The family of a Chicago woman serving a life sentence in a women’s prison in China is pushing to bring her home.
“I will get my daughter back. … She will return to me,” retired Chicago Police Sgt. Gene Hunt said. “She was a part of me… someone I could talk to, plan things with. Last time I talked to Dawn [was] a year ago.”
Hunt claims his only daughter, Dawn Hunt, is an innocent victim.
In 2014, Dawn Hunt told her father that she had won a beauty pageant. The prize was an all-expenses-paid trip to Australia. During a stopover in China to pick up prize items, she was arrested for possession of methamphetamine.
The drug was found in the items she received as a gift, according to Chinese authorities.
“She said, ‘I checked out.’ [the] internet, and it was a legitimate business,” Hunt said of his daughter. “What hurts me the most is that she’s an innocent person. An innocent person is over there. They know she’s innocent.”
Now 53 years old, Dawn Hunt has health problems and needs surgery but refuses to have it done in China. Her family hopes she will be released.
“One thing I told Dawn is don’t be mad at the Chinese — be mad at their leader,” Hunt said.
On Wednesday, Dawn Hunt’s brother testified at a congressional hearing on human rights in China. The State Department told NBC Chicago in a statement: “Officials routinely visit Ms. Hunt to monitor her treatment, health and safety.”
The last visit was in July 2024.
A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin sent us this statement: “Sen. Durbin’s staff has been in contact with Ms. Hunt’s family regarding her medical condition in recent years and reached out to the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou on behalf of the family, including a. for consular access and access to adequate medical care Sen. Durbin takes seriously his commitment to helping American citizens abroad and is ready to provide any assistance possible.
Hunt hired a lawyer in China. He said he is pushing for the release of his daughter — and all Americans detained in foreign countries.
“Send them home, with peace and love,” he said.