Story By: John Feng, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report

This young girl who had been missing for two weeks has been found dead at the bottom of a disused well just days after her stepfather was arrested for suspected involvement.

Liu Yiran, 12, was last seen alive on 9th August by neighbours and relatives in her native village of Longma, which is in Qian County in north-western China’s Shaanxi Province.

The schoolgirl’s mum said she disappeared under suspicious circumstances while wearing sandals and having not taken any money or even a bag.

She was last seen by a cousin “appearing upset”, the mum revealed.

The desperate parent said she and her family – including her daughter’s stepdad – searched the entire village and did not see any sign of the girl leaving town in CCTV video.

Investigators with the Qian County Public Security Bureau, however, summoned and detained the girl’s stepdad, surnamed Wang, while looking into the case on 18th August.

Just three days later, authorities were sent to excavate a disused well near a row of abandoned homes at the far end of the village, discovering the body of the girl later identified as Liu.

According to reports, Wang continues to be questioned while Liu’s remains are being examined in order to determine a more precise cause and time of death.

It is still unclear whether Liu died at the bottom of the dry well, or whether she had been killed and then disposed of there.

Liu’s mum revealed that she separated from her ex-husband and married Wang when her daughter was four years old.

She and Wang have since had a young son together.

She said: “I’m struggling to accept this truth. He threw her down a well.”

Investigations are ongoing.

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