■ Villagers who found the body did not let the parents see the bones
But without seeing their son, Li Suanxiang and his wife were unwilling to give up. They subsequently searched in nearby Fufeng and Wugong areas, until "at around 3 PM on December 28, 2011, a police officer called to say that my son's case had been solved... it was confirmed he had been killed..."
Li Suanxiang, holding two banners of gratitude, said: "My child is gone, but the Public Security Bureau has always made efforts, and the case has finally been solved. The person who harmed my child has also been caught. After burying my child, I must express my gratitude today."
■ After three years of searching, learned before New Year that the child had already been killed
"Are you Li Suanxiang? Your son Li Yong's case has been solved." On the afternoon of December 28, 2011, a 48-year-old Li Suanxiang received a call from a police officer in Yangling Demonstration Zone.
■ Seven post-90s sworn brothers rehearsed the killing process and formed an alliance
Based on this important clue, the special investigation team arrested three suspects Ju, Wang, and Zhang on December 22 and 23, 2011, but Li Yong's body was still not found.
In the autumn and winter of 2008, Li Suanxiang was working in Weinan, and his wife Chen Juyan was working in a residential area in the Yangling Demonstration Zone, leaving their child alone at home. One day in November of that year, Chen Juyan returned home and found the door open, and her son was nowhere to be seen. She noticed that the floor in her son’s room was very clean. "I thought the child had become more responsible and knew how to do housework..." Chen Juyan said tearfully.
At the time, they studied specific methods to "kill" Li Yong and even did a "rehearsal." The next day, Li Yong escaped because they couldn't find him. At 8 PM on October 28, Wang and Zhang went to Li Yong's house and cruelly killed him while he was still sleeping. That night, they used a cart to transport the body to farmland south of Jia Village in Wuquan Town and hid it with corn stalks. The following evening, they called Ju and Wang to burn some of Li Yong's clothes and buried the body. Afterwards, they scattered across different places, nervously working as laborers.
By this reporter Yuan Xiaofeng, communicated by Li Ruilong
"Have you found my child? Where is he now?" "It has been confirmed that he was killed." Hearing this, Li Suanxiang dropped the phone he was holding... His son was gone, and Li Suanxiang hugged a photo of his son and cried loudly. Photo by this reporter Yuan Xiaofeng.
During the interrogation, the suspects kept throwing smokescreens. First, they claimed that they and Li Yong were childhood best friends and would never do something so immoral; then they said that Li Yong had "visited" their QQ space several times in the past two years, proving that he was still alive. In fact, the police had already obtained evidence that the suspects had stolen Li Yong's QQ password.
In March 2009, when Li Suanxiang returned home from Weinan, he suddenly discovered bloodstains on the wall and behind the door. Later, after DNA testing by the police, it was confirmed to be Li Yong's blood.
After Li Yong went missing, the police investigation never stopped. At the time, someone reported seeing Li Yong on the streets of Wuquan Town; others said Li Yong mentioned online that he had something going on locally and might return in August. Without any evidence showing whether Li Yong was temporarily "missing" or had met with an accident, the case once fell into a deadlock. In early December 2011, the Yangling Demonstration Zone Public Security Bureau suddenly received a tip: one of Li Yong's playmates boasted during a drinking session about being involved in Li Yong's disappearance case and said, "This is a huge secret, and it cannot be told to anyone."
After 16 hours of work, the three suspects finally confessed completely, and the police subsequently arrested another four suspects.
The seven "post-90s" criminal suspects Wang, Ju, Lü, Zhang, Zhang (another), Wang (another), and Ju (all male) admitted that they indeed grew up together with the victim Li Yong. Three years ago, during a joint outing, Li Yong's behavior angered them. They claimed that Li Yong was tall and often acted arrogantly around them. One evening in October 2008, the seven suspects discussed killing Li Yong and formed a pact of silence. They knelt down, burned incense, and swore brotherhood to "keep this secret," vowing to "share meat and stay united." They even burned scars on each other's bodies with cigarette butts to show their determination.
"My son Li Yong was 17 years old in 2008, nearly 1.8 meters tall, and handsome. Everyone praised him," said Li Suanxiang yesterday morning in Group One of Shuaijia Village, Wuquan Town, Yangling District, showing a photo of his son to the reporter. "At the time, I wanted him to learn car repair, but if he didn't want to, that was it..." Li Suanxiang and his wife couldn't help but burst into tears.
"A child is just a pile of white bones now..." Tears streamed down Li Suanxiang's face as he said that villagers feared the couple would be too shocked, so they didn't let them go to the burial site. "Later, people told me that after the body was exhumed, the forensic doctor determined there was a knife wound on the eyebrow bone, one on the back, and several more on the neck, totaling over ten cuts..."
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