Report: Cambodia Boy Reunited With Family

A boy who was left with a Cambodian gasoline vendor as collateral for 0.8 gallons of gasoline earlier this year has been reunited with his family, a police officer said Thursday.

Ron Dy, 9, was handed over to his uncle, Roeun Eng, on Monday after gasoline seller Chim Thy appealed to the boy’s parents through the media, said Ly Lim, a police chief in Kampong Thom province, 80 miles north of the capital, Phnom Penh.

Chim Thy, 70, had been caring for Ron Dy in Kampong Thom since February, when a man who claimed to be the boy’s uncle said he couldn’t pay for the fuel and left the boy as collateral while he went to get money. However, the man – who identified himself only as Vy – never returned and media earlier this month quoted Chim Thy as saying she wanted Ron Dy’s relatives to pick him up.

Roeun Eng, 33, said Vy wasn’t the boy’s uncle but had offered to give him a ride on his motorcycle. It wasn’t clear why Chim Thy waited 10 months before appealing to Ron Dy’s family to claim the boy.

Roeun Eng gave the gasoline vendor 10,000 riel ($2.50) for looking after his nephew, and took Ron Dy to his mother and two siblings in the northwestern province of Siem Riep. Ron Dy cried as he said goodbye to Chim Thy, saying he wanted to visit her again one day, the Rasmei Kampuchea (Light of Cambodia) newspaper said.