By AMBER SCHULTZ
A body found in Werribee Gorge State Park is believed to be that of Mt Waverley man Yiwei Chu, who has been missing for almost three weeks.
The body was discovered at 6pm last night by a passer-by near Ironbark Rd in Werribee Gorge. Investigators with Search and Rescue retrieved the body about 2pm this afternoon.
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“The death is not being treated as suspicious and police will prepare a report for the Coroner,” Sen-Constable Seach said in a statement.
Mr Chu, who also goes by the name Carl, was last seen by his wife Emma Wang when he dropped her off at work in Hawthorn on the morning of April 11.
Ms Wang became concerned when Mr Chu failed to collect her from work that afternoon, and stopped responding to messages on Chinese social media network WeChat at 2.30pm.
CCTV footage showed Mr Chu purchasing lunch at Hungry Jack’s in Notting Hill in the city's southeast about midday.
His car, a white 2016 Toyota Camry, was discovered at Werribee Gorge last Friday, prompting police to launch a search of the area.
Mr Chu’s housemate, Cindy Zhang, described his disappearance as abrupt and out of character.
“Normally he’s always home. He just suddenly went missing,” Ms Zhang wrote in a private Facebook message.
Mr Chu’s father, Jianqiang Chu, flew to Melbourne from China to issue a tearful public plea to his son in a press conference last week.
“At home, grandmother, father and mother miss you so much,” he said through an interpreter.
“Our family, without you, how do we live on? Come back to us.”
The 28-year-old Chinese national was a full-time student at the Melbourne Institute of Technology.
He lived in in Mt Waverley with his wife and at least one other housemate.
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