfortable. The person claiming to be my father refused to meet or connect with me, which was quite shocking.

"Thanks to a reliable source, I found out that the person claiming to be my father actually knows English and is able to text in English. Something I thought my real father couldn't do," Phoebe said.

After piecing together the information, Phoebe realized that it was just a drama created by one person. The scammer played the roles of: The connector - the person who knew Vietnamese - her father.

The girl believes that the scammer is trying to steal her personal information to commit identity fraud. Encountering scammers makes Phoebe feel heartbroken once again. She does not understand why some people deliberately take advantage of other people's difficult situations to commit bad acts.

Right now, what Phoebe hopes most is that her father is still alive. One day, her relatives in Vietnam will recognize her story, remember her, and welcome her with open arms.

"My sister has hurt me, but I hope one day she will change, accept me as her sister and help me find my father and other relatives," the girl said.

Phoebe persistently searched for her relatives for a long time.

Talking to reporters, Phoebe hopes to receive help from readers and hopes that Dan Tri newspaper will become a bridge for her to find her family.

Dan Tri would like to publish Phoebe Nguyen's original message:

"To my father or any of my relatives. I hope you and everyone will read this and recognize my baby photo. I am looking for you and everyone.

There is always a pain hidden inside me. I yearn every day to know who I am, who I resemble. I was very sad when I discovered the person impersonating my father, but I was also very happy because I hoped that my father might still be alive, that he would not reject me and would accept me as his daughter.

I also hope that anyone who reads this story will spread the search information: The father is Nguyen Anh Dung, he is now about 60 years old and may live in or near Phu Tho. His two daughters were born in 1993 and 1994, and were adopted in the US.

His wife was a farmer and died in an accident. The incident report stated that the child was Nguyen Thanh Phuong, but some documents stated that he was Nguyen Thanh Huong. Please share. Thank you very much!"

Readers who have any information about Phoebe Nguyen's (or Nguyen Thanh Phuong - Nguyen Thanh Huong) family in Vietnam, please contact the hotline of Dan Tri electronic newspaper .

Hanoi Hotline: 0973-567-567

Hotline HCMC: 0974-567-567

Email: [email protected]

Photo: Character provided

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/doi-song/bi-bo-roi-o-hang-xe-may-30-nam-truoc-co-gai-viet-tha-thiet-tim-gia-dinh-20250515092749951.htm