China Porsche owner covers car with 90 missing-child flyers, successfully reuniting a family

A Chinese Porsche owner covered his luxury sports car with 90 flyers of missing children, garnering significant attention online.Recently, a Porsche 718 from Kunming, in southwestern China’s Yunnan province, went viral on Chinese social media, with many residents posting about their encounters with the eye-catching vehicle.They filmed the car not for its luxury appeal, but for the striking sight of the flyers featuring missing children that adorned it from bumper to bumper.The owner, Du Lin, explained that his car displays information about 90 missing children, which he obtained from the charity website Baby Come Home. He personally designed the car wrap using the flyers.The Baby Come Home website, founded in 2007 by volunteers Zhang Baoyan and her husband Qin Yanyou, aims to assist parents in searching for their missing children at no cost. Over the past two decades, more than 400,000 volunteers connected through the site have successfully helped 15,000 families reunite.Responding to criticism that he was merely seeking attention, Du noted that the more eyes on his car, the higher the chances of someone recognising a missing child. Photo: SohuFamilies seeking help from Baby Come Home include those who had to abandon their children due to financial hardships, as well as those whose children were abducted.According to a 2021 report from the Bureau of Crime Investigation, Ministry of Public Security in China, nearly 6,000 child abduction cases were reported in 2012, a number that dropped to less than 700 by 2020.Utilising missing children’s flyers on cars has become a common strategy among some parents and volunteers to increase visibility and improve the chances of locating lost children.One notable case involves Du Houqi’s father, Du Xiaohua, who was highlighted in the 2014 film Dearest; he is the only parent featured whose child remains missing today. Du covered his car with flyers for his son and for other desperate families.For many Chinese parents, the search involves agonising public appeals, from holding banners to driving custom poster-covered vehicles. Photo: Getty Images via AFPOn Chinese e-commerce platforms, some vendors even sell missing children’s flyers for about three yuan (45 US cents) each.Porsche owner Du promptly registered his car’s new look with the local police to ensure compliance with legal regulations. The 27-year-old, originally from Hubei province in central China, observed others distributing flyers randomly to passers-by and found that approach inefficient.While some questioned his motives, suggesting he sought attention, Du clarified that increasing awareness was his primary goal.“The more attention the car receives, the better the chances for more people to see the information about missing children, leading to more reunifications,” Du stated.On October 12, 2010, at Zhengzhou’s Erqi Square, a parent held up a banner plastered with photos of missing children. He hoped to gather leads for his own missing child and those of 2,000 other families. Photo: CYOL.netHe also revealed that one individual featured in his 90 flyers has already reunited with their family.“This is the coolest car I have ever seen,” commented one online observer.Further ReadingAnother added: “I wish more cars could display these flyers, as many children want to come home. I hope fewer cars will need to feature these posters, because that would mean more children have been reunited with their families.”