LYNNWOOD, Wash. — Nearly 32 years ago, a Shoreline college student vanished on her way to work. The investigation into Wiki Phung’s disappearance revealed a hidden life and several surprising suspects.
“When somebody's taking your sister away from you, you don't heal. It's it's, you never heal. I mean, it's like living in hell,” said Loanne Phung, whose sister Wiki Phung went missing in 1991.
Phung's family was left untangling her secrets. They still don’t have an answer about what happened.
“We're still thinking about her, and that we're hoping someone out there know what's happened,” said Loanne Phung.
Investigation into her disappearance
Patrol Commander Patrick Fagan filed the initial missing persons case.
On May 9, 1991, Wiki Phung was supposed to travel from her home in Lynnwood to Shoreline Community College, where she attended, before heading to the Federal Building in downtown Seattle for work, Fagan said.
Phung was allegedly dropped off at the college by her then-boyfriend, but she never showed up at work.
After her disappearance, Phung’s family learned details about her secret life, including about her boyfriend.
“After she went missing, we realize that they’ve been dating for two years,” her sister said. “He was married. She was 17 when they met and he was 27.”
Loanne Phung said her sister wanted her boyfriend to leave his wife and he kept promising he would.
KING 5 is not naming the boyfriend, who was never charged in the case.
“He had an alibi that he was at work. It's not proven or disproven whether he was or wasn't there,” said Fagan.
Wiki Phung’s boyfriend did give a statement. In it, he said she claimed to have been raped by several men and he provided police with names. However, investigators were unable to find any records or evidence to support his statement.
A short time later, police said, her boyfriend failed a polygraph test.
“It was a convoluted story of victimization and that was a storyline that we receive from the boyfriend,” said Fagan. “Our detectives made a number of efforts to corroborate any of those storylines in those people, and they found nothing. So I think those storylines were disproven”
The case goes cold
With no other leads, the case remains unsolved.
After details of Wiki Phung’s personal life came out the family stopped talking about the case.
“In the Asian culture, we don't really have therapy, we don't talk openly. We try to hide everything because what people think of us is very important,” said Loanne Phung.
The case remains open, but Fagan said it’s not being actively investigated, and they have no plans currently to re-interview the boyfriend.
Earlier this year, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an age progression image of Phung, estimating what she would look like if she were alive today.
Loanne Phung said she doesn’t want people to forget about her sister. “She still have a family that loves her very much, that wants her home.”
Just talking about her, Loanne Phung said, makes it feel like Wiki Phung is alive again.
“I don't give up hope and I'll keep going. Even after my mother's gone and after I'm gone, my daughter will keep going,” said Loanne Phung.
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