TONY WALL talks to a grief-stricken parent who is convinced her daughter's death was no accident.
The heartbroken mother of schoolgirl Chong Liu will farewell her "little treasure" at a funeral today.
But she has vowed to stay in New Zealand until the truth about her daughter's death is revealed.
Li-Li Li arrived
in Auckland this month convinced that foul play was involved in Chong's death and determined to challenge the belief that it was a non-suspicious drowning.
Police spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty said yesterday that the case was not closed and detectives were keeping open minds.
Chong Liu, a 12-year-old Waikowhai Intermediate pupil, disappeared from near her Mt Roskill home on May 11.
More than two weeks later, her clothed body was found on the beach at Pollok on the Awhitu Peninsula - 20km south of the bay nearest her home.
Her body bore no signs of injury or sexual violation, and a pathologist gave the cause of death as drowning.
Chong was her mother's world. China's strict one-child-a-family policy meant Li-Li Li, 42, had only one chance at motherhood.
For five years, she and her husband, Zheng Wei Liu, tried to have a baby. She suffered three miscarriages before Chong arrived.
"The whole family treated her like a treasure," Li-Li Li told the Weekend Herald through an interpreter yesterday.
"Her nickname was Pan-Pan - the child we look forward to."
The couple separated, and Mr Liu gained custody, bringing Chong with him to New Zealand last year.
Li-Li Li, a rest-home nurse from Dalian City, said she broke down when told of her daughter's death and was rushed to hospital after suffering an angina attack.
"I feel my whole world has collapsed, my whole world is destroyed. All my hope is gone, my support is gone."
She received regular letters from Chong, and last spoke to her by telephone in March.
Chong had seemed happier than she had ever been in New Zealand, as she had found a Chinese-speaking friend, had a new tutor and was looking forward to a school outing.
Li-Li Li said Chong was terrified of the water and would never have walked down to the harbour or entered the sea. She believed someone had pushed her in.
Noreen Hegarty said: "We don't know how she got in to the Manukau Harbour. It could be any one of a number of scenarios. If further evidence comes forward, we will investigate it fully."