Lia Lee is still alive and still lovingly cared for by her mother and siblings. Her medical condition has not changed. Her father, Nao Kao Lee, died in January of 2003.

After twenty-two years of practicing pediatrics together in Merced, Neil Ernst and Peggy Philp moved to Redmond, Oregon, in the summer of 2002. They joined their old friend and colleague Dan Murphy at the Cascade Medical Clinic, which he has directed since 1996, shortly after his own move to Redmond. Their son Toby, who had leukemia as a boy, has been in complete remission for more than a decade and is now in law school.

May Ying Xiong (who now uses her married name, May Ying Ly) lives in Sacramento with her husband, Pheng, and their four children. A local and national Hmong leader, she is the executive director of the Hmong Women's Heritage Association, an organization that helps Hmong women adjust to life in the United States; among the projects she directs is "Connecting Worlds," a training program for health care interpreters. She was the winner of the 2001 National Hmong Women's Leadership Award, given annually to the person who has accomplished the most in advancing the status of Hmong women and girls.