The U.S. Department of State has seen no evidence to suggest a U.S. citizen, who went missing in China in 2004, was kidnapped by North Korean agents and currently resides in the country, according to its spokesperson on Thursday.

David Sneddon, a 24 year old Utah resident and Brigham Young University (BYU) student at the time, went missing in China’s Yunnan Province in the Summer of 2004.

A long standing theory present in mainstream media – that Sneddon was taken by North Korean agents – resurfaced this week following a report published by Yahoo Japanthat went as far as