John Tran, a U.S. citizen living in Ho Chi Minh City with his partner, Linh, and their three sons, was left shaken on July 4 after watching a news report about the discovery of a woman's body in the Saigon River.
Months earlier, his 6-year-old triplets—Jayden, Jayce, and Jaymes—had told him they spotted what they believed were “human bones” floating in the local water body during a boat tour.
Highlights
- A father revisited sons’ “human bones” claim after a woman's body was found in the Saigon River.
- An expert urged parents to pay attention to children’s emotions and mannerisms when evaluating unusual claims.
- A 2021 case in which a child’s repeated warnings about violence were dismissed highlights the importance of taking children’s concerns seriously.
He said he had brushed off their account as a product of their imagination but now realizes the importance of paying “more attention” to what his children communicate.
While child psychiatrist Dr. Vinay Saranga acknowledged that children have vivid imaginations, which can make it easy for parents to dismiss their claims, he explained how adults can assess whether a child's account is grounded in reality.
A startling discovery made one father rethink his children's seemingly far-fetched claim
Image credits: Thompson Le/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
“We were on a boat, having dinner, which takes you around the Saigon River,” Tran told Newsweek on July 16.
“The boys were having fun, laughing and joking, when a bag floated by. Suddenly, one of them said there were human bones in the bag,” he added.
Tran explained that he laughed off the claim as “kids being kids.”
Image credits: Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Earlier this month, however, his blood ran cold when the news reported that a woman’s mutilated body had been discovered in the river.
The report immediately brought his son’s comments back to mind.
“I don’t know if it’s related or just a coincidence, but my boys said they were sure there was a body inside,” Tran told the outlet.
“I asked them how they knew, and they couldn’t explain it. They just said, ‘Daddy, I told you so.’”
Image credits: thetripletjays
“This has definitely made me listen to them more and not just write things off as kids saying far-fetched things,” he said.
He posted several videos of the kids making the claim on Instagram, with the final one saying, “I guess I should have believed them.”
Investigators determined the woman had passed away only last month, confirming that the two incidents are unrelated
Ho Chi Minh City police identified the victim on July 8 as being between 40 and 50 years old.
Her name has not been released.
Just three hours later, her husband, Thach Kim Thai, was taken into custody and charged with homicide.
On July 10, investigators escorted Thai to Phu Long Bridge and a rented room in Binh Hoa Ward to reconstruct the crime, including how he dismembered the victim’s body and disposed of her remains in the Saigon River.
According to law enforcement, Thai slayed his wife in the early hours of June 28 following a domestic dispute.
Image credits: thetripletjays
Police said that after committing the crime, Thai went to the company where both he and his wife worked and submitted a leave request on her behalf, claiming she had returned to her hometown to care for sick relatives.
In the days that followed, authorities said he continued with his daily routine until he was arrested.
During questioning, Thai told investigators that the couple had experienced marital conflict for several years.
He claimed his wife had neglected him and their children and accused her of maintaining contact with another man.
An expert urged parents to pay attention to a child’s mannerisms when assessing the accuracy of their claims
Dr. Saranga, in his interview with Newsweek, said parents should resist the urge to dismiss unusual claims from kids and instead “stay calm” and ask follow-up questions to determine whether there is any truth to what they are saying.
“Ask them to tell you more about what they saw without leading them, but giving them the chance to explain the situation in their own words,” he said.
The doctor added that parents should focus not only on what a child describes but also on how they describe it.
“Do they appear scared? Do they appear nervous or generally shaken by what they saw? Or are they laughing and being goofy as they recall what happened?”
Saranga explained that “oftentimes, focusing on their emotions can shed more light on the situation than what is actually being said.”
Image credits: thetripletjays
He recommended contacting proper authorities if there is “even the slightest feeling that there is a genuine safety concern.”
Doing this will not only help put suspicions to rest but also show children “that they have a voice and their concerns matter,” he said.
Even if a child’s story turns out to be imagined, parents should explain the importance of honesty “in a way that doesn’t shame the child and make them not want to speak up in the future.”
A family’s failure to believe a child’s warning in 2021 had tragic consequences
Image credits: Windrain/Wikipedia
Seven-year-old Nathaniel Burton repeatedly told both his maternal and paternal grandmothers that his mom, Sarah Safranek, would “act like she was smothering him” with a blanket.
Because Safranek appeared to be a caring parent, the child’s warnings were dismissed as fiction until they came true on February 17, 2021.
Image credits: thetripletjays
The child was found unresponsive at his home in Oregon, Illinois. His mother admitted to fatally suffocating him following her arrest in April 2021.
She was sentenced to 35 years in prison in November 2025, with the judge ordering that she serve 100% of the sentence.
"Always believe kids," a netizen advised
