On September 10, Thol Vin, 18, left for her job at a garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district, just like any other day.

She had been working there for more than two years until she disappeared unexpectedly during her lunch break.

“I am very worried about my daughter’s safety, and I miss her,” her father, Sak Thol, 41, said through tears yesterday. “Where is my beloved daughter right now?”

On Friday, Thol and his wife filed a complaint to human rights NGOs  Adhoc and Licadho in Kampong Speu province and to Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Mu Sochua. He plans to file another with officials in Kampong Speu’s Meanchey commune, in Odong district.

“I think that my daughter is still in Phnom Penh,” he said.

Sorn Sin,  Vin’s uncle, said that anonymous individuals have called him and Vin’s parents in an attempt to extort money for information about Vin’s whereabouts.

“A man contacted me two days after my niece went missing and told me that my niece was in Banteay Meanchey province,” Sin said. “He said he will take her to Phnom Penh if I give him US$300.”

Meanchey commune chief Phin Phorn said that he ordered officials and police to search for Vin after he learned she was missing, though no complaint has been filed to him.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mom Kunthear at [email protected]