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What happened to Jack’s son Keemo Volien Abbott? How did he die?
Last seen on The Young and the Restless more than 25 years ago, Keemo Abbott (last played by Phillip Moon) was once again mentioned on the soap this week after his father, Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman), searched online for his emails. What Jack learned next left him appalled and in grief. What has exactly happened to Keemo? Before we tell you the answer, let’s take a look at this character’s history on the soap.
Keemo Volien Abbott lived in the jungles of Vietnam for years
How many of you remember that Jack Abbott has kids other than Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor)? Viewers who missed out on the show during the 90s may not know this but Jack had two sons beside Kyle. One of them was John Abbott III, named after Jack’s father, who was born to Nikki Reed Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). The boy died shortly after birth as he was prematurely delivered. Now, as seen in the latest episode of Y&R, his other son, Keemo Volien Abbott, has also died.
Keemo was born after Jack had an affair with a woman named Luan Volien (Elizabeth Sung) while he was serving in Vietnam. Jack had returned to Genoa City before Keemo was born. So he had no idea that he fathered a son, who had already become a grown man.
Jack learned about Keemo from Christine Williams (Lauralee Bell) after she had become friends with Luan during one of her trips to Vietnam. After being shot by some robbers at her restaurant, Luan had pleaded to Christine to help her locate her son, Keemo, whom Luan herself had not seen in years. Later, Cristine and Paul (Doug Davidson) found Keemo living in the jungles.
Keemo resented his parents for abandoning him
Keemo arrived in Genoa City in July 1994 as a twenty-year-old who resented his mom and dad for abandoning him. Regardless, he moved in with his mom and half-sister Mai Volien. It was only then Luan told him about Jack being his father.
Growing up, Keemo always believed that his American father had abandoned his mother which led her to abandon him as well. But in reality, his parents had actually been separated by the war’s end. So he forgave Jack, accepted him as his father, and formed a bonding with both his parents.
Jack was engaged to Mari Jo Mason when Luan came back into his life. So when Jack and Luan got married, Mari Jo decided to take revenge on the pair by forming a relationship with Keemo but that relationship ended quickly.
Although Mari Jo’s attempt at taking down Jack and Luan did not succeed, greater distress hit the pair. Luan got diagnosed with a terminal illness which ultimately took her life. Keemo once again got angry at his father when he learned that he had known about their mother’s condition early on.
He accused Jack of stealing the precious time that he and his sister could have spent with their mother. He eventually got over his anger and also forgave his dad. But then he told Jack that he was returning to Vietnam with Mai. That was in April 1996 when Keemo left Genoa City. Since then, he has never been back.
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Jack and Phyllis discover online that Keemo has died
In a recent episode, Phyllis dropped by the Abbott mansion to see how Jack was doing. Jack seemed to be in the middle of something important. He told Phyllis that he was going through some of the last emails from Keemo.
Phyllis stood by him as he read through an email that said, “You are nothing to me.” Sad Jack explains to her how he has tried to reach out to his son multiple times in the past without any response from Keemo.
Phyllis reminds him of the mysterious text messages he had received earlier urging him to come to LA. She suggests it could be Keemo sending those messages but Jack is afraid to hope. Then she gets on her laptop and does some online digging which leads her to a name called Hao Nguyen. Jack tells her that it was the name of his late father-in-law.
Next, they discover an obituary for Hao Nguyen. Jack wonders if Keemo took on his grandfather’s name and that maybe Keemo is dead. Phyllis noted that the obituary was too basic to get a conclusion but Jack realizes that the date of birth on the obituary lined up with that of his son’s. It’s finally confirmed that Keemo is dead when they find a memorial website with Keemo’s picture on it.