The FBI has joined the search for a missing grandfather who, according to his son, sent strange text messages and cleared $1 million from his bank account in the weeks before he was reported missing.
Naiping Hou, the 74-year-old father of cryptocurrency investor Wen Hou, has been missing since May 4, 2025.
Last week the FBI wrote on X that it was investigating Naiping’s “suspicious disappearance” and urged the public to submit helpful tips.
Newsweek reached out to the FBI, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department by email and Naiping Hou’s family by website form.
The Timeline
Wen Hou told KTLA that he last saw his father in March 2025 during a fishing trip. “He was in a very good mood,” he said. “He caught a lot of fish. His friends were there, too. He was very happy.”
He said that a few weeks later, his father’s texting habits changed and he gave “short responses” that seemed out of character. He said he declined to come and visit his family and didn’t answer phone calls.
He said he now thinks someone else might have been using his father’s phone and that he might have been kidnapped.
In May, friends visited Naiping Hou’s home and found it was empty, that it had been repainted, and that his cars were gone. He was reported missing.
In July, authorities reviewed Naiping’s bank accounts and found that fraudulent transactions had been made during the time of his disappearance, according to multiple press reports. Wen said that more than $1 million had been withdrawn from his account.
What Does Naiping Hou Look Like?
Naiping Hou is described by the FBI as having black/gray hair and black eyes. He is 5’7″ and weighs 170 pounds. He has a birthmark on his upper left shoulder.
Those with information about the case are advised to call the FBI, which spells his name Nai Ping Hou, at 1 800 CALL-FBI.
The family is also offering a reward of $250,000 for information that will help locate Naiping and has created a website for the public to submit tips about his disappearance.
Who Is Wen Hou?
Wen Hou is a hedge fund and cryptocurrency investor who serves as chief investment officer of private investment firm Coincident Capital. He has previously drawn public attention for both his wealth in digital assets and his philanthropy — including a $1.1 million cryptocurrency donation in 2022 to the USC Keck School of Medicine to support heart disease research, according to the Los Angeles Times.
According to reporting from The Real Deal, a real estate news site, in 2021, he spent $9.7 million on a home in Bel-Air in Los Angeles.
“We really are devastated, really sad, and we want him back if possible,” Wen Hou told The Los Angeles Times in July about his father’s disappearance. “We are pretty upset about how this was discovered so late and a bit upset about ourselves that we didn’t find these clues earlier.”
“We’re really sad and it feels terrible to wait and very devastating to experience this,” he added.
Read the full article here
