Wife of missing Interpol officer says he sent knife image as danger signal

The wife of the missing president of Interpol says her husband sent her an image of a knife before he disappeared during a trip to their native China.

Making her first public comments on the mystery surrounding Meng Hongwei’s whereabouts, Grace Meng told reporters in Lyon, France on Sunday she thinks the knife was her husband’s way of trying to tell her he was in danger.

She says she has had no further contact with him since the message that was sent on September 25. She says four minutes before Meng shared the image, he had sent a message saying, “Wait for my call.”

A journalist holds the mobile phone of Grace, the wife of the missing Interpol president Meng Hongwey, showing what she says is the last message exchanged with her husband. (AFP Photo)

She says she hasn’t heard from him since and does not know what happened to him.

Meng’s wife said he had travelled back to China for work, after a visit to the Nordics.

“His job is very busy,” she said. “We connected every day.”

Meng is a senior Chinese security official as well as president of the International Criminal Police Organization. The Lyon-based international police agency said Saturday it has used law enforcement channels to inquire with China about Meng’s status.

Grace Meng wouldn’t speculate Sunday on what might have happened to him. Asked if she believed that he has been arrested, she said: “In China, what happened, I’m not sure.”

Grace, the wife of the missing Interpol president Meng Hongwey, talks to journalists on October 7, 2018 in Lyon during a press conference during which she did not want her face to be shown, a day after Interpol demanded an official "clarification" from China on the whereabouts of its missing police chief. (AFP Photo)

She read a statement during her press conference in Lyon, but would not allow reporters to show her face, saying she feared for her own safety and the safety of her two children.

First Published: Oct 07, 2018 22:24 IST