11th August 2026 – (Manila) A mainland influencer with a million followers, known online as Athena Liya, has been confirmed murdered three years after she was lured to the Philippines — even though her family handed over a US$800,000 ransom.
Athena Liya, whose real name was Kong Limei, took third place in the 2021 Miss World Macau contest. In late May 2023 a close friend, Li Yifei, repeatedly urged her to fly out to nurse a break-up, promising a luxury hotel and seaside photo shoots. Kong agreed and boarded a plane. On arrival she fell into the hands of a criminal syndicate.
Li, who had issued the invitation, allegedly cancelled at the last moment after Kong checked in, citing urgent business, and never travelled. Kong was instead handed to local contacts waiting on the ground. After she vanished, rumours swirled that she had been sold on to Cambodia or forced into sex work as a so-called “Miss 66”. Investigators now say those stories were likely planted by the gang to throw relatives and the public off the scent.
Relatives searching for her reportedly paid about US$800,000 — roughly HK$6.27 million — to free her. The money was taken and she was not released. The breakthrough came on 20th July this year when Liu Hanwen, alleged ringleader of the cross-border kidnapping group, was repatriated from the United States to the mainland. With the main suspect in custody, police confirmed Kong had been killed and her body dumped.
Li remains a central figure in the account of how Kong was coaxed abroad. She is said to have posed for a long time as a wealthy socialite, cultivated an intimate friendship, then used a holiday to “clear her head” as the bait. After Kong disappeared she allegedly wiped social accounts and mutual friends, and gave relatives conflicting answers. She is still abroad and not in custody; her legal responsibility awaits further investigation.
Another woman linked to the recruitment work, known as Li Na and originally named Chen Yuxuan, was reportedly arrested in South Korea as early as September 2024. Only now, with Liu’s return and Kong’s death confirmed, has the three-year vanishing of a beauty-pageant influencer resolved into a murder — paid for in ransom, ended in abandonment, and still shadowed by a friend who never boarded the flight.