When authorities pulled the body of a man out of New York City\u2019s East River it began a chilling mystery.<\/p>\n
How to Watch<\/p>\n
The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher\u00a0airs Saturdays at 9\/8c. on Oxygen. Watch full episodes on Peacock<\/a> and the Oxygen App<\/a>.<\/p>\n The man was wearing his pajamas, had a cloth belt tied around his neck and was wrapped in three large laundry bags, according to The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher<\/a>, airing Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET\/PT On Oxygen.<\/p>\n \u201cRight from the get go, this Is looking like a homicide,\u201d Butcher remarked of the November 2000 murder during the Oct. 4 episode. \u201cI mean just by the situation of how he\u2019s found and, you know, what we see on the exterior.\u201d<\/p>\n Detectives learn The Leung family is missing<\/b><\/p>\n Butcher, a forensic scientist working at the New York City Medical Examiner\u2019s Office at the time, theorized that due to the condition of the body, the victim had likely been killed from a ligature strangulation days earlier and had already started to decompose before he was tossed into the river.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI figured he had been in the water one day, maybe two,\u201d she explained. \u201cHe can\u2019t get this decomposed in the river, it\u2019s too cold.\u201d<\/p>\n Without any identification on him, detectives had their work cut out for them as they unsuccessfully tried to identify the victim using the man\u2019s fingerprints and clothing brand.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until Teresa Leung called the NYPD\u2019s missing persons division to report her parents, Stephen and Chilin Leung, and teenage sister Connie Leung missing that authorities got their first break in the case. Teresa positively identified the victim from the river as her father through his clothing.<\/p>\n Search begins for Chilin and Connie Leung<\/b><\/p>\n With one of the missing family members now accounted for the race was on to find Chilin and Connie.<\/p>\n As NYPD homicide Sgt. Bill Cannon remarked: \u201cWe\u2019re very concerned because the victim\u2019s wife and daughter are missing and potentially could be the victims of something much worse.\u201d<\/p>\n The detectives set out to learn all they could about the Leung family. At the time of Stephen\u2019s death, he had been working as a waiter at the Meridian Hotel, while his wife Chilin worked at a Chinese restaurant. Both parents, who migrated from Hong Kong in the 1970s to give their children more opportunities, worked long hours and were often away from their Spanish Harlem apartment.<\/p>\n Connie, 17, was a bright student attending the Manhattan Center for Science and Math and hoped to one day become a doctor.\u00a0<\/p>\n RELATED: Murder Victim’s Missing Daughters Found Alive 36 Years Later\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The Leungs\u2019 19-year-old son Fred also lived at the apartment, but he told police he hadn\u2019t seen his family in days. According to his account, he last saw his sister Connie a few days earlier when she told him that their dad was busy working overtime and their mom had taken a babysitting job.<\/p>\n According to Cannon, Fred never filed a missing persons report because \u201che had no reason to think that they were missing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Connie Leung is found at YMCA<\/b><\/p>\n The case took a surprising turn when detectives tracked Connie down at a local YMCA, where she was staying with her older boyfriend Eric Louissant.<\/p>\n Connie initially told detectives that her mother and father were working overtime and she hadn\u2019t seen them. She claimed that she was staying at the YMCA because her parents didn\u2019t approve of her relationship with Louissant.<\/p>\n NYPD Homicide Detective John Flannery said the couple claimed \u201cthey were just gonna run away so that they could keep their relationship going.\u201d<\/p>\n But back at the station, after the pair were placed into separate interrogation rooms, a much darker story began to emerge.\u00a0<\/p>\n