When Hang Lee disappeared after leaving her home in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1993, she left a message for her brother Koua, which he was only able to piece together. However, despite efforts by Hang’s family members and authorities to search nearby locations, there was still no sign of the missing youth. Crime Junkie’s documentary, titled “MISSING: Hang Lee,” investigates the mysterious disappearance of Hang Lee and follows the investigation that ensued to uncover the truth of what happened to him. Let’s examine the circumstances surrounding the tragedy and see if we can figure out whether or not Hang Lee was found, shall we?
What really happened to Hang Lee?
Saint Paul, Minnesota was home to Hang Lee and her family when she was a senior at Highland Park High School. Hang was 17 years old at the time. Hang had many hopes and dreams for the future, especially for herself and her brother Koua Lee, and she was very close to the people she loved. Also, she was counting down the days until she could graduate from high school and enter the real world. Hang was revered by all, despite his reputation as a metalhead who worked at a neighborhood coffee shop in his spare time for some extra money.
Hang made a surprising revelation to her workplace on the evening of January 12, 1993, when she phoned them to say she would be coming in for an interview the next day. While hanging out with her friend Nikki that same night, Hang reportedly met her brother Koua and told him, “If I don’t come home, come look for me because I don’t trust Nikki.” Despite the fact that this being a strange request, Koua didn’t think much about it and went to sleep. On the other hand, he noticed that his sister hadn’t come home the next morning and immediately made the decision to confront Nikki about it.
Curiously, Nikki claimed that she was unaware of the disappearance and could provide no information on Hang’s whereabouts at the time. The worried and concerned members of Hang’s family notified the authorities that she had disappeared and expressed their concern. The fact that Hang had previously run away from home was mentioned in some of the files found after her disappearance. When questioned by police, Nikki also revealed that when she dropped Hang off, she was with some “white friends.” This led investigators to suspect the 17-year-old may have eloped with the white companions. It was then announced that the investigation into the case had been suspended for a period of six months because the police did not believe that the person was missing.
Despite this, Hang’s family was determined to uncover the truth about the situation. Once they began handing out flyers across the city, officers took the matter seriously and dragged Nikki in for further questioning. Afterwards, she told them that she and her companion had met Mark Steven Wallace, the person who had offered the interview, on the evening of the night Hang disappeared. Additionally, Nikki claimed that Mark took her to her destination before continuing in his car with Hang. However, Mark denied any role in the incident when questioned about it, stating he had no idea where the missing teenager was.
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Still no sign of Hang Lee?
Although it is still considered an open investigation by authorities, Hang Lee has not been found, although it has been over a year since his disappearance. Also, Hang’s family has come to terms with the fact that she is no longer with them and has held a ceremony to let her spirit go. When police began their investigation into Mark Steven Wallace, they found that he had been convicted of two separate counts of rape in the past. As a result, they focused their investigations on him, even going so far as to search his truck, office, and home, but to no avail. Mark repeatedly insisted that he was innocent of the crime, despite there being no evidence linking him to the murder.
There was no further development in the case until 2009, when Mark’s mother’s neighbor stated that he was shocked to find a very quickly completed garage on her property in 2004. At this point, the investigation was resumed. The investigation uncovered nothing, although police obtained search warrants for the garage and even used sniffer dogs to search the room. In 2017, Mark was taken into custody for a crime unrelated to the others. Around the same time, Hang’s family finally came to terms with the fact that their teenage daughter had left this world, and they organized a ritual to release her spirit.
The quest for information was something Hang’s brother would not give up. On the other hand, in 2019 detectives learned that Mark was in prison for an unrelated crime and was about to be released. Prosecutors, however, were in no mood to release him and asked the judge to send him to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program in Moose Lake. In the end, after hearing testimony from both prosecutors and law enforcement officials, Mark was taken to the Moose Lake facility, where he is being held to this day.
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