LayarHijau – Reports that Chinese influencer Athena Liya was killed after allegedly being kidnapped in the Philippines have sparked widespread discussion online. Her mother has now pushed back against those claims, saying she has never received any confirmation that her daughter is dead and that Athena Liya remains missing three years after she disappeared.
On August 10, 2026, several Chinese media outlets reported that Athena Liya, whose real name is Kong Limei, had been killed. Some reports also claimed that her disappearance was connected to a cross-border kidnapping ring allegedly led by Liu Wen (刘某文), a suspect in a separate criminal case who was extradited from the United States to China in July.
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However, there is currently no official confirmation linking Liu Wen to Athena Liya’s disappearance. Claims that she was killed by a criminal group allegedly led by Liu Wen therefore remain unverified.
On August 11, Athena Liya’s mother, identified by her surname Yuan, told Zonglan News that she had never received any information confirming her daughter’s death.
“She is still missing,” Yuan said, adding that the family has received no information about her whereabouts in the three years since she disappeared.
Yuan also said that no one had ever told her that her daughter’s disappearance was connected to Liu Wen.
Athena Liya Disappeared After Traveling to the Philippines
Athena Liya, whose real name is Kong Limei, is from China and placed third in the 2021 Miss World Macau pageant. Her short-video account has more than 1.28 million followers, but it has not been updated since March 20, 2023.
According to Wang, a man who identifies himself as Kong’s friend and says he has been helping her family look into her disappearance for the past three years, she traveled to Manila on June 16, 2023, according to her flight records.
Her family later received a phone call from Kong. She reportedly told them that she was having trouble with her finances and asked them to send her money.
She did not mention being kidnapped during the call.
Wang said the family subsequently transferred 800,000 yuan, or roughly US$111,000, to Kong’s account. They were unable to reach her again after that.
He also disputed reports that the family had paid a 5.4 million yuan ransom, saying that figure was not true.
Wang said Kong had indeed been persuaded by a female friend surnamed Li to travel abroad. The woman allegedly told Kong that the trip was to accompany her on a vacation and help her take a break.
According to Wang, the woman was someone Kong had met online. He said he did not know her personally.
After Kong disappeared, her family reported the case to police in Shenzhen.
Wang said he was stunned when reports claiming Kong had been killed began spreading widely on August 10. He said neither the family nor those who had been helping them search for information about her had ever received such a notification.
He added that similar claims had circulated online as early as July, but gained renewed attention after a wave of reports appeared on August 10.
Ningbo Police Video Did Not Confirm Her Death
Another key piece of material cited in reports about Athena Liya was an anti-fraud video released by Ningbo police in 2023.
On August 19, 2023, Ningbo police published a three-part video series about fraud operations linked to Myanmar. The second installment discussed Athena Liya’s disappearance.
The video said that her whereabouts and fate remained unknown. It also mentioned reports that her family had paid 800,000 yuan, but that she had not been rescued.
At the end of the third installment, the name “雅典娜LiYa,” or “Athena LiYa,” appeared in a list identifying victims.
But the video did not say that Athena Liya had been confirmed dead. It was part of an anti-fraud awareness campaign and was not an announcement of her death.
After the latest reports emerged, Wang said he contacted Ningbo police himself. According to him, the police did not tell him that Athena Liya had been killed and only referred to her as a victim.
Zonglan News also attempted to contact the publicity office of the Ningbo Municipal Public Security Bureau several times on August 11, but no one answered the calls.
No Official Confirmation That Athena Liya Has Died
The reports that surfaced on August 10 also linked Athena Liya’s case to Liu Wen, who was returned to China from the United States in July.
However, the connection has not been established by the official information currently available. Reports about Liu Wen cited in the coverage do not mention Athena Liya’s case as being connected to him.
Zonglan News also said it could not find any other reports establishing a link between Athena Liya’s disappearance and Liu Wen.
For now, claims that Liu Wen or a criminal group allegedly under his leadership kidnapped or killed Athena Liya should be treated as unverified.
The facts that have been independently described by the family are that Athena Liya traveled to Manila in June 2023 and subsequently disappeared. Her family has not been able to contact her since then.
As of August 11, 2026, her mother continues to say that Athena Liya is missing and that she has never received confirmation that her daughter has died.
Yuan said Athena Liya is her only child and that the past three years have been extremely painful as she has had no idea where her daughter is.
She said she had largely stayed silent because she was worried about saying something incorrectly and did not know how to respond to the growing amount of information circulating online. But after seeing what she described as a series of false claims about her daughter, she decided to speak publicly.
Yuan urged the public and online platforms to stop spreading rumors and unverified information about Athena Liya.
Wang also appealed to people to stop sharing unconfirmed claims, saying the reports have caused further distress to a family that has spent three years waiting for answers about Athena Liya’s whereabouts.
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