TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwanese female student who went missing late last month is now believed to be in Myanmar with police suspecting that she may be the victim of a human trafficking ring.

A 20-year-old sophomore at Providence University surnamed Lin (林) had told her family she would spend the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday with them, according to Up Media. However, she did not return home as expected, so Lin's mother tried numerous times to call her, but there was no answer, until her former boyfriend, a man surnamed Lee (李), picked up the phone and said that he was also unaware of her whereabouts.

Lin's family members then contacted the landlord of her apartment, but when they got there, they found it was empty. Lin’s family reported her missing on March 29.

Police then reviewed surveillance camera footage of the area around her apartment and school and found that she last left the apartment at 8:30 a.m. on March 29. The authorities then found that Lin had purchased another mobile phone for NT$10,000 (US$327), before purchasing a plane ticket to London online.

According to police, the former boyfriend Lee told them that Lin had left her old phone, the one that her mom had tried to call her on, with him before she left the country.

Police said the last signal from her new mobile phone had been detected at Taoyuan International Airport. Police were then able to confirm that she took an EVA Air flight to London at 8 a.m. on March 30, reported Up Media.

However, she never arrived in London and instead apparently got off the plane during a layover in Bangkok, Thailand. There is no record of her leaving Thailand, but it is suspected that she illegally crossed the border into Myanmar.

Lin's family was reportedly informed by one of her friends on April 1 that she was in Yangon, Myanmar, according to Liberty Times. The friend claimed that "everything was safe" with Lin, but her family members have still not been able to establish contact with her.

According to a TVBS report, Lin went to Myanmar to meet her "new boyfriend," whom she met through her ex-boyfriend Lee. Because both Lee and the new boyfriend have a history of engaging in fraud, police suspect that she may be a victim of human smuggling.

Missing person post uploaded onto D-Card on April 5 by Lin's former roommate. (D-Card photo)