Is China detaining Y. student?

PROVO — The family of a Brigham Young University student who vanished in China nearly five months ago believes he is alive and possibly being detained against his will.

David Sneddon, 24, went to China last summer to study prior to starting his senior year, but he hasn't been heard from since Aug. 10.

The chief reason the family believes Sneddon is alive is a lack of proof to the contrary, said his mother, Kathleen.

"It sounds so gruesome to say it," she said, "but we haven't found a body."

There is no evidence that Sneddon was arrested by military or local police in western China, but the family can't find any other explanation for his disappearance.

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, met with Roy and Kathleen Sneddon in October and agreed to help the couple from Providence, Cache County, find their son.

"I have no more information than you on that," Bennett said when asked if he believed Sneddon is alive. "Naturally, we hope and pray that he is. Certainly, I'm satisfied the U.S. embassy has done everything they can to find him."

At Bennett's request, U.S. Ambassador Clark Randt spoke with China's vice minister of foreign affairs, Zhou Wen Zhong, about Sneddon on Dec. 7.

"The Chinese are being diligent in pursuing it," Bennett said.

Randt spoke with Zhou about the possibility Sneddon was detained, but Bennett said one of the challenges is that Sneddon's trail ended in a town near the border of Tibet, on China's western frontier, a remote area far removed from the capital of Beijing both geographically and in terms of government control.

"That's basically a 'Wild West' show out there," Bennett said experts have told him.

The family emphasized that members of the Sneddon family who visited the area to look for David felt safe and found the people extraordinarily warm and friendly.

Randt told Bennett there is no reason to believe Sneddon stumbled on a military base and was arrested because the area isn't known for sensitive military installations or politically motivated detainments. Ironically, an arrest would be viewed as a positive by the senator and the Sneddon family.

"If indeed he has been taken against his will, chances are he's still alive," Bennett said.

Roy Sneddon and two of his sons spent nearly two weeks in China during September.

The search party found people who had spoken with David Sneddon before and after he hiked through treacherous Tiger Leaping Gorge, where family and friends initially feared David might have fallen and been injured.

"We established clearly that David made it through the gorge alive and talked with people on the other side," said Michael Sneddon, one of David's brothers. "We were able to trace his route to Shangri-La, where he spent a couple of days."