An eight-year old Beijing girl under the foster care of an expat suspected of abusing her has died in hospital.

The girl, known only as Phoebe, stopped breathing at around 7pm on Sunday (December 7) and died an hour later. Phoebe had been suffering from kidney damage and a medical condition caused by “an external force”, and was brought to hospital on November 24.

Phoebe had been admitted to hospital three times since September. Doctors said she was severely malnourished and underweight.

Her foster father has been identified as Ray Wigdal, a US expat that has been living in China for about 30 years. Wigdal is also the foster parent to ten other orphaned Chinese children.

Volunteers working with Wigdal explained that the injury was caused when Phoebe had a bicycle accident. However, suspicion of child abuse was raised when Phoebe told hospital staff that Wigdal had beaten her.

Nobody knows where Wigdal is. He didn’t show up at the hospital while Phoebe was there, but local police said they interviewed him on Sunday.

Wigdal’s ten other foster children were taken into protective custody on December 5.

[h/t the Beijinger]

Photo: the Beijinger