Photo of girl missing eight years to be mailed

Thursday, Dec. 16, 1999 | 10:25 a.m.

An age-progressed photo of a Las Vegas girl who was abducted by her mother eight years ago will be featured on mailing cards that will be distributed to nearly 79 million households nationwide over the next six weeks.

The "Have You Seen Me?" cards with the photo of Michelle Lee, who is now 12, will be distributed by ADVO Inc., a direct mail marketing company.

The Connecticut-based company works in partnership with the National Center for Missing Children and the U.S. Postal Service.

Larry Lee, Michelle's father, has been given full custody of his daughter by the courts and says he remains hopeful that his daughter will be recovered. His ex-wife, Mi Young Lee, is also featured on the card as the last person who was with Michelle.

"I'm taking every step I can to find my daughter," Lee said. "I'm just thankful they're willing to put her on (the cards)."

Lee and Mi Young divorced when Michelle was 3 years old. They were given joint custody of their daughter and were allowed to alternate having the child for six-month periods.

Lee said he had his daughter the first six months, during which time his ex-wife vanished.

After six months Lee said Mi Young appeared and told him that she was not going to take her daughter for her six-month period but that she did want to take her daughter to Los Angeles to visit Mi Young's brother.

"She said she was just going for the weekend and would be back on Sunday," Larry Lee said. "I have not seen my daughter in 8 years."

Because of the joint custody agreement, Lee said the court would not accept a missing person's report filed by Lee until it had been six months since her disappearance.

"She had a six-month start before I could report it or get any assistance," he said.

Lee said it's possible that Mi Young Lee may have taken their daughter to Korea. Mi Young Lee is from Korea and was a Korean citizen at the time of divorce.

"The last report we had was three years ago when she registered my daughter for school in Hawaii," he added. Investigators, however, were unable to contact Mi Young and Michelle Lee.

"We have leads in Hawaii," he said. "She has family in New York and New Jersey and has shown an interest in Denver at one point."

Considering the success his wife has had in keeping Michelle from him over the past eight years, Lee admits he has some doubts.

"We know how she (Mi Young) is prone to run and she has the finances to do so."

The age-progressed photo was created using a photo of Michelle as a 4-year-old and photos of her parents.

ADVO reports that one in every seven children featured on the cards is recovered. Ninety-eight children have been recovered since the program's inception in 1985, ADVO reports.

The card is expected to reach more than 690,000 homes in Nevada.