Around 4:30 PM, someone knocked on the door. Zhang answered and was attacked by a man and woman he didn’t know. He was knocked unconscious. When he woke up, Melissa was gone, and Aiaz was missing too. There was blood in the apartment.

The kidnappers left a note in Chinese, saying Aiaz and Melissa were safe and would return if Zhang didn’t call the police. The note told him to clean up the apartment and act normal.

Zhang followed the instructions. He cleaned the blood, posed as his wife online, and lied to the school about Melissa. He even sold the produce Aiaz had brought back from Las Vegas. He received more notes over the next week, with the kidnappers checking in. One note even told him to leave town for two days, which he did.

After receiving a final note, promising Aiaz and Melissa’s return, Zhang waited, but they never came back. He finally went to the police on December 2nd.

The police were initially suspicious of Zhang, but a thorough investigation—including 40+ hours of interviews and 44 days of surveillance—didn’t find anything to suggest he was involved. They even found Aiaz’s blood in the apartment. The police believe the kidnappers used a fast-acting anesthetic.

The kidnappers were described as a Chinese couple in their forties: the woman was around 5’8″, average build, with black hair in a bun; the man was about 5’10”, 190 pounds, average build, with short black hair. They might have been driving a black Cadillac.

Aiaz’s and Melissa’s passports were left behind, and their bank accounts were untouched. They haven’t been seen since. Police suspect the kidnapping might be linked to Aiaz’s past lies about having a lot of money. The case remains unsolved.