Taiwan was grief-striken and outraged at the murder of an actress's teenage daughter as police stepped up the search for her kidnappers and killers.
The strangled body of Pai Hsiao-yen, daughter of actress Pai Ping-ping, was found floating in a river in Taipei county late Monday. She was naked, her hands and legs bound by rope.She had been weighted down with iron hammers, police said.
Seventeen-year-old Pai Hsiao-yen, the only child of the actress and talk show host, was kidnapped on her way to school April 14 and had been dead for at least eight days, police said.
Her captors had demanded a $5 million ransom. Her mother had wanted to pay the ransom, but the kidnappers aborted a planned meeting.
Police arrested four suspects Friday, but three others remained at large.
Police and military agencies on Tuesday intensified their islandwide search for the suspects, with stringent checks at ports and airports.
Senior officials said they were saddened and angered by the killing.
"President Lee Teng-hui is extremely saddened. He is especially outraged by the criminals' inhuman method," the Presidential Office said in a statement.
Lawmakers from the opposition New Party asked Lee to apologize to the public for Taiwan's deteriorating law and order.