Wang Mingqing and Liu Chengying lost their daughter 24 years ago at a roadside stall. Today, they re-united with her.

In 1994, Wang and Liu were selling fruit at a roadside stall in Chengdu. They had just helped a group of customers when they noticed their daughter Qifeng was no longer with them. She had wandered off and was nowhere to be found.

She was three years old at the time, and her parents left their stall and looked frantically for her but she was nowhere in sight. In the months and years following, they posted advertisements in papers and searched all across Chengdu.

The search even prompted Wang to become a driver for the ride sharing company Didi Chuxing in hopes that one day his daughter might be someone he picks up. He would constantly ask his customers to promote his search on social media and posted flyers and pictures on his car.

According to the BBC, Wang did not have a picture of Qifeng as a toddler, so he used a picture of his other daughter in flyers due to how similar they looked.

Eventually Wang and Liu’s search garnered the attention of Chinese media, which prompted a police sketch artist to draw what Qifeng would look like today. The image was circulated online and eventually reached a woman named Kang Ying, thousands of kilometers from Chengdu.

Kang Ying was shocked at how similar this police sketch looked like her. She had been adopted and grew up just miles from Chengdu. She then reached out to Wang on social media, which then prompted DNA test administered by a non governmental organisation that helps lost children reconnect with biological parents. Over the years, various people have come forward claiming to be Wang and Liu’s daughter, but each DNA test disproved their claims. This time, it was different.

Earlier this year, Kang Ying’s DNA test matched that of Wang and Liu’s and it was confirmed that she was their daughter. Within the past day, she flew to Chengdu from Jilin province with her husband, son, and daughter, and re-united with Wang and Liu in person. It was an emotional reunion that featured widespread media attention.

“I can’t tell you how much hope, disappointment, and despair we have gone through these past 24 years,” Wang told Beijing Youth Daily newspaper. “Now, we can finally meet again.”