Woman, daughter disappear after buying plane tickets to Bucharest
Man believes wife and daughter, both uncontactable, left for Romania to meet daughter's online friend
It has been 10 days since Mr Yap last saw his wife and daughter and the 59-year-old fears the worst might have happened.
He believes the women have flown to Bucharest, Romania, and is worried that they might have fallen victim to a scam.
Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News reported that the taxi driver, who did not give his full name, has been unable to contact his 61-year-old wife and their 25-year-old daughter since they disappeared on Jan 22.
His daughter is an administrator and his wife is a housewife.
According to his daughter's credit card bills up to Jan 26, she had bought two tickets to Bucharest in early January for about $4,000.
Mr Yap told Shin Min that he found out that his wife and daughter took a flight from Singapore to Bucharest, with a transit in Frankfurt, Germany.
He said: "My wife has never gone out of the country before and the furthest my daughter has travelled to is Malaysia. They left so unexpectedly and quietly on Jan 22."
He believes that their disappearance is linked to his daughter's intentions to meet a male online friend.
"I suspect that someone is behind their disappearance because they didn't book a hotel. I'm also afraid that it might be a scam," said Mr Yap.
He added that when he searched their home, his wife's and daughter's passports were gone.
His daughter's four bank books, including one for a joint account she shared with her mother, were also missing. There was about $50,000 in the accounts.
Mr Yap said: "When I checked my daughter's room, I found it cleaned out. Bank books, cash and even the SG50 commemorative note set she had were all gone."
Last December, his daughter had asked him for permission to travel to Europe to see snow, but Mr Yap did not allow her to.
"I told her that she didn't need to travel so far just to see snow. She could see snow in Asia," he said, adding that he did not think it safe for her to go to Europe.
Mr Yap said that on the day they disappeared, his daughter had left for work in the morning and his wife had left their home at around 4pm to meet her.
He left for his shift at 9pm and returned the next day at 5am.
His wife and daughter were not at home when he returned and he was unable to contact them on their phones.
He reported their disappearance to the police only five days later because he thought they had just gone overseas for a holiday.
He also received a call from his daughter's boss, who told him that she had not applied for leave but had not been turning up for work.
Mr Yap said: "I initially thought that they had gone overseas to have fun because it was my wife's birthday the day before.
"I thought they would return by Jan 30, but they are still missing."
Mr Yap also said his daughter's credit card bills showed that on the day they left, she had purchased plane tickets to return to Singapore on April 16.
His attempts to contact his wife and daughter via WhatsApp have been futile.
Singaporeans can remain in Romania without a visa for a period of up to 90 days, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) website.
When contacted about the case, a MFA spokesman said: "We have approached the Romanian authorities to assist the next-of-kin of the Singaporean women.
"Their safety is our immediate concern.
"We are monitoring the case closely and will continue to keep in close touch with the family members."
When I checked my daughter's room, I found it cleaned out. Bank books, cash and even the SG50 commemorative note set she had were all gone.
- Mr Yap