May 1, 2004
Joe Nelson
The Sun (San Bernardino, CA)
RUNNING SPRINGS - In the last two months, Wayne Yuen has spent nearly $10,000 in the search for his teenage son.
Every step of the way, the experience has taken its physical and emotional toll on the Edison, N.J., computer engineer whose son, Daniel Yuen, 16, went missing from the Cedu School in Running Springs on Feb. 8.
"Basically, I have major depression. I've been in the hospital three times. I even had suicidal thoughts until I went to a psychiatric hospital,' said Yuen, 47, who was paying $5,200 a month for his troubled son to attend the boarding school before he disappeared after only two weeks of attendance.
Cedu has campuses all over the country. Paris Hilton attended the Running Springs campus for two months in 1997.
Wayne Yuen and his wife, Lisa, decided to enroll their son at the Running Springs campus after he was diagnosed with depression and stopped attending high school in December following a breakup with his girlfriend.
"He got depressed, and he stopped doing good in school, and basically we (had) fights,' Wayne Yuen said. "He got so angry with everybody. We (went) through different psychologists and they (said) he (didn't) need medicine.'
So the Yuens found the Cedu School through an Internet search and were sold by the school's optimistic tone and its advertisement as being an "emotional growth school.' They were willing to pay the tuition.
"We are Chinese. I come from Hong Kong, and my wife from China. We're very conservative about (Daniel's) education and his life. We just worry,' said Wayne Yuen.
"We figured, 'California, lots of sunshine.' The pictures looked good. They go on trips and stuff,' Yuen said of Cedu's Web site. "But they lose my son like that. We are very frustrated.'
Cindy and Keith Raymond work as private investigators for the Cedu School. Its their job to find the many teens who run away from the school an average of about five a week. They have posted fliers from San Diego to New Jersey, Daniel's home state, Wayne Yuen said.
There were several reported sightings of Daniel in February from people who said they recognized him after seeing the missing-person flier.
On Feb. 14, a trucker reported seeing Daniel eating at a truck stop in Blythe on Feb. 12. On Feb. 16, a homeless woman said she had seen Daniel on several occasions at Carousel Mall in San Bernardino and had several conversations with him.
"Certain things she said about my son were credible,' said Wayne Yuen,. "She told me that (Daniel) said to her 'I have to live my life,' and he said that to me all the time.'
On Feb. 20, the homeless woman, identified by Yuen as Teeoni Newton, a transient residing at the Salvation Army's Fifth Street shelter, told him that Daniel had purchased a bus ticket from the Greyhound bus station in San Bernardino and that she saw him get on a bus on Feb. 19, destination unknown.
On April 13, two maintenance workers for the San Diego Park and Recreation Department reported seeing a boy fitting Daniel's description at Hilltop Park in the San Diego community of Rancho Penasquitos days before.
"They said he asked them for a cigarette. My son was wearing blue doctor's scrubs,' said Wayne Yuen.
One of the maintenance workers arrived for work on April 12 and saw the missing-person flier with Daniel's picture on it and called authorities.
The Raymonds took a police dog to the park, and the dog picked up Daniel's scent, said Detective Mark Rogers of the San Bernardino County sheriff's Twin Peaks station.
"I talked to the parks and (recreation) guy, and he said he was 99 percent sure it was (Daniel),' Rogers said.
The Raymonds refused to comment for this story, citing legal issues because they are employed by the Cedu School.
Historically, Cedu, a boarding school for troubled teenagers, has had its problems with runaways.
Between Jan. 7 and April 25, the sheriff's Twin Peaks station took 18 reports on runaway teens from the school. There were 41 calls for service, Rogers said.
"And that doesn't count the two reports we had yesterday,' Rogers said in a telephone interview on Friday. "I would say that's probably a fair statement of the average.'
An official at Cedu refused to comment on Friday.
Rogers said 12 of the teens reported missing in the last 90 days were found, including the two reported missing on Thursday. He said he is unaware of the disposition of the other cases.
More troubling is the methods some runaways use to try and escape.
Rogers said there have been several cases where students have tried hiking down the mountain through Manzanita Flats in dense brush and rugged terrain.
"You can see San Bernardino from the school, and a lot of kids get the bright idea that because they can see the lights, they can make it down there,' said Rogers. "But the vegetation is really thick, and unless you know the trails, you're not going to make it. It's treacherous.'
Such was the case in January 2003, when a 16-year-old girl identified only as "Hannah' ran away from the school and tried hiking down the mountain, only to become lost and trapped in freezing weather for days. She was found by an-off duty San Bernardino police officer.
Hannah told authorities she dug holes in the ground and covered herself with dirt to keep from freezing.
School officials informed the Yuens and sheriff's detectives that Daniel was last seen about 10:45 a.m. on Feb. 8. It was later learned that Daniel and other boys had been planning for days to leave, Wayne Yuen said.
"He had told a school official that he was going to buy cigarettes before he disappeared,' Rogers said.
In a Jan, 30 telephone conversation Wayne Yuen had with Daniel, Daniel told his dad how unhappy he was at the school and that he was planning to run away with a group of other boys.
"He told me students there were mean and 10 times worse than he was. He stole a hammer and said he wanted to use it to break out,' Yuen said.
A sheriff's helicopter flew above the Manzanita Flats area behind the school after Daniel's disappearance in search of clothing or other remnants. Nothing was found, Rogers said.
Wayne Yuen believes his son is in the San Diego area, possibly working as a day laborer.
Pointing blame is something far from the mind of Wayne Yuen and his family, which also includes Daniel's 12-year-old sister, Selena.
"We are so sad, so overwhelmed we just want to find our son,' said Wayne Yuen. "We don't want to think about anything else right now,.'
Anyone with information on Daniel's whereabouts is asked to call the sheriff's Twin Peaks station at (909) 336-0600 or the Polly Klaas Foundation at (800) 587-4357.
