A math teacher from Nanzih No. 1 High School goes missing while hiking alone; students launch urgent search
Zhuang Zhiyang, 39, is an alumnus of Tainan First Senior High School. After graduating from high school, he was admitted to the Department of Mathematics at National Taiwan Normal University. To his students, he was an impressive teacher—on one midterm exam, he reportedly gave a math test that over half of the top-tier science class failed, earning him the nickname “The Math Killer.” However, due to his lively teaching style, he was deeply loved by his students, often mingling easily with them like an older brother.
Students revealed that the teacher’s passion for hiking was well known—if the topic came up in class, he could talk about it for almost the entire lesson. Because of this, students are also very concerned, asking, “Where could someone who loves climbing so much have gone?” Police also discovered that for some reason, Teacher Zhuang left his phone in the car, making it impossible for authorities to use phone tracking to determine his exact location, which has added difficulty to the search.
Tainan First Senior High School Principal Chang Tien-tang rushed to the Nantou Hsinyi Branch and Shueili Police Station yesterday to learn more details. He said Teacher Zhuang was supposed to return to school on the 1st to teach, but his absence was unexplained, and that’s when the school found out he had gone hiking and hadn’t come back. Teacher Zhuang’s parents and wife have already gone to Nantou, hoping that by reviewing surveillance footage with police, they can reconstruct the possible routes Zhuang Zhiyang may have taken and find him as soon as possible.
Luo Zicai, chief of the Hsinyi Precinct of Nantou County Police Bureau, said that Teacher Zhuang arrived alone in Nantou on the 27th of last month, parked his car near the Shueili Railway Station, and then rode a motorcycle to Hsinyi. Around 3 p.m. on the 28th, he visited Liuyajia Plum Garden and bought some agricultural products, after which he completely disappeared. Liu Qingxiang, the person in charge of Liuyajia Plum Garden, confirmed that on the 28th, he rode a motorcycle to the shop, bought eight bottles, and also mentioned that he had gone to Fengguidou Mountain in the morning and asked how to get to the “Liuyajia Secret Spot.” Because it was getting dark, he did not go up the mountain again and left on his motorcycle.
Police found that the local specialties he bought at Liuyajia and his phone were both left in the car. Currently, authorities are relying on the license plate MYU-811 of the motorcycle to mobilize over 100 mountain rescue volunteers to search for the vehicle. Once it is found, firefighters will be called in for a professional rescue operation.