The search for 50-year-old Chinese translator You Ting, who vanished on the morning of May 20 in Artemis, Greece, has hit a complete dead end — with her son firmly convinced she was kidnapped. New developments surrounding her phone, which was found and sold, outstanding debts owed to her by third parties, and a missed appointment in central Athens are forming a troubling puzzle, as Chinese authorities have now joined the investigation.
Read also: You Ting disappearance: Authorities scrutinize over 40 properties managed by the Chinese real estate agent — “The secret of her disappearance lies in central Athens”
You Ting disappearance: Three months without a trace — search for the Chinese translator continues
The search for You Ting, the Chinese translator who disappeared on the morning of May 20 in Artemis, remains fruitless.
An Albanian man who found her mobile phone told authorities he discovered it discarded on the street. He deactivated it and later restored it to factory settings in order to sell it. The phone’s last signal was transmitted shortly after 3:30 p.m., and investigators believe that was the moment the man removed the SIM card from the device.
“It’s an isolated spot. There isn’t much traffic there.”
How her phone ended up at that location remains unanswered. That same day, You Ting had a 4:00 p.m. appointment at an apartment building on Charilaou Trikoupi Street — a meeting she never made it to.
“She told me she was going to the city centre to collect rent from Chinese-owned properties,” says her husband
Her husband, Vasilis Karavasilis, joined the Live News crew to retrace the route You Ting most likely took through central Athens that day.
The fact that she was travelling on foot makes the investigation significantly harder, as she could have gone in any direction.
“She had told me she was going to the city centre to collect rent from properties owned by Chinese people where Pakistanis and others live. And I told her to be careful,” her mother-in-law recalled.
Authorities have already contacted tenants of the specific apartments, hoping to uncover another clue that might bring them closer to finding the 50-year-old.
“I suspect my sister has fallen victim to kidnapping and unlawful detention, but I have no evidence. She always travels alone by metro and bus and comes home very late. I know the area where she lives has security issues. She never mentioned receiving any threats. Our last conversation was on April 29, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary,” her sister told MEGA.
“She was kidnapped” — the shared belief of her son and sister
33-year-old Guan revealed to Live News that the last time he saw his mother, You Ting, in person was this past March, during a brief business trip she had made to China shortly before her disappearance.
Although contact with his mother was not frequent, the 33-year-old insists she would never have disappeared in this way. “What I think is that she was kidnapped,” he said, in a statement that has deeply shocked those following the case.
“I believe she was kidnapped — taken by criminals or people operating outside the law. Because my mother would never have stopped giving signs of life, would never have stopped communicating with us. She never has. Even if there were personal reasons, she would never have cut off contact with us. Whatever was happening, she would have told us. The fact that contact suddenly vanished means the only explanation is external forces.”
Her son also stated that You Ting had never expressed any desire to return to China. She had been married for many years in Greece, loved her work, and had built her everyday life there.
“I knew that people owed her significant sums of money, but I had never heard of any conflicts,” he added.
“There are people who owe my mother a lot of money. In her early years working in sales, some people defrauded her and owed her money.”
You Ting’s last messages to her son
Live News has published the messages exchanged between You Ting and her son in the months before her disappearance.
March 8, 2026
Son: Mum, happy International Women’s Day. When you arrive in Jining, we’ll come to see you. It’ll only take us an hour to get there.
You Ting: OK
March 10, 2026
Son: Mum, we’ve arrived.
You Ting: 👍 Which room are you in?
May 10, 2026
Son: Mum, happy birthday
You Ting: ❤️🤗
Chinese authorities have been notified of the 50-year-old translator’s disappearance and are conducting their own parallel investigation. Her 33-year-old son noted that, as of yet, no one from the Greek police has reached out to him directly.
