A former human rights lawyer and citizen journalist who went to Wuhan, China -- the epicentre of the coronavirus -- a day before it was placed under lockdown is now allegedly missing.

Who is Chen Qiushi?

34-year-old Chen Qiushi first became known in mainland China in 2014 for placing second in the programme "I am Speaker", a nationwide televised public speaking competition.

An outspoken critic of the Chinese government, he gained a reputation as a "citizen journalist" after covering the Hong Kong protests in August last year.

He had entered Wuhan on Jan. 24, just a day after the city was placed under lockdown.

He then filmed hospitals and described what he saw, even criticising hospitals for the lack of test kits, beds and doctors.

He also claimed that he saw a corpse at the corridor of Wuhan Tongji Hospital, and accused the government of hiding the truth from the Chinese people.

Last tweet before the alleged disappearance

In a Thursday (Feb. 6) reply to a tweet that claimed the makeshift "square cabin" hospitals lack medical facilities and other basic supplies, Chen said he would go check the place out.

稍等我去核实一下 pic.twitter.com/jI9JJHV4sO

— 陈秋实 Chen Qiushi (@chenqiushi404) February 6, 2020

That was his last tweet before his mother took over his Twitter account and posted the plea for help at about 2am on Feb. 7.

Chen had previously granted access to his Twitter account to a select group of trusted people, should he become uncontactable.

陈秋实妈妈呼吁网友寻找秋实下落！陈秋实昨天说要去方舱医院，从晚上七八点到凌晨两点都处于失联状态。#WuhanCoronavirus #Wuhan #WuhanChina pic.twitter.com/FtrGjr495H

— 陈秋实 Chen Qiushi (@chenqiushi404) February 6, 2020

Chen's mother claimed that she last heard from him at about 7:00 or 8:00pm the night before, and asked for help from the public, especially Wuhan residents, to find out what happened to him.

A post on his Twitter account later claimed he could not be found at more than 10 hospitals in Wuhan, and local police stations had no information on him either.

While his alleged disappearance was widely covered by international media, it was relatively muted on the highly-regulated Chinese platform Weibo.

Forcibly quarantined

Xu Xiaodong, controversial MMA fighter and Chen's friend, later claimed on Feb. 7 that Chen had been forcibly quarantined, and that he was unreachable on his phone.

However, the location was unknown.

Xiu is perhaps best known for beating Tai Chi and Wing Chun masters within seconds, and also being ordered by a Chinese court to apologise and pay damages to a Tai Chi master that he "insulted."

In a livestream on Feb. 8, Xiu claimed that authorities from Qingdao went to find Chen's father at his workplace, and told him that Chen had been detained under the name of quarantine.

Chen's disappearance happened at about the same time as "whistleblower" doctor Li Wenliang's death, which sparked widespread outrage on Weibo against the authorities, which were deemed to have unfairly persecuted Li.

Said he didn't care about being thrown into jail

Chen's previous behaviour had gotten him on the radar of the authorities.

In a video on Jan. 29, he claimed his name and face were blocked on WeChat, and WeChat users could be banned should they distribute his videos.

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He also said he was afraid, as there was the virus in front of him, as well as the "legal and administrative powers of the country" behind him.

Still, he claimed, "I'm not even scared of death, do you think I'm scared of you, the Communist Party?"

In an interview with DW News published on Jan. 31, Chen said he does not think his behaviour was illegal in China, although he acknowledged that some of the things he said, such as the comments he made about the Chinese Communist Party, could potentially invite political backlash.

"But I don't care much about this," he said then.

"I even thought, isn't squatting for a few years in prison also a sort of life experience?"

Top image adapted via Chen Qiushi/Twitter