Found Deceased CA - Mengyao 'May' Zhou, 23, Stanford University, 20 Jan 2007

I hope this girl just decided she needed a break. Prayers that she be found safe.
 
Very sad case. I was reading about May, and oh my gosh! What a driven girl. SUCH a brainiac. :clap: I truly hope there is a good outcome to this case.:eek:
 
IdahoMom said:
Very sad case. I was reading about May, and oh my gosh! What a driven girl. SUCH a brainiac. :clap: I truly hope there is a good outcome to this case.:eek:

Stanford is just down the road from me IM, so I feel a lot of compassion for what happens there. This is tragic that such a brilliant girl has disappeared. Stanford, and most of that immediate area, is a special place.
 
Buzzm1 said:
Stanford is just down the road from me IM, so I feel a lot of compassion for what happens there. This is tragic that such a brilliant girl has disappeared. Stanford, and most of that immediate area, is a special place.
Hi Buzz-
I have a soft spot for Stanford, too. My hubby went to Stanford and we've visited the campus a couple of times. It is a special place. I love Palo Alto, too!

I don't have a good feeling about this case- May doesn't seem like the type to just take off. :(
 
Stanford University engineering student May Zhou, 23, seems to have vanished after leaving her room on campus Saturday morning, with no trace of phone, e-mail or credit card use during the six days she's been gone.

Late Wednesday, Zhou's father, Yitong Zhou, told the Mercury News that the family is offering a $25,000 reward for any tips leading to her whereabouts.

more at link:

http://origin.insidebayarea.com/ci_5084365
 
I have a couple of thoughts on this one.

I know a girl that is intelligent and was driven as May is. She pushed herself after her parents pushed her all through high school then beyond. One day, she just snapped. She left school, began very out of character, self-destructive behaviors and basically went crazy for about a year or so. It was if she no longer recognized herself as the brainiac and was struggling to find out who she really was on another level. She dropped out of sight in order to keep her parents, school, and others from controlling her life any further. It does happen. (She returned and never finished her education. Instead, she married, had children, and led a 'normal' life.)

The lack of activity on her cards, phone, etc. is quite troubling, but there are some people that don't want to be found. They did say she had finished up her "tough qualifying exams", but stress wasn't a factor for her. A woman her age doesn't tell their parents everything about their personal life. When a person of her intellect spends all their time concentrating on their education, their social skills are often left behind and are undeveloped. The inability to handle pressure socially can be a catalyst for a meltdown.

Another scenario is more sinister. When a person, in particular a female, gets to her level of education and is at the top of their game in their field...it can create jealousy, anger, and sheer hatred among the ranks. I would hope they are looking at underclassmen, her peer group, and anyone who would benefit by her disappearance in order to 'get ahead'. Maybe there is a spot with one of the research groups which is quite coveted by someone else and it was offered to her instead, not to mention the Gabilan Fellowship she had received in 2005. Competition is fierce among scientists.
 
Buzzm1 said:
Stanford is just down the road from me IM, so I feel a lot of compassion for what happens there. This is tragic that such a brilliant girl has disappeared. Stanford, and most of that immediate area, is a special place.

Hi Buzzm1. We must live close to each other.

I want to do something to try to help so I called my daughter at work to go by Stanford and pick up some fliers for me. I don't have a car and can't walk that far because of a disability I have.

I've written down her car information and will go walking around the area here and look for any spot her car may be parked, then help put up and pass out fliers when I get them.

When something like this happens so close you just feel you've got to do something to try to help. I hope this is going to end well. But it's not looking good. Not at all.
 
This just came in on the wire...

http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_5087208



NEW: Stanford student's car found, body in trunk
From wire report
Article Last Updated: 01/25/2007 03:49:26 PM PST



SANTA ROSA — Santa Rosa police Lt. Ed Hemphill confirms the car of missing Stanford University graduate student Mengyao "May" Zhou was found with a body in its trunk in the city this morning.

Santa Rosa Junior College police found the car in a college parking lot around 7 a.m. today. Reached at his Southern California home this afternoon, Zhou's father said police had not yet contacted him about the discovery.
 
ANother report...

http://www.ktvu.com/news/10846254/detail.html

Body May Be Missing Stanford Student



POSTED: 3:22 pm PST January 25, 2007
UPDATED: 3:47 pm PST January 25, 2007


SANTA ROSA -- The car of a missing Stanford student was found in the parking lot of Santa Rosa Junior College early Thursday and a body was found in its trunk, according to police Lt. Ed Hemphill.

However, authorities had yet to identify the body as that of Mengyao "May" Zhou.

Hemphill said Santa Rosa Junior College police found the car in a college parking lot around 7 a.m.

Zhou was last seen Saturday morning, when she told her roommate at the school's graduate student housing complex that she was leaving to run errands. Her car, a silver Toyota Corolla, was missing, and her credit cards, cell phone and e-mail account have not been used since.

"It's a mystery," said Stanford police deputy Ken Bates of the student's disappearance. "We're baffled."

Zhou was described as Asian, 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighing about 120 pounds, with brown eyes, black hair and a medium complexion. She was wearing blue jeans when she her roommate last saw her.
 
Boy you guys are fast! I just came here to post the link myself not a minute after getting the breaking news email. Prayers that it's not her..
 
The body of a missing Stanford University graduate student was found here Thursday in the trunk of her car and investigators say she may have committed suicide.

Police found the silver Toyota Corolla belonging to Mengyao "May" Zhou, 23, an electrical engineering student missing since Saturday, around 7 a.m. in a parking lot at Santa Rosa Junior College, Sgt. Lisa Banayat said. Officials at the community college reported first seeing the car there four days earlier.

"There are some items in the vehicle that would be consistent with a suicide," she said, but investigators are not drawing any conclusions. She did not describe the items.

http://cbs13.com/topstories/local_story_025184134.html
 
This is so tragic.

I've had a couple of children graduate from college and with top honors. It doesn't matter if they're going on for graduate work or getting a job, the transition after graduation is very scary for these young people, no matter how well-adjusted they seem. And yes, it can make them suicidal.

It's too bad this young woman didn't talk to someone. This didn't have to happen. She didnt' have to be perfect, she didn't have to be #1, she just had to be herself.

My prayers to this family.

JMHO
fran
 
fran, unfortunately, perhaps she did feel she had to be #1, etc. So sad.
 
This is so sad:( . We don't know yet if May took her own life or if it was something else. But, we were hoping for a good outcome for this young, gifted lady. SerioslySearching may have hit the nail on the head in her previous post if indeed it is learned that it was a suicide. I pray for May's brokenhearted family; I can't even imagine their pain.


Lion
 
silenced.gif
I am shocked. By the way her parents were talking, she wasn't suicidal. *sigh*
I wish someone had seen signs. ANd if they did, to SAY SOMETHING.

MG
 
It is a very sad ending to this case. I pray for peace for her family and friends.
:( :( :(
 

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