Chinese Socialite Sold Abroad by "Best Friend"

Chinese socialite influencer Athena Liya (雅典娜Liya) was a Miss World beauty pageant contestant with 1.2 million followers. She built an online image around luxury travel, designer fashion, and a glamorous lifestyle. In June 2023, Athena flew alone to Manila, Philippines, after her best friend Li Yifei unexpectedly canceled their trip at the last minute. Athena was never seen again. Days later, her WeChat account began asking friends and family for money, while ransom demands claimed she had fallen into gambling debt. What really happened to Athena Liya, and how did her disappearance spiral into one of the Chinese internet’s most twisted rabbit holes? ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Dark Silk is dedicated to uncovering true crime cases from East Asia and beyond, stories buried in regional news and lost in translation. New video every week. Have a case or story you think I should cover? Email me at: [email protected] 🎥Camera Gear • Camera - Sony a7iii: https://amzn.to/4cpPWeR • Lens - Sony 35mm f/1.8: https://amzn.to/3UwTXrJ 🎤 Audio Equipment • Mic - Shure MV7: https://link.amazon/B0f6oCVCI #socialite #influencer #chineseinternet #china #crimestory #asiantruecrime #chinatruecrime