Chapter 471: Disappearance

An elderly middle‑aged couple filed a report, claiming that their daughter had disappeared for no reason.

A missing‑person case must be open for more than forty‑eight hours; for cases under forty‑eight hours, the Police generally do not accept them.

After some questioning, the operator learned from the couple that their daughter had been missing for three days, today being the third day, thus exceeding forty‑eight hours.

The operator asked the couple to bring the appropriate documents to the Police Station and also relayed the news to Han Fei and Xu Mo.

……

Half an hour later.

The middle‑aged couple arrived at the Police Station.

Accompanying them was a man, the missing woman's husband, who came with his parents‑in‑law to file the report.

"Dad, Mom, don't worry; the police officer will definitely help us find Xiao Jing," the man said, comforting his parents‑in‑law.

As soon as he finished speaking, the couple shouted angrily.

"You're the only one not in a hurry! We said we'd file a report ages ago, but you kept blocking us. Do you even know how to be a husband? She's your wife! We handed her over to you, and this is how you look after her? If Xiao Jing can't be found, just watch how I deal with you!"

Seeing the couple's emotions flare, Han Fei spoke up at that moment.

"Elderly parents, please calm down. I understand how you feel, but haste won't solve anything. The most urgent thing now is to find the person; please provide the missing person's information, and we'll use Tianyan Search."

Han Fei wasn't taking the missing‑person case seriously at the moment; he intended to use Tianyan Search to locate her.

Missing‑person cases occur almost every month, and nearly ninety percent of them are intentional runaways.

In this era where every street is covered by surveillance, a person who isn't deliberately evading cameras will be recorded wherever they go.

Prompted by Han Fei's reminder, the couple immediately produced the household register the operator had asked them to bring.

The register contains the missing person's ID number and name; entering these into Tianyan Search will start the query.

After obtaining the missing person's detailed information, Han Fei immediately had the police officers use Tianyan Search, and while they were querying, he kept soothing the couple.

In no time, the Tianyan Search results came back.

The results showed that the woman's last appearance was near a residential community, three days ago.

The officer printed the surveillance frame of the woman's last appearance and handed it to Han Fei, whispering in his ear.

"Han Team, this is the last surveillance photo of Li Jing, taken near Mingyue Community three days ago; she may already have been killed."

"Mingyue Community?" Han Fei looked at the three reporters and asked, "Is that where you live?"

The elderly couple first shook their heads, then looked at the man and replied, "Mingyue Community is the house we bought for the young couple; we don't live there, they do."

"Officer, have you found my daughter?"

Han Fei's expression grew solemn as he shook his head.

The reporters claimed their daughter disappeared three days ago, and the Tianyan Search results show the missing woman's last surveillance appearance was exactly three days ago.

A person missing for a full three days with no camera record is not good news; such a long absence suggests she may have met with misfortune, been kidnapped, or killed.

Seeing Han Fei's expression, the couple instantly panicked and grabbed his hand.

"Officer, has something happened to my daughter?"

Han Fei didn't intend to hide anything; he planned to speak frankly, and he also had a question for the three of them.

Han Fei spread the paper the officer had just handed him onto the table.

"This is the Tianyan Search result: your daughter was last captured on camera at Mingyue Community three days ago, and not since."

Without further explanation from Han Fei, the reporters almost immediately understood his meaning, clutching him like a drowning person seizing a lifeline.

"Officer, has something happened to my daughter? You must help me find her!"

"Don't worry, we'll do our best…" Han Fei glanced at the couple and the missing woman's husband and asked, "Have you received any ransom messages or Ransom Calls lately?"

All three shook their heads without exception, indicating they had not received such messages or calls.

From their attire, demeanor, and bearing, it was clear they were quite well‑off.

Thus Han Fei inferred that the woman's disappearance might be an attempt at extortion.

However, the facts were not as he imagined.

If it wasn't extortion, only two possibilities remained.

First possibility: she was trafficked.

Second possibility: she was murdered.

If it's the first, there's still a chance for the family to reunite; if it's the second, Han Fei cannot reunite them.

The only thing to do is to bring the murderer to justice as quickly as possible, giving the victim's family a sense of fairness.

"Can you recall…?"

Almost as Han Fei began speaking, Xu Mo, who had been silent beside him, nudged Han Fei and then turned to the side.

Han Fei immediately understood Xu Mo's meaning.

He looked at the reporters and said, "Sorry, please wait a moment."

After speaking, he walked over to Xu Mo.

Xu Mo glanced at the paper on the table, then placed his phone in front of Han Fei.

"When the missing woman was last captured on camera, she wasn't out; she was likely preparing to go home, facing the direction of Mingyue Community."

During that time, Xu Mo opened the map, switched to street view, and located the spot where the camera had last captured the woman.

When the missing woman was last captured, she was walking toward Mingyue Community, which is her home direction.

Han Fei hadn't noticed this detail because he wasn't familiar with the terrain around Mingyue Community.

Xu Mo also wasn't familiar, but after checking the map he knew this.

"So she was killed either on the way home or after she got home?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Han Fei shook his head, rejecting his own suggestion: "No, it couldn't have happened on the road. She was last captured at six p. m., during the evening rush hour; the road back to the community would have been full of people, and no one would dare strike then."

Han Fei quickly concluded: the woman was murdered at home!