H. Res. 891 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

September 28, 2016. 

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 downpayment on 

student housing for the upcoming academic year, planned 

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

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 of-
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ficials 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disappearance, nor has any money been withdrawn from 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 

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 program, documented historically, 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 
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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 

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; 

(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 
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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 historical pattern often seen in the abduction of foreigners 

by the Government of North Korea; 

(7) a well-reputed Japanese nonprofit 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 

a strong possibility that North Korea kidnapped the 

American’’: Now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) expresses its ongoing concern about the disappearance of David Louis Sneddon in Yunnan Province, People’s Republic of China, in August, 2004; 

(2) encourages the Department of State and the intelligence community to jointly continue investigations 

and to consider all plausible explanations for David’s 

disappearance, including the possibility of abduction by 

the Government of the Democratic People’s Republic of 

Korea; 
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(3) urges the Department of State and the intelligence community to coordinate investigations with the 

Governments of the People’s Republic of China, Japan, 

and South Korea and solicit information from appropriate regional affairs and law enforcement experts on 

plausible explanations for David’s disappearance; 

(4) encourages the Department of State to work 

with foreign governments known to have diplomatic influence with the Government of the Democratic People’s 

Republic of Korea; 

(5) encourages the intelligence community to assess 

the possibility of the involvement of the Government of 

the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in David 

Sneddon’s disappearance and to possibly seek his recovery; and 

(6) requests that the Department of State and the 

intelligence community continue to work with and inform 

Congress and the family of David Sneddon on efforts to 

possibly recover David and to resolve his disappearance. 

Attest: 

Clerk.