April 13, 2022
CHICAGO, Illinois—Jin Lew, 61, was found robbed of his belongings and beaten into a coma in a Chinatown neighborhood last week. He was last seen leaving his son’s home in the South Loop. Lew’s family believes he was violently carjacked (because it’s Chicago) and left for dead.
The Chicago Journal spoke with the family of the 61-year-old Chinese-American chef who said he was missing for two days, while he was found robbed of his belongings and vehicle, beaten into a coma, and admitted as a “John Doe” at Stroger Hospital.
Lew was last seen leaving his son’s home around 11 p.m. on the night of Wednesday, April 6, 2022. He was scheduled to meet a friend the next day, however, he didn’t show up. That was unusual for Lew, so his friend contacted Lew’s son, reports the Chicago Journal.
Family members tried to reach him for several hours and after 24 hours, filed an official report to the Chicago Police early Friday morning on April 8.
The Chicago police sent out a missing person’s APB and a citywide All-Call to look for Lew’s 2008 Lexus SUV.
Lew’s distraught family posted a plea for help on Facebook on Friday, April 8. Later that evening, someone from the hospital saw the Facebook plea and noticed that Lew looked similar to the “John Doe” who had been taken in at Stroger the previous morning, reports the Chicago Journal.
To access Lew’s GoFundMe page, please click HERE
A short time later, family members arrived at Stroger and found him in really “bad shape.”
Jin Lew was born in the Guangdong region of China and immigrated to the United States in the early 1980s with his parents, two brothers, and two sisters. Lew eventually became the head chef at Chi Tung Restaurant in Evergreen Park for almost 30 years.
He was currently developing a new restaurant project with a friend and helped many members of the community start their own businesses.
Police are still investigating the attack and no suspects have been identified. Lew remains in a coma.
Feature Images via GoFundMe