Dumped car could provide clue in missing woman’s whereabouts

A CRIME scene has been set up at a Sydney woman’s home after she mysteriously disappeared, now her neighbours have revealed what she was like.

AS POLICE tape is draped across the front door of Qi Yu’s home in western Sydney, the mystery surrounding her strange disappearance four days ago is still no closer to being solved.

A crime scene has been established at the Campsie property as anxious neighbours wait for answers, field questions from journalists and watch as police look for clues as to where the missing woman could be.

She hasn’t been seen or heard from since Friday night and a neighbour who lives directly next door to her home told news.com.au the 28-year-old was exceptionally quiet and a “kind” person.

The upset neighbour said she often wouldn’t see Ms Yu for weeks on end and, when she did, Ms Yu would simply bow her head and politely say “hello”.

Police tape is draped across Ms Yu’s front door. Picture: Ben Graham

She said Ms Yu would leave the house early every morning, but nobody knew where she worked. The last time she saw her was three weeks before she disappeared.
However, she said it wasn’t surprising for a tenant in the complex of six joined houses to be this quiet.

The neighbour said the area was popular with hardworking Asian students and families, who often travel to see their families in their respective homelands and quietly go about their daily business.

“I am a student myself so I spend a lot of time inside studying and I think she might have spent a lot of time away seeing her family, so I didn’t think it was strange,” the neighbour, who didn’t want to be named, said.

Qi Yu, 28, has been missing for four days. Picture: Supplied

Vincent Chen lives two doors from Ms Yu in the Campsie complex and told the Daily Telegraph heard the Chinese resident’s mother arrive with police on Sunday morning.

“She cried and cried … she didn’t sleep for three days already,” Mr Chen said.

“If something happen to someone’s family like that, it’s terrible. She was a very honest and quiet girl, a very nice girl.”

However, residents and business-owners near to the complex who spoke to news.com.au said they had never seen Ms Yu before. A grocery store owner around the corner who claimed to “know everyone in Campsie” said the disappearance was the talk of the suburb, yet everyone he had spoken to about it had never seen her before.

“We saw it on the news and everyone in Campsie is upset about it because she is so young, but I haven’t seen her around here before,” Elsie Zhang, a nearby resident who has lived in Campsie for 21 years told news.com.au. “We hope she is found in the next few days.”

Detectives believe Ms Yu’s white 2016 Toyota Corolla, which was found dumped in the Burwood just a short drive away from her home, could provide crucial clues in finding her.

Police Ms Yu’s home in Campsie. Picture: Richard Dobson

Ms Yu was seen by friends four days ago at her shared house on Loch Street in Campsie on Friday evening, according to New South Wales Police.

The last anybody heard from her was when she made contact with family in her native China at about 7.15pm on that very same evening. The next morning her friends found her room empty and reported her missing.

Another neighbour, known as Keyu, who lived in the same building as Ms Yu told 9 NEWS that the young mother’s disappearance was a mystery.

“I don’t know why she’s (missing),” she said.

“I want her alive, because her mum is very worried about her.”

NSW Police have now issued a second plea for the public to help, adding there are now “grave concerns for her welfare”.

Ms Yu’s friends and family say her disappearance is out of character and her mother arrived from China yesterday to assist with the search.

This is similar to Ms Yu’s car which was found in Burwood.

Homicide squad detectives are now assisting with the investigation and they want to know if anybody saw the dumped car in the hours after Ms Yu was last seen.

“Anyone that saw her vehicle between the hours of 7pm on Friday (June 8) and 8.30pm on Saturday (June 9) is urged to come forward,” a NSW Police spokesman said.

Police describe the vehicle as a white 2016 model Toyota Corolla with NSW registration plates DLK 13P. It was found at Lindsay Street, Burwood.