Found Deceased New Zealand - Yanfei Bao, 44, Real Estate Agent - Christchurch, South Island 19 July 2023 *arrest*

[annpats]

Did she mainly work as a private agent with overseas (Chinese) people wanting to buy New Zealand houses?

Or was she just a general estate agent for a company dealing with New Zealand buyers/sellers too?

I'm leaning towards a Chinese business deal for a house gone wrong? Someone got outbid, someone went back on a sale/transaction....

I think she may have been a pawn in the game and wondering if New Zealand is the new Vancouver when it comes to Chinese money and real estate?

MOO.

 

[Goldilox]

Circling back to the No shoes. It’s freezing in NZ at the moment. Wonder if it’s normal for her to go outside say to her car barefoot. I wouldn’t be. It’s blimmin cold especially in the South Island!
Maybe distracted & something on her mind already?
I guess we wait for police to see where she made the phone call from and I presume last sighting was the house she last called at. Phone should also show her last movements in Google.

 

[hazel324]

Circling back to the No shoes. It’s freezing in NZ at the moment. Wonder if it’s normal for her to go outside say to her car barefoot. I wouldn’t be. It’s blimmin cold especially in the South Island!
Maybe distracted & something on her mind already?
I guess we wait for police to see where she made the phone call from and I presume last sighting was the house she last called at. Phone should also show her last movements in Google.

I concur absolutely with your barefoot comment...imo highly unusual. I would not dream of putting my bare feet on freezing outdoor surface even for a minute (and I'm north of Auckland, we don't have freezing temps overnight) I have something near door that I can just slip on quickly if need be.

Money transfer claims: Police combing through more than 40 tips about missing real estate agent

Bao was a “dedicated real estate consultant” who was “engaging with the local community through door knocking when she went missing and we have not heard from her since”.

Bao’s profile on the Harcourts site said she has “extensive experience” in sales, and was previously a top-selling salesperson in a major electronics brand.

“She reached the status of Apple Master, which is a rare achievement. She is highly educated and capable with a Master’s degree in English linguistics and a post-graduate diploma in business management and is ready to utilise the knowledge she gained from her academic achievements to enhance the result she delivers for clients and customers.”

From this it would appear she hadn't been in real estate for a very long time. Cold calling - she was trying to gain listings from local community

New Zealand is a popular location for Chinese and it could easily be that she is using her skills to help buyers in China secure property here

I have no knowledge at all about the situation you mention in Canada - it sounds ominous and could be repeated here

 

[hazel324]

Missing real estate agent spoke with friend 45 minutes after last sighting

In a statement, a police spokesperson told 1News on Saturday officers investigating her disappearance will be following up on a range of information received.

"Following yesterday’s media appeal for information on missing person Yangfei Bao, police can confirm we have received more than 40 pieces of information from the public, which we are in the process of assessing," she said.

"We want to thank the public for coming forward, and encourage anyone who has not yet done so to let us know if they have information that may assist."

I believe it was member of public who found the phone, since it wasn't found in the initial search area...hopefully, the info they are following up will produce a promising lead (or two)

 

[DeDee]

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz

Maybe JT's information is pertinent to the case. Yanei asks about how bank transfers would work ad the
From your link:

Bao had been going door to door for work at 10.30am on Vickerys Rd when she went missing in the Wigram suburb on Wednesday.

At 11.16am on Wednesday, Bao rang her friend Jin Tian and had a four-minute conversation with her.


The Press

Jin Tian, said Bao rang her at 11.16am that day on Chinese social media platform WeChat.

During a four-minute conversation, Bao asked Tian how a Christchurch buyer she was working with could transfer $600,000 (more than 2.6 million RMB) from China to pay cash for a house.


The Press

The police scoff it off about the topic of Yanfei's ph call.

Reeves said: “As a real estate agent it would be commonplace for agents to be discussing large sums of money and how to transfer money from overseas if overseas buyers were involved.”

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Speaking from China, sister Huafei Bao told Stuff she was not aware her sister was missing until Friday afternoon when a New Zealand friend of Bao’s rang her.

The friend said she had contacted the local police station in Zhejiang province in order to find the sister's number.

Huafei couldn’t bring herself to tell her elderly parents, fearing their reaction. Soon after, local police called Yanfei’s parents' home to deliver the news.

“My mum has been crying since, and passed out a couple of times and my dad is heartbroken,” Huafei sobbed. “We are just ordinary people…what can we do? We are so far away.”

“Where is my younger sister?” the distraught woman said. “We feel very helpless at the moment, but there is still hope.”

“Please, please tell me what else we can do and help us,” she pleaded.

The family are now considering coming to New Zealand but are unsure if that will help find Yanfei.

Police go door to door on Vickery St in Wigram in the search for Yanfei Bao.

Huafei last talked to her sister, who she describes as an optimist, on Monday, July 17. She said there was nothing unusual about their conversation. They chatted about Yanfei’s new job at Harcourts Real Estate.

“She was quite excited, and she thought the job was very promising.”

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz

 

[hazel324]

Maybe JT's information is pertinent to the case. Yanei asks about how bank transfers would work ad the
From your link:

Bao had been going door to door for work at 10.30am on Vickerys Rd when she went missing in the Wigram suburb on Wednesday.

At 11.16am on Wednesday, Bao rang her friend Jin Tian and had a four-minute conversation with her.


The Press

Jin Tian, said Bao rang her at 11.16am that day on Chinese social media platform WeChat.

During a four-minute conversation, Bao asked Tian how a Christchurch buyer she was working with could transfer $600,000 (more than 2.6 million RMB) from China to pay cash for a house.


The Press

The police scoff it off about the topic of Yanfei's ph call.

Reeves said: “As a real estate agent it would be commonplace for agents to be discussing large sums of money and how to transfer money from overseas if overseas buyers were involved.”

I agree it could be pertinent...

IMO NZ LE are likely to play down anything that isn't a huge red flag. They don't have the resources or experience to deal with this kinda thing...so rarely happens.

In the case of missing (murdered) UK backpacker Grace Milane LE very quickly pieced together her last movements and found suspect within days. But that was Auckland city centre so cctv was in abundance.

JMO but I don't expect LE in Chch to be so onto it. The reason they're not so proficient isn't a bad one...they just don't have the experience. If you look at many past high profile crimes in this country you will see blunder after blunder. Which again shows how great they did in Akld searching for (and finding very quickly) Grace Milane

 

[hazel324]

Speaking from China, sister Huafei Bao told Stuff she was not aware her sister was missing until Friday afternoon when a New Zealand friend of Bao’s rang her.

The friend said she had contacted the local police station in Zhejiang province in order to find the sister's number.

Huafei couldn’t bring herself to tell her elderly parents, fearing their reaction. Soon after, local police called Yanfei’s parents' home to deliver the news.

“My mum has been crying since, and passed out a couple of times and my dad is heartbroken,” Huafei sobbed. “We are just ordinary people…what can we do? We are so far away.”

“Where is my younger sister?” the distraught woman said. “We feel very helpless at the moment, but there is still hope.”

“Please, please tell me what else we can do and help us,” she pleaded.

The family are now considering coming to New Zealand but are unsure if that will help find Yanfei.

Huafei last talked to her sister, who she describes as an optimist, on Monday, July 17. She said there was nothing unusual about their conversation. They chatted about Yanfei’s new job at Harcourts Real Estate.

“She was quite excited, and she thought the job was very promising.”

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz

Odd 2 days passed and husband didn't call wife's family, or ask close contact to call if language a barrier. A friend of Yanfei made the call to sister....maybe it was at husband's request but quite a delay nonetheless

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Odd 2 days passed and husband didn't call wife's family, or ask close contact to call if language a barrier. A friend of Yanfei made the call to sister....maybe it was at husband's request but quite a delay nonetheless

Yes, for sure. I thought the same. I double checked the date thinking what!? Mom is just finding out. I don’t like it…

 

[LaborDayRN]

The photos show her wearing shoes and then not wearing shoes.

it is very common in NZ to take shoes off when you enter a home. I wonder if she had to leave in a hurry and she left her shoes behind?

Concerns for missing Christchurch real estate agent

Police have issued a plea to the public for information on her whereabouts and released the last images of her before she went missing.

www.1news.co.nz

Her socks or stockings appear to be missing as well.
ETA: I see that's already been pointed out. I'm late to this thread.

 

[kiwi50]

New update.

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz

 

[hazel324]

New update.

Stuff

www.stuff.co.nz

That's interesting...with so many cams in cars these days it's possible someone caught footage (or witnessed) YB's phone being flung from car window on the southern motorway.

At least one of the tips received must've been fruitful - good progress!

 

[otto]

View attachment 436120
Several areas in Wigram have been searched since Bao disappeared
Where is Yanfei? Search for missing real estate agent continues

A woman who lives near the corner of Hayton Rd and Vickerys Rd said she was woken up by two police officers on Wednesday night who were holding a torch and searching for something in the mailbox.

At 2.30am on Thursday, six officers searched bushes across the road. She told them she heard unusual sounds in the neighbouring house, which she was looking after while the family were on holiday.

Police then searched the backyard. About 3pm, three plain-clothes officers returned and searched the neighbouring property, visiting another on the other side.

She said there was a mixture of cultures in the area, including Filipino and Indian people, and there were a number of renters.

A Chinese Consulate General spokesperson in Christchurch said they were paying “high attention” to the case and had asked local Chinese associations to spread the news.

Harcourts Wigram branch manager Hamish McLeod said more than 40 real estate agents across Christchurch had stopped work to join the search for Bao, who was a new member of the team.

He was not sure where she was last seen, but confirmed she was working.

Police asked anyone with information on Bao’s whereabouts to call 111 immediately and quote event number P055385539.

Vickerys Rd & Hayton Rd, Wigram, Christchurch 8042, New Zealand

Map

 

[otto]

Police find cellphone and continue to appeal for information about missing person Yanfei Bao.

Today, Police searched a number of areas and have located Ms Bao's cellphone on the Southern Motorway, near Blakes Road

...a distance from where she was last seen

She was door to door cold call working for a new job that she started on July 17 - is that date correct? Her phone was found 10 minute drive SW of car location.

45 minutes after last sighting, she phoned a colleague for info about transferring foreign currency and real estate purchase ... is money missing from her account?

 

[musicaljoke]

Christchurch police locate missing real estate agent's phone as investigation into disappearance continues

"... located one of Ms Bao's cellphones on the Southern Motorway near Blakes Rd.

Her car was >< found a kilometre away on Iroquois Place."

Ms Bao was last known to be making business calls in Wigram. We call that making "cold calls" in the States.

I didn't realise "cold-calling" could mean something different in other countries. I understood this to mean that she was knocking on doors without prior arrangements made, in order to ask the home owners if they were interested in selling their property.

Does that accurately reflect what work she was doing? (I'm in Canada and praying for her safe return).

 

[otto]

I didn't realise "cold-calling" could mean something different in other countries. I understood this to mean that she was knocking on doors without prior arrangements made, in order to ask the home owners if they were interested in selling their property.

Does that accurately reflect what work she was doing? (I'm in Canada and praying for her safe return).

I was a bit confused by that too. Cold calling in this case does sound like going door to door and talking with the home owner. I think in Canada most people ignore a stranger knocking at the door unless it's Girl Guides with cookies. Also with a Canadian accent.

 

[hazel324]

I didn't realise "cold-calling" could mean something different in other countries. I understood this to mean that she was knocking on doors without prior arrangements made, in order to ask the home owners if they were interested in selling their property.

Does that accurately reflect what work she was doing? (I'm in Canada and praying for her safe return).

Yes, exactly that...she was introducing herself to the homeowners in the neighbourhood - it's very normal here for real estate agents to do this

 

[otto]

Yes, exactly that...she was introducing herself to the homeowners in the neighbourhood - it's very normal here for real estate agents to do this

What makes sense at this time? It's a new job and she's walking door to door introducing herself to the community as the new rep, I suppose.

Who knew she was there? Family? Friends? Colleagues? Who benefits from her disappearance? Alternatively, are their people in Wigram who would kidnap a woman going door to door introducing herself as the newly hired realtor in the area?

Why would she vanish for 45 minute and then inquire whether money could be accessed from China to buy a house? Was she in a position to buy houses in the neighbourhood where she was introducing herself?

"Huafei last talked to her sister, who she describes as an optimist, on Monday, July 17. She said there was nothing unusual about their conversation. They chatted about Yanfei’s new job at Harcourts Real Estate.​

​

“She was quite excited, and she thought the job was very promising.”​

July 17, new job

 

[hazel324]

Missing Christchurch real estate agent Yanfei Bao: Police search home on street where her car was found

Police are searching a home on the same street where missing Christchurch real estate agent Yanfei Bao’s car was found after she was last seen door-knocking in the area.

Bao was last seen in the Wigram area about 10.30am on Wednesday. She has not been found, however, her cellphone was located on the Southern Motorway on Friday.

On Saturday evening Detective Inspector Nicola Reeves said this afternoon the investigation resulted in a vehicle of interest being seized and search warrants being executed at two addresses, one in Bryndwr and one in Wigram.

“As a result, several people are assisting police with inquiries.”

The Wigram property is on Iroquois Pl, where her car was found on Wednesday. A police car is up the driveway. Neighbours were unaware of the police presence, when spoken to by the Herald on Saturday evening.

 

[otto]

Map