Missing Teen Feared Victim of Scammers
Vilnur Yasaviev, 18, worked part-time in his home village before his disappearance, harvesting vegetables
In Perm Krai, an 18-year-old has been missing for a month and a half after leaving home in June without explanation. His family suspects fraudsters who demanded a large sum from him are involved in his disappearance. We spoke with the missing young man«s mother, who described how Vilnur vanished, what has happened over the past six weeks, and showed us her son»s correspondence with the scammers.
Vilnur and Aliya at his ninth-grade graduation
Vilnur Yasaviev is 18. He completed nine grades of school in his native village of Maly Ashap (Perm Krai), then took massage therapy courses. He had not started working yet and lived on a pension — he is classified as a Group II disabled person due to vision impairment. Vilnur often traveled to Perm, where he met a girl and sometimes stayed with her. This summer, after the breakup, he decided to stay in his home village because he had found some part-time work there. Vilnur harvested crops — potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. But on June 30, he did not show up for work.
A wanted notice for him was posted the same day in the community page of the Karyevo department of the territorial administration of the Ordinsky District. The post said the young man had disappeared and that his phone signal was last recorded between the settlements of Andreyevka and Krasny Yasyl.
His mother, Aliya, recalls that on that day her son called her at 8 a.m. and said scammers had called him yet again. He noted that unknown people had already called twice before. How Vilnur initially came into contact with them, Aliya does not know.
“He called so early, even though he usually slept until noon — until about two or three o«clock,” the missing man»s mother told 59.RU. “My husband and I were in Perm at the time — we work here, but we come home regularly. I came back to the village from work right away, but I didn«t find my son at home.”
In early July, Vilnur«s friend sent Aliya screenshots of her son»s VKontakte messages from June 28 — he had been communicating with a person on an anonymous account. The stranger threatened the young man and demanded 500,000 rubles ($6,100 at current rates) from him. The correspondence is in the editorial office«s possession — we will partially reproduce its contents.
“Hi, you«re in big trouble. I finally found you. Write your account number. If you don»t reply by 19:20, I«ll come to your registered address with my guys and take you with me,” someone wrote to Vilnur from an account under the name Qqqqqq Qqqqqq.
“Hi. What«s the issue?” Vilnur asked.
“The issue is money. You stole 500,000 ($6,100 at current rates) from me. I«m coming to collect. If you don»t have it, we«ll take it from your home. Wait at your registered address — we»re already on our way. Who else lives at your registered address? We«ll take you out to get loans. You should have answered instead of ignoring me — you»ve set up all your relatives. How unpleasant it will be when they come and take you to sign for loans. They«ll stop in Kungur first (Perm Krai), then come for you, kid.”
Aliya waited a day and then went to the police. On July 4, a search team came to the Yasavievs, but the volunteers did not find the missing young man. According to his mother, that was the first and only search deployment.
“Three weeks later, oil workers accidentally found his phone and flip-flops in the forest, three kilometers from our house,” Aliya told 59.RU. “And it had been raining, it was muddy there, yet there wasn«t a single scratch on the phone.”
The phone was photographed and posted in a local chat. Aliya recognized her son«s phone and called the police. Investigators then took the device, but the woman does not know where it is now.
“When they summoned me, I asked them to open the phone,” Aliya told us. “They told me: ‘We need money, 2,000 rubles ($25 at current rates).’ Can the police joke like that? This is the police! One of them said he would close the case because he [Vilnur] is deceased. He already considers him dead. God forbid! Please ask them why they do this.”
Aliya is convinced that Vilnur«s ex-girlfriend, his friend who showed the correspondence, and his nephew know something about the young man»s disappearance. However, she has been unable to find out — the young people have stopped answering the woman«s calls.
Aliya also notes that her son, his friend, and his nephew were always “playing” something together on their phones. When Aliya tried to find out what game her child was playing, Vilnur would say it wouldn«t interest her.
Vilnur is Aliya«s only son, and she misses him deeply: her VKontakte page status reads “I love my son.” The woman admits she is constantly searching for him with her eyes among crowds.
“He is so kind, he always danced, sang songs, he knew all the Tatar and Russian songs. He adored children — he would always play with his nephews and read them bedtime stories.”
On August 13, the Investigative Committee for Perm Krai opened a criminal case into the young man«s disappearance. Investigators also confirm that his shoes and phone were found in the forest. However, according to the Investigative Committee»s press service, Vilnur«s belongings were found during “search operations,” not by casual passersby. Investigators also said they would check information that unknown individuals may have influenced the young man.
Earlier, we reported on an 18-year-old from Perm who, intimidated by scammers, missed his last school bell. Unknown people frightened him, and he left home. However, the young man was found three days later, and the money was extorted from his parents.
