Sarah-Jane Collins
September 18, 2007 - 2:52PM

Friends of Nai Zin Xue - whose daughter Qian Xun Xue was found abandoned at Southern Cross Station on Saturday - say he was suffering from depression.

Members of the Chinese community in Auckland close to Mr Xue said he had spoken to them about his marital and financial problems just days before leaving his three-year-old daughter at the station and boarding a plane to the United States.

New Zealand MP Pansy Wong said she had been speaking with close friends and colleagues of Mr Xue, who had told her they held grave concerns for the missing man.

Last week he was telling someone at work that he was very depressed, not wanting to go on and talking about financial and marriage problems. So we are very concerned.

Mr Xue left his daughter at the bottom of an escalator at Southern Cross Station before heading to the airport to board a flight to Los Angeles.

The girl, nicknamed Pumpkin because of the brand of clothes she was wearing, is now in foster care as authorities in Australia, New Zealand and the United States work to locate her parents.

Ms Wong said the Chinese community was in shock and was anxious to help Qian in any way they could.

Most people are in shock and couldn\'t believe it, what happened. And they also want to see Qian Xun, they want to take care of her. They want to open up their homes.

Police believe Qian\'s mother, 27-year-old Anan Liu (Annie) Xue, is still in New Zealand.

No matter what happened between two adults, to abandon a three-year-old child in a completely strange foreign environment is simply not acceptable, it\'s devastating, Ms Wong said.

Police have formed an investigation squad to track down Mrs Xue, but searches of three homes have failed to turn up any clues as to her whereabouts.

We have been to the Mt Roskill address that Anan Liu is last known to have lived at but, as yet, we haven\'t been able to locate her, Detective Senior Sergeant Simon Scott said.

Ms Wong said the family was quite private, but that she had met the little girl and her mother once, and knew her father well.

I met the whole family once in March this year. Mr Xue and I met quite often in Chinese functions.

He brought the family to that occasion but that was the only time I met them. He\'s a very active and known person in the community in Auckland, she said.

Ms Wong said she had been unable to locate any extended family of the Xues in New Zealand but that she was in the process of contacting Anan Liu\'s mother in China.

I also have heard that the mother of Anan Liu, the missing mum of little Pumpkin is very anxious. I understand it has been a few days (since she has heard from Anan Liu) and there is anxiety there.

Ms Wong said she had confirmed with those close to the Xues that they had been having marital problems, and that Mrs Xue had been in Wellington, but that she was definitely in Auckland last week.

I was told by some of the people who talked to my office that yes they are having marital problems. But I understand before this happened they were both in Auckland, she said.