Missing Old Brookville couple were on their way to Syracuse when they disappeared, court filing shows

The two children of a Long Island couple missing for 18 months last heard from their mother and father on the morning before their parents' puzzling disappearance, court records show.

The Old Brookville couple's oldest son, Yiwei Fan, received a text message at about 10:30 a.m. from their mother on March 30, 2025, saying she and her husband were on their way to Syracuse for what the son assumed was a business meeting, court records stated. The court filings added that was the last communication the sons received from their parents.

The latest revelation is contained in court papers filed earlier this week by two court-appointed attorneys, who are asking a Nassau County judge to hold a special hearing into the progress of the search for the Chinese couple.

Peishun Fan and his wife Juanjuan Zhang had dinner with the two boys in the family mansion on Maria Lane on March 29 before they disappeared without a trace the next day, officials said.

When the children awoke on March 30 to go on a prearranged camping trip in the Catskills, they found their parents had already left.

A subsequent 18-month Nassau County police investigation, complete with the search of the property with cadaver dogs, hasn’t uncovered what happened to the couple.

In addition to getting an update on the investigation, the attorneys, Brian J. Griffin and Christopher E. Vatter, are also asking that a surrogate's court investigation determines the full assets of the couple — estimated to be anywhere from $12 to $30 million — and consider the appointment of administrators to safeguard the money.

Griffin, of Garden City, was appointed law guardian for Zhang, 44; Vatter, also of Garden City, was appointed as law guardian for Fan. The attorneys' role in the case, technically called “guardian ad litem,” is to ensure that the assets of the missing parents are safeguarded.

“It is an unusual, complex and serious case,” Griffin said in a telephone interview. He expected that Nassau County Surrogate's Judge David Sullivan would schedule a hearing on the requests for a progress report and other matters within two weeks.

“The role is not to find out why it happened [to the parents] but rather the diligent effort made to find them,” Griffin said.

In their filings, Griffin and Vatter reveal more information about the day Fan and Zhang disappeared, including the March 29 dinner after which Yiwei Fan played video games with his 12-year-old brother, identified as Yining. When the children woke up the next morning, their parents had already left the Maria Lane house.

Yiwei Fan also learned that a friend of his father had visited the home looking for his father on March 30, concerned because he had not shown up for a business meeting, court records stated. Yiwei, who was a student at New York University, then contacted law enforcement.

Griffin and Vatter noted in their filings that Nassau County police launched an investigation that included the use of cadaver dogs, checks of emails, bank records and credit card receipts, as well as the use of search warrants and checks of cellphone records. The attorneys said the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York were also involved. The Nassau investigation is ongoing.

The two brothers are now in China and unable to return to the United States, according to their attorney, John Carman.

According to Vatter’s filings, Carman advised that Peishun Fan ran a successful construction and civil engineering business in China valued at over $500 million, something Vatter said he hasn’t been able to independently verify.

Fan and his family emigrated to the United States in 2022 and purchased the Maria Lane mansion for $3.8 million cash. The home is undergoing some landscaping but, according to Vatter, the larger financial obligations such as property taxes and insurance premiums are not currently being paid.

The surrogate's court action was initiated to get the appointment of administrators so that the house and other assets could be protected and maintained.

Court records show that Yiwei Fan is one of three proposed administrators, as is Carman and former NYPD officer and private investigator Baimadajie Angwang, who is fluent in Mandarin.

Vatter is asking the surrogate's court to hold a hearing as to the qualifications of the three proposed administrators but took no position on the issue.

Carman declined to comment on the latest court filings. Vatter didn’t return a telephone call for comment. Angwang couldn’t be reached for comment.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.