The Eu couple, who went missing while hiking on the Holy Ridge Trail at the end of November last year, have still not been found. Today, their sons, Eu Zonghan and Eu Zongze, appealed to Taichung Mayor Hu Zhiqiang, begging for continued search and rescue efforts for their parents.

Eu Zonghan and Eu Zongze, holding a banner that read “Bring My Parents Home, Let Them Rest in Peace” and a petition letter, knelt down to appeal to Mayor Hu at the Taichung City Council this morning, accompanied by Taichung City Councilor Chen Qinglong. However, Hu stopped them from kneeling, and he immediately promised that the fire department would make efforts to assist in the search.

Eu Zonghan pointed out that their parents, who had both retired from over 30 years of teaching at junior high schools, started their hike on the Holy Ridge Trail in Shei-Pa National Park on November 25 last year. They were originally supposed to return home on December 1, but didn’t come back that day. The brothers immediately contacted the authorities and filed a report. Unfortunately, the weather conditions were extremely harsh, making it very difficult for firefighters to conduct the search, and they found nothing—so far, the parents have still not found their way home.

Although Eu Zonghan expressed gratitude to the rescuers for risking their lives and braving the bitter cold in the search efforts, he stated that since his parents have been missing for more than three months and the disappearance occurred in the border area between Taichung City, Hsinchu County, and Miaoli County, he and his brother hope that the Fire Bureau can assist in mobilizing civilian search teams to continue looking for their parents, following the same model used in the case of Huang Qihan, who died while climbing Mt. Dajian.

In addition to comforting the two brothers, Hu Zhiqiang also said that he could very much understand their feelings. Although according to regulations, the fire department can legally stop search and rescue efforts after 21 days—and sometimes it’s even more painful when people are found later—“searching is better than not searching.” Regarding the Eu brothers’ wish to at least recover their parents’ remains, Hu said he couldn’t guarantee they would be found, but he urged the Fire Bureau to do everything possible. 1030312

(Central News Agency)