Missing US student who was declared dead in in 2004 ‘was actually kidnapped in China and forced to become Kim Jong-un’s personal English tutor’
David Sneddon is now believed to have a wife and two children and is living in Pyongyang
A UNIVERSITY student who vanished in China more than ten years ago has reportedly been found alive after being kidnapped and made to be Kim Jong-un's private English tutor.
David Sneddon disappeared when he was just 24-years-old in 2004 with Chinese police ruling the young man had been involved in a hiking accident.
But news has since surfaced that the man was kidnapped to become the English tutor of the then future leader of North Korea.
Sneddon is now believed to have a wife and two children and is living in Pyongyang, where he teaches English, .
The head of South Korea's Abductees' Family Union Choi Sung-yong has claimed the young student is still alive with the United States launching an active search for the man, who would now be in his 30s.
His mother Kathleen Sneddon said: "We just knew in our heart that he was alive, so we had to keep fighting."
The family said they had decided to keep fighting for answers as their son's body had never been found with the young man last seen on August 14 2004.
He was reported missing on August 26 when he failed to meet his brother at the airport in Seoul, South Korea.
Asian authorities had ruled that the young man had died in the Tiger Leaping Gorge, a canyon on Yunnan's Jinsha River that is a tourist hotspot.
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The family has since released a statement on their Facebook page, saying: "We are grateful for the prayers on behalf of David... but please also pray for the people of North Korea.
"Each day continues to bring us more hope!"
They have previously said they believed their son had been targeted by North Korean officials because of his proficiency in the language.
The young man had first become skilled at the language while serving on a Mormon mission in South Korea.
Authorities from the United States .
Rep Chris Stewart, R-Utah, a member of the US House of Intelligence Committee has previously said the evidence around David's disappearance was lacking.
He said: "The evidence indicates that there are still a lot of unanswered questions about David’s disappearance."
Members of Utah's confessional delegation had previously urged lawmakers in Washington to investigate whether Sneddon had been abducted.
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