Taiwan model

A Taipei internet celebrity disappeared after being photographed, her best friend became public enemy number one overnight, but DNA testing revealed a shocking truth.

In March 2017, 22-year-old internet celebrity and model Chen Ke-hsiang disappeared in Taipei. A few days later, her body was found in the basement of a building in Nangang. Initially, police and media focused on her close friend Liang Si-hui and Liang Si-hui's boyfriend, Cheng Yu.

At the time, the case was dubbed the "vicious best friend murder case," and Liang Si-hui was instantly thrust into the public eye. Her Facebook page was flooded with comments, and TV personalities portrayed her as a cold-blooded mastermind.

But little did they know, the real twist was just beginning.

On the morning of March 1st, Chen Ke-hsiang left her rented apartment in Banqiao, New Taipei City. Originally from Dongshan, Yilan, her English name was Naomi, and she and her twin sister, Chen Ke-jie, were both strikingly beautiful. The older sister works in a jewelry store and was once dubbed "Taiwan's most beautiful jewelry store clerk" by the media; the younger sister works in outdoor photography, endorsements, and online sales, and her social media presence is always visible.

That day, she dressed up carefully, looking like she was going to work. She left home around 10 AM but never returned.

After discovering her sister was missing, the older sister, Chen Ke-jie, made dozens of calls. After a long time, the phone finally replied, but the content was very strange. The sender repeatedly used "wo" (窝) instead of "wo" (我), and there was a lot of phonetic writing. Chen Ke-xiang rarely typed like this, and the older sister immediately sensed something was wrong.

She immediately went to the police station to report it missing. The police located the phone and found that Chen Ke-xiang's phone was in Taichung. Chen Ke-jie and her boyfriend rushed to Taichung that night and also began contacting her sister's friends.

Through further investigation, she learned that her sister seemed to have taken on an outdoor photography job that day, introduced by a fellow photographer, Liang Si-hui, and the photographer was Liang Si-hui's boyfriend, Cheng Yu.

Liang Sihui remained offline on Facebook and could not be contacted. Her mother said her daughter had gone to Taichung, and Cheng Yu's calls went unanswered. It wasn't until the early morning of March 2nd that Chen Kejie finally contacted Liang Sihui.

When questioned, Liang Sihui claimed Chen Kexiang was with a "contractor." When asked who the contractor was, she said she didn't know, only providing a few phone numbers, all of which were unreachable. Early that morning, she even posted on social media complaining, "The most ridiculous thing I've ever encountered is being accused of kidnapping Chen Kexiang." She even misspelled the name.

That same morning around 8 AM, Chen Kejie called her sister's phone again and this time it was answered. The person on the other end wasn't her sister, but an employee of the Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Taichung. The employee said the phone had been found in the supplies room.

Chen Kejie rushed to the hotel to confirm it was indeed her sister's phone and immediately called the police. After investigating guest records, the police discovered that Liang Sihui and Cheng Yu were on the hotel's guest list.

The name Cheng Yu quickly aroused police suspicion. He not only had prior convictions for fraud and assault, but was also wanted by Taipei police for sexual assault. On March 2nd at noon, the two were immediately taken into custody by police when they checked out of their room.

Police found Chen Ke-hsiang's health insurance card, driver's license, ID card, and keys in the trash can of their room; Cheng Yu also had Chen Ke-hsiang's EasyCard, credit card, and debit card. Surveillance footage also showed Cheng Yu entering the toiletries room late at night, presumably where he allegedly discarded Chen Ke-hsiang's phone.

Initially, Cheng Yu kept lying. He said Chen Ke-hsiang was taken away by another photographer after the photoshoot, and later said she had argued with her boyfriend and wanted to be alone. However, after investigation, police found all these claims to be untenable.

That evening, police separately escorted Cheng Yu and Liang Si-hui to New Taipei City, hoping they could point out where Chen Ke-hsiang was being held. During the journey, officers repeatedly tried to break down Cheng Yu's defenses. Shortly after, Cheng Yu suddenly spoke up, saying, "I'll tell you where I dumped her."

He confessed that Chen Kexiang's body was in the basement of the Wanxiang Building in Nangang, Taipei.

When the police arrived at the scene, they found Chen Kexiang's body in a long-abandoned underground shopping mall cubicle. Cheng Yu then implicated Liang Sihui, claiming that his girlfriend orchestrated everything: Liang Sihui was jealous of Chen Kexiang's success, lured her out under the guise of a photoshoot, assisted in the crime, and they eventually fled to Taichung together.

This story quickly went viral in the media. Liang Sihui was described as a cunning "best friend killer," her past relationships, work, and photos all being dug up and publicly scrutinized. She was subjected to a barrage of criticism, almost powerless to defend herself.

However, Liang Sihui's version of events was completely different. She said she was only helping her boyfriend find a job, was at home at the time of the incident, and had no idea that Chen Kexiang had been killed. When questioned by the police, she often couldn't answer, only saying "I don't know," or remaining silent, which made her seem even more suspicious.

The evidence was indeed confusing at the time. Surveillance footage showed a man and a woman entering the building where the crime occurred; Cheng Yu claimed that it was him and Liang Sihui; there was also a suspected cell phone signal from Liang Sihui at the scene; the person impersonating Chen Kexiang who sent messages also sounded like Liang Sihui.

However, strangely, only Cheng Yu's footprints were found at the scene, not Liang Sihui's. When Chen Kexiang's body was moved, it appeared to be done by one person alone, without any indication of multiple people assisting.

The key lay in the DNA and the surveillance footage.

Liang Sihui's mother didn't believe her daughter was involved and reviewed surveillance footage from the neighborhood, finally finding a clear alibi: Liang Sihui was at home during the time of the incident on March 1st, only leaving around 6 PM. Chen Kexiang was murdered around 1 PM, making it impossible for Liang Sihui to have been present.

Next, the woman initially mistaken by the police for Chen Kexiang was confirmed to be a female celebrity surnamed Huang living in the building; while the woman who entered the basement with Cheng Yu was actually Chen Kexiang herself. Due to the cold weather that day, the surveillance footage was blurry, and both women were wearing hats and masks, leading to the misjudgment.

DNA results from the mask and water bottle also confirmed that there was no physical evidence of Liang Sihui at the crime scene. She was not present at the scene from beginning to end.

What about the phone tracking? Liang's mother provided a clue that Liang Sihui's phone had gone missing on the day of her father's funeral. Police investigations revealed that the person who stole the phone was Cheng Yu. As for Chen Kexiang's phone case and watch, Cheng Yu deliberately gave them to Liang Sihui afterward to create the illusion of her involvement.

At this point, Liang Sihui's suspicion was almost completely cleared. It was all a setup by Cheng Yu.

Prosecutors speculated that Cheng Yu, convicted of robbery, sexual assault, and murder, could face severe penalties. If he could portray Liang Sihui as the "mastermind" and change his story to that of an accomplice instigated by her, he might receive a reduced sentence.

In fact, Cheng Yu had secretly logged into Liang Sihui's Facebook account the day before the incident, impersonating her and arranging a photoshoot with Chen Kexiang. On the day of the incident, he lured Chen Kexiang to an underground shopping mall in Nangang under the pretext of a photoshoot, and then committed the crime when no one was around. Afterwards, he used Chen Kexiang's phone to send messages, creating the illusion that she was still alive, and took her belongings.

On March 6, 2017, the Shilin District Prosecutors Office confirmed Liang Sihui's alibi and released her in court. Previously criticizing her began hastily deleting comments, and the media immediately changed their tune, expressing concern for her grievances.

However, the damage had already been done. Although Liang Sihui regained her innocence, her work came to a complete standstill, and even after changing her name and making a comeback, she still faced attacks from netizens. She broke down in tears during a live stream, saying, "You have no idea how much I love her."

However, public opinion about her was complex. She might not be the murderer, but she appeared indifferent when Chen Kexiang disappeared, failing to actively assist the family or clearly share any clues she knew. Her silence almost allowed Cheng Yu's lies to succeed more easily.

As for Cheng Yu, whose real name is Gao Tingyu, he had committed multiple crimes before changing his surname to his mother's. He claimed to be a wealthy second-generation heir and a famous photographer, saying he was the son of a high-ranking executive or chairman of a prestigious brand, and frequently used luxury cars, black cards, and designer goods to cultivate his image. In reality, most of these "high-society personas" were just scams.

He often approached women under the guise of photo shoots, using the opportunity to steal, harass, and even assault them. Chen Kexiang wasn't the first victim, but she became the one most irreparably wronged.

In July 2018, the Shilin District Court sentenced Cheng Yu to life imprisonment in the first instance, arguing that his original intention was not murder and that his methods did not reach the level of "particular brutality." The verdict caused an uproar throughout Taiwan. In 2020, the Supreme Court upheld the life sentence after three trials.

For Chen Kexiang's family, such a verdict is unlikely to truly heal the wounds. She was only 22 years old, with a bright future ahead of her, yet she lost her life in a carefully crafted trap disguised as a photoshoot.

Later, her older sister, Chen Kejie, became an online influencer, released photo albums, founded a clothing brand, and continued on the path the two sisters had once shared.

But no amount of light can illuminate the shadow left by that tragedy.

Just like the words she later wrote when she missed her sister: "I just want you to live on with me."