At the start of 1985, things looked good for Jimmy and Lily Ming. They had two small children, owned their own home and worked in the family’s thriving Robson Street restaurant. But by the end of January, Jimmy and Lily had been kidnapped from their Vancouver house, the restaurant was closed and the rest of the Ming family lived in fear of their lives. From Cold Case Vancouver.
In 1985, Jimmy Ming, 29 was the manager of the busy Yangtse Kitchen on Robson Street in Vancouver’s West End.
The family was originally from Taiwan, but had settled in Vancouver in the early 1970s. Jimmy married Lily Chien and they had two small children. They lived around the corner from the house Jimmy’s parents owned in Strathcona, an area of Vancouver that’s nestled in between Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside.
Yangtse Kitchen:
Jimmy typically worked 12 to 15 hour days at the Yangtse. Lily learned English at night school, took care of the kids and worked at the popular family restaurant one day a week.
On Saturday January 19, the Ming family was at the Fairyland Restaurant on Fraser Street in East Vancouver celebrating the wedding of Jimmy’s younger brother John to a Vietnamese woman. The celebration hadn’t gone smoothly. A fight broke out, and onlookers estimated later that it involved many of the 300 mainly Vietnamese guests.
Jimmy was tired, and the couple left to go home around 10:30 p.m. The children were to spend the night with their grandparents.
Sometime around midnight, criminals approached the Ming’s house on Princess Avenue by the laneway, smashed a basement window, entered and abducted the couple who were still wearing the clothes they’d worn to the wedding.
The kidnapping was discovered that afternoon, when Jimmy’s father Ping Chang Ming brought the children home and found his son and daughter-in-law missing and a ransom note on the stairs. The note asked for $700,000 and when translated into English, it read:
“You have a good family. You have a good business. We don’t have anything. We have a lot of brothers and you won’t catch us all. We are even in the United States. You will not be the last. There will be other restaurants.”
Ping Chang Ming called police.
Show Notes:
If you have any information about these murders please call Vancouver Police Department at 604-717-3321, or if you wish to remain anonymous, call crime stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or visit the website solvecrime.ca
Sponsor: Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours
Intro: Mark Dunn
Theme music: Andreas Schuld – ‘Waiting for You’ and break music ‘Growl of Some Young Pups’
Interviews: Bob Cooper, formerly with the VPD Asian Gang Squad; Rob Gordon, Professor of Criminology, Simon Fraser University
Buy me a coffee promo: McBride Communications and Media
Sources:
Cold Case Vancouver: The City’s Most Baffling Unsolved Murders, Eve Lazarus, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2015
Paper Fan: The Hunt for Triad Gangster Steven Wong, Terry Gould, 2005
Promo: Blood, Sweat and Fear: The Story of Inspector Vance
5 comments on “Jimmy and Lily Ming: On the Edge of Chinatown”
Most interesting history I did not know about this one. So sad such a young family. Thank you for the information.
I lived across the street from the father, Ping Chang Ming, on East Georgia at the time of the Ming murders. I recall that were mah-jongg games that went deep into the night at his place several times a week. Hard to believe that gambling wasn’t involved.
We used to go often to this restaurant. They made the best fried rice! Mom used to talk to Jimmy when we visited there. After this tragic incident my Mom couldn’t bring herself to go back. It was too sad for her as she had such fond memories of a hard working family just trying to make a living.
First I’ve heard of this tragic incident. ☹️ This family were hard working and just wanted to raise their children in peace . I feel really bad for them and for their family . I hope one day the killers will be found and put into prison for life . This is when I feel capital punishment should return to our weak justice system .
I remember this tragedy, as I lived close by and the Yangtze Kitchen was a #1 favourite restaurant, not only for the wonderful meals, but the most hospitable family. It was like home. I also recall when the Yangtze was located on Denman St, prior to moving to Robson St location. The restaurant was in a tiny space and I recall a red banner at the doorway, which billowed out with the wind.