With the aid of information technology, WPC Yip from Kowloon East Regional Missing Persons Unit (KE RMPU), has located a 17-year-old girl who had run away from home for more than two years, while PC So from Cheung Sha Wan Division has helped KE RMPU reunite a brother and a sister who have been separated for over six years, by strictly adhering to standard work procedures.

In the first case, the girl has a record of running away from home for three times, starting in 2001. After her third departure, her mother approached the Tseung Kwan O Police Station for help in May. Despite KE RMPU's considerable efforts, there was no sight of the girl. Later, WPC Yip learned that the girl was an "ICQ addict", and followed up on this clue relentlessly. Her efforts later paid off when she obtained the girl's ICQ number.

WPC Yip was not conversant with ICQ, but in order to get in touch with the girl, had worked hard to brush up her ICQ knowledge at home. She subsequently sent several messages to the girl, but to no avail.

"I had not given up. I kept on sending more messages, telling the girl that her mother missed her, was worried about her and liked to see her home soon. At the same time, I assured the girl that if she returned home, everything would be fine.

"Eventually, the girl seemed to have been moved by my sincerity, and began making response. Following more exchanges on the ICQ, the girl gradually had more confidence in me, and eventually gave me her e-mail address and mobile phone number. At the end, the girl accompanied her mother to Tseung Kwan O Station to withdraw reports."

WPC Yip said the girl is leading a normal life by working as a beauty apprentice after having attended a training course in a non-governmental organisation.

Another successful case handled by KE RMPU has shown that members of the Force still strictly adhere to standard work procedures even in minor cases.

In this case, a 56-year-old former Hong Kong resident specially returned from the United States to ask KE RMPU to help find his elder sister with whom he had lost contact for over six years. However, due to the limited information provided by the informant, KE RMPU staff found no trace of the missing woman despite more than two months' investigation. KE RMPU eventually issued a circular on the case, but a "999" call on October 25 brought about a breakthrough for the case.

In response to the telephone call, PC So was sent to a tenement building in Cheung Sha Wan. On arrival, he found that the case merely involved a small dispute between a woman and a caretaker of the building. After settling the dispute, he double checked the names of the parties concerned and discovered that the woman was the one KE RMPU had been looking for. He immediately alerted KE RMPU, and the outcome was a happy reunion of a brother and a sister.

The brother later sent an e-mail to the RC KE to praise the work of KE RMPU, especially the efforts of WPC Tong Wan-man and PC Law Kam-kwong.

Meanwhile, a third successful case handled by KE RMPU has earned another overseas praise for the Force, and has shown that the Force's website is performing its functions. In this case, a Mr Cheng, a former HK resident who migrated to Canada 15 years ago, spotted missing person services from the website, and immediately e-mailed a request for assistance in locating his younger brother with whom he had lost contact for over six years.

After KE RMPU had located his brother, Mr Cheng e-mailed the Commissioner, to express his "everlasting appreciation" to the Force, especially to Acting Chief Inspector Libera Cheng Ching-mon, Inspector Lee Pui-han, and Station Sergeant Ricky Wong Yik-man, as well as other members of KE RMPU.

He said in his e-mail: "At around 2am on September 6, Madam Cheng gave me a telephone call and informed me that they had found my missing brother. I could not believe that it was actually my brother who was talking to me over the phone at midnight after six years. I did not know what kind of magical methods the Hong Kong Police had used to locate my brother. And I still do not know how to express my appreciation to all the police officers and staff that I have mentioned. I am truly ecstatic.

"Every time I talk to my friends here at my place of employment, at church as well as at the foreign and Chinese community centres, I feel proud to say that the Hong Kong Police staff have offered me an effective assistance of high quality even though I had departed from Hong Kong for about 15 years. I feel proud when I think about the Hong Kong Police Kowloon East Regional Missing Persons Unit."

During an interview with OffBeat, KE RMPU staff did not rest on their laurels. Their reaction could be summed up by SSgt Wong who said with modesty: "Everybody in the Unit has merely tried to do his or her best for what they ought to do. We're, of course, pleased with the praise and recognition of our work, which have given us a lot of encouragement, and will inspire us to do better in serving the public!"

WPC Yip Mun-yee (third right) with her colleagues in KE RMPU