Still no trace of Zhao

Authorities failed yesterday to locate Mei Hua Zhao, a 25-year-old scuba diving instructor who has been missing since Tuesday morning.

Acting Department of Public Safety spokesman Jason Tarkong said there’s no update but that the search and investigation are continuing.

In this photo provided by a family friend, Mei Hua Zhao plays with her son, Adam, and their dog, Tiger. (Contributed Photo)

Xuan appealed to members of the public who may have information on his wife’s whereabouts to step forward and help investigators.

Xuan, 45, is president of Blue Ocean Tinian Corp., which owns Go Pro Diving on Tinian. The couple opened a branch in Gualo Rai on Saipan only last month.

Christina Zuccaro, a neighbor of the couple on Tinian, told Saipan Tribune that Zhao is very good at getting customers because she is “so fun to be with” and a loving person.

Zuccaro said Zhao went to Saipan on Sunday because their place on Tinian was flooded on Friday due to the typhoon. She said that Zhao came over to her place on Friday and told her that on Saipan, where she takes care of their business, she has been going up and down the Grotto steps thrice a day, taking customers for snorkeling or diving. Zuccaro described her friend as “very athletic.”

Zuccaro said that Zhao’s husband, Xuan, is a long-time resident of Tinian and has a sister who has a restaurant/night club on that island.

She said it was only a year or so ago when the couple established their diving business on Saipan.

Xuan takes care of customers on Tinian, while Zhao gets customers on Saipan.

Whenever Xuan leaves for Saipan, Zuccaro said she helps take care of their dogs and watch their house.

She said the couple’s son, who was born on Saipan, currently staying in China.

“We have been neighbors for years on Tinian,” Zuccaro said. “They are both very good people.”

She said people on Tinian respect Xuan as a hard working man like his sister, Jenny, and that he treats Zhao like a queen.

She described Zhao as “an artist, a musician, a singer, and an awesome cook.”

“We just want her back home,” she said.

Xuan disclosed that his last communication with his wife was on Monday afternoon when she called him on Tinian, saying she’s already at their shop in Gualo Rai after a diving excursion with customers.

Xuan said a tour guide called him on Tuesday at about 9am because she did not show up to pick up customers for a scheduled dive tour.

He said he then called Zhao, to no avail.

Zhao’s white Toyota Tacoma with license plate ACW-383 was found by her friends on Tuesday afternoon parked behind Joker’s Bar, which is near McDonald’s Mobil gas station in Garapan. The vehicle was locked, police said.

Last Jan. 17, Saipan Fresh Market owner Zhi Yuan Li was reported missing. The following morning, police recovered Li’s Toyota Tacoma pickup truck abandoned on a dirt road between Ladder Beach and Obyan Beach. A family member offered a $50,000 cash reward to anyone who can provide information leading to Li’s location—whether he’s still alive or already dead. Li remains missing.