III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 92 

Expressing concern over the disappearance of David Sneddon, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 23, 2017 

Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. HATCH, Mrs. FISCHER, Mr. SASSE, Mr. COONS, 

Mr. RUBIO, Mr. FLAKE, and Mr. GARDNER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing concern over the disappearance of David 

Sneddon, and for other purposes. 

Whereas David Louis Sneddon is a United States citizen who 

disappeared while touring the Yunnan Province in the 

People’s Republic of China as a university student on August 14, 2004, at the age of 24; 

Whereas David had last reported to family members prior to 

his disappearance that he intended to hike the Tiger 

Leaping Gorge in the Yunnan Province before returning 

to the United States and had placed a down payment on 

student housing for the upcoming academic year, planned 

business meetings, and scheduled law school entrance examinations in the United States for the fall; 


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Whereas People’s Republic of China officials have reported to 

the Department of State and the family of David that he 

most likely died by falling into the Jinsha River while 

hiking the Tiger Leaping Gorge, although no physical 

evidence or eyewitness testimony exists to support this 

conclusion; 

Whereas there is evidence indicating that David did not fall 

into the river when he traveled through the gorge, including eyewitness testimonies from people who saw David 

alive and spoke to him in person after his hike, as recorded by members of David’s family and by embassy officials from the Department of State in the months after 

his disappearance; 

Whereas family members searching for David shortly after he 

went missing obtained eyewitness accounts that David 

stayed overnight in several guesthouses during and after 

his safe hike through the gorge, and these guesthouse locations suggest that David disappeared after passing 

through the gorge, but the guest registers recording the 

names and passport numbers of foreign overnight guests 

could not be accessed; 

Whereas Chinese officials have reported that evidence does 

not exist that David was a victim of violent crime, or a 

resident in a local hospital, prison, or mental institution 

at the time of his disappearance, and no attempt has 

been made to use David’s passport since the time of his 

disappearance, nor has any money been withdrawn from 

his bank account since that time; 

Whereas David Sneddon is the only United States citizen to 

disappear without explanation in the People’s Republic of 

China since the normalization of relations between the 


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United States and China during the administration of 

President Richard Nixon; 

Whereas investigative reporters and nongovernmental organizations with expertise in the Asia-Pacific region, and in 

some cases particular expertise in the Asian Underground 

Railroad and North Korea’s documented program to kidnap citizens of foreign nations for espionage purposes, 

have repeatedly raised the possibility that the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 

(DPRK) was involved in David’s disappearance; and 

Whereas investigative reporters and nongovernmental organizations who have reviewed David’s case believe it is possible that the Government of North Korea was involved 

in David’s disappearance because— 

(1) the Yunnan Province is regarded by regional experts as an area frequently trafficked by North Korean 

refugees and their support networks, and the Government 

of the People’s Republic of China allows North Korean 

agents to operate throughout the region to repatriate refugees, such as prominent North Korean defector Kang 

Byong-sop and members of his family who were captured 

near the China-Laos border just weeks prior to David’s 

disappearance; 

(2) in 2002, North Korean officials acknowledged 

that the Government of North Korea has carried out a 

policy since the 1970s of abducting foreign citizens and 

holding them captive in North Korea for the purpose of 

training its intelligence and military personnel in critical 

language and culture skills to infiltrate foreign nations; 

(3) Charles Robert Jenkins, a United States soldier 

who deserted his unit in South Korea in 1965 and was 

held captive in North Korea for nearly 40 years, left 


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North Korea in July 2004 (one month before David disappeared in China) and Jenkins reported that he was 

forced to teach English to North Korean intelligence and 

military personnel while in captivity; 

(4) David Sneddon is fluent in the Korean language 

and was learning Mandarin, skills that could have been 

appealing to the Government of North Korea after 

Charles Jenkins left the country; 

(5) tensions between the United States and North 

Korea were heightened during the summer of 2004 due 

to recent approval of the North Korean Human Rights 

Act of 2004 (Public Law 108–333) that increased United 

States aid to refugees fleeing North Korea, prompting 

the Government of North Korea to issue a press release 

warning the United States to ‘‘drop its hostile policy’’; 

(6) David Sneddon’s disappearance fits a known 

pattern often seen in the abduction of foreigners by the 

Government of North Korea, including the fact that 

David disappeared the day before North Korea’s Liberation Day patriotic national holiday, and the Government 

of North Korea has a demonstrated history of provocations near dates it deems historically significant; 

(7) a well-reputed Japanese non-profit specializing 

in North Korean abductions shared with the United 

States its expert analysis in 2012 about information it 

stated was received ‘‘from a reliable source’’ that a 

United States university student largely matching David 

Sneddon’s description was taken from China by North 

Korean agents in August 2004; and 

(8) commentary published in the Wall Street Journal in 2013 cited experts looking at the Sneddon case 

who concluded that ‘‘it is most probable that a U.S. national has been abducted to North Korea,’’ and ‘‘there is 


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a strong possibility that North Korea kidnapped the 

American’’: Now, therefore, be it— 

1 Resolved, that the Senate— 

2 (1) expresses its ongoing concern about the dis3 appearance of David Louis Sneddon in Yunnan 

4 Province, People’s Republic of China, in August, 

5 2004; 

6 (2) directs the Department of State and the in7 telligence community to jointly continue investiga8 tions and to consider all plausible explanations for 

9 David’s disappearance, including the possibility of 

10 abduction by the Government of the Democratic 

11 People’s Republic of Korea; 

12 (3) urges the Department of State and the in13 telligence community to coordinate investigations 

14 with the Governments of the People’s Republic of 

15 China, Japan, and South Korea and solicit informa16 tion from appropriate regional affairs and law en17 forcement experts on plausible explanations for Da18 vid’s disappearance; 

19 (4) encourages the Department of State and 

20 the intelligence community to work with foreign gov21 ernments known to have diplomatic influence with 

22 the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic 

23 of Korea to better investigate the possibility of the 

24 involvement of the Government of the Democratic 


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1 People’s Republic of Korea in David Sneddon’s dis2 appearance and to possibly seek his recovery; and 

3 (5) requests that the Department of State and 

4 the intelligence community continue to work with 

5 and inform Congress and the family of David 

6 Sneddon on efforts to possibly recover David and to 

7 resolve his disappearance. 

Æ 


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