Shivangi Sinha
In November 2019, Harald Herchen traveled to Taiwan with his wife, Alice Ku. He later returned alone to their home in Los Altos, California, claiming that Alice had chosen to stay behind to spend time with her family. In the days that followed, however, no one could reach her. Harald’s allegedly inconsistent statements further cast doubt on his credibility. Amid international jurisdictional issues and the lack of an extradition treaty with Taiwan, Alice’s family pursued a civil lawsuit against him in their effort to seek justice. NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Gorge’ explores the details of this case, which received significant media coverage and drew widespread public attention.
Harald Herchen and Alice Ku Had Kept Their Marriage Hidden From Her Family
Harald Herchen was born in West Germany and raised in rural Alberta, and he later joined the Canadian military after finishing high school. He spent around 12 years working on military technology before moving to Stanford in 1994 to pursue a PhD in mechanical engineering. After completing his studies, he worked at Applied Materials for about 16 years. In 2009, he joined Bloom Energy, where he has served as an inventor and fellow, earning 50-60 patents over the course of his career. Following the end of his first marriage, Harald married Melissa Yu, who passed away in 2017 due to cardiac arrest linked to obstructive sleep apnea. Reports suggest that by that time, he had already met Alice Ku.
In a deposition, Harald alleged that he met Alice through an online escort service — an account her family vehemently denies. He claimed the two eventually fell in love, further alleging Alice insisted they tell others they met at Stanford’s Rodin Sculpture Garden. However, Alice’s family has strongly disputed this account, insisting that she was never involved in any escort service. Harald and Alice were married at the Santa Clara County Clerk’s Office on October 6, 2017, and her family was neither informed nor invited to the ceremony. The couple often traveled together and made frequent trips to Taiwan, where Harald also went for work. By 2019, he claimed to have been helping her work on a tutoring app, which launched later that year.
In late November 2019, Harald and Alice traveled to Taiwan, visiting places like a historic Dutch fort, limestone caves, and a night market before checking into Hotel Les Champs in Hualien. On November 29, 2019, they went to Taroko National Park. A few days later, the parent of one of Alice’s tutoring clients contacted her sister, noting that she had unexpectedly missed several sessions. When her sister was also unable to reach her, concern grew. On December 10, 2019, she filed a missing person report in Sunnyvale, California, where Alice had previously lived. It was then that the family discovered Alice had moved, married Harald, and had been living with him in Los Altos, California.
Harald Herchen Allegedly Gave Inconsistent Accounts of His Actions After Leaving Taiwan
An investigation was also launched in Taiwan, which eventually led to Harald Herchen being identified as a suspect. According to his account, after their visit to the park, Alice told him she planned to stay back to meet her family. He claimed he returned to California on December 1 after changing his flight, then flew back to Taiwan on December 7, 2019, to pick his wife up, but she never showed. He said he tried contacting her, and when she did not respond, he assumed she had chosen to run away with their tour guide and wanted nothing more to do with him, so he returned. Alice’s family later hired a private investigator, who began questioning Harald, and allegedly found that parts of his account did not fully align.
Alice’s family stated that it was very unlike her to remain in Taiwan without her husband, and they had no indication that she had planned to visit them in December 2019. Records from Taiwan’s customs and immigration authorities also showed no evidence that she had ever stayed behind on previous trips, contradicting Harald’s claim that it was something she usually did. In an effort to support his version of events, Harald pointed to an email he said he received from Alice’s account on the morning of November 30, 2019, in which she informed him of reaching her parents’ house. He argued that it indicated that she was still alive after he had left. The private investigator alleged that the email Harald presented had been sent from the same IP address as the hotel where he had stayed overnight alone.
During the civil trial, plaintiffs presented expert evidence arguing that Herchen had fabricated the email to support his innocence. He also had a broken wrist, which he allegedly gave different reasons for. Taiwanese authorities subsequently issued a warrant for his arrest, but it could not be executed due to the absence of an extradition treaty. In 2021, Alice’s family filed a civil wrongful-death lawsuit against Harald in California. Between 2021 and 2024, Harald was called for multiple depositions, during which alleged inconsistencies emerged. He had previously told the family he searched for Alice, but in the deposition, he allegedly claimed he had not. He was also questioned about his actions on December 7, 2019, when he arrived in Taiwan to pick her up, made a single call, and did not attempt further contact before or after.
Harald Herchen is Awaiting Trial for Perjury Charges in California Today
After significant delays, Harald Herchen’s civil case began in 2025. In July of that year, he was found liable in the wrongful death of Alice Ku and was ordered to pay $23.6 million in damages to her family. Following the verdict, he lost his position at Bloom Energy, where he had worked since 2009. In September 2025, the 66-year-old was additionally charged with seven counts of felony perjury, stemming from the alleged conflicting accounts he gave regarding his wife’s disappearance. He is believed to be held at the Elmwood Correctional Facility in Milpitas, California, and the criminal case remains ongoing.
You must be logged in to post a comment.