THE internet lover of abandoned girl Pumpkin's mum has been revealed - amid fears her passion for him could have cost her life.

　　Jun Cao, a New Zealand-based Chinese artist, was close to Qian Xun Xue's 27-year-old mother Anan Liu in in the months before she returned to her violent husband Nai Yin Xue only weeks ago.

　　The Daily Telegraph online reported today her attachment to Mr Cao, 41, is clear on her website.

　　On it she dedicates three photo albums to the artist.

　　It is unclear whether Mr Cao is the man Ms Liu refers to in some of her other writings.

　　'My idol' ... Jun Cao, the artist described with affection by Anan Liu in her secret blog. Insert: pictures of Anan and Pumpkin.

　　In those, she speaks of moving in with a man and sharing his Wellington home as a "love nest".

　　The emergence of Mr Cao's identity comes as Pumpkin's father is sought by police after her mother's murder and is believed in the United States, attacked his toddler daughter during a violent outburst that forced his wife to flee the for her life.

　　In Beijing, a close friend of Xue and Ms Liu has told of the pair's troubled lives together.

　　Yuegang Wang described Xue as a "loser" who struggled to make ends meet.

　　Mr Wang said the kung fu expert was desperate to gain fame for himself as a martial artist and businessman.

　　He said Xue had wrote fanciful prose about himself in an autobiography titled The Legend of Inner Strength Kung Fu and he viewed his attractive young wife as a trophy.

　　"One reason that led to the tragedy was that Annie has seldomly communicated with her family about her problems," he said.

　　"Her family has never heard of the domestic violence she suffered. She was a very reserved person.

　　"Another thing is that Annie had no will of her own. That made her totally dependent on her husband financially and emotionally."

　　Mr Wang said the pair had planned to have a son at the end of 2005, after Pumpkin was born.

　　Xue also planned to travel with his martial art students to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, who he instilled into a firm anti-violence code, he said.