--- description: The brides, sold to Chinese bachelors by a matchmaker, vanished in late November under mysterious circumstances title: Vietnamese Brides Go Missing in China image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Police Investigating the Disappearance of 100 Vietnamese Brides in China by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 12, 2014 7:10 AM CUT by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 12, 2014 7:10 AM CUT Police in China are [investigating the disappearance](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-30426764?ocid=socialflow%5Ftwitter "undefined") of more than 100 Vietnamese women who were sold as brides to Chinese bachelors, local media said Thursday. The women were sold through a matchmaker who went missing with them in late November, the BBC reported. An official reportedly told the _China Daily_ newspaper that an “organized ring” might have been involved. The men reportedly paid the matchmaker as much as $18,600 for their wives, who disappeared on Nov. 20 after telling their husbands they were going for a meal with other Vietnamese brides. According to another Chinese publication, _Jinghua Daily_, one of the brides returned to her husband and said she had lost consciousness after the meal. She reportedly woke up in a small house far away from her village and was told she would be going elsewhere to “find a new husband.” \[[_BBC_](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-30426764?ocid=socialflow%5Ftwitter "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3631276/china-brides-vietnamese-disappearance-mysterious/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3631276/china-brides-vietnamese-disappearance-mysterious/"},"headline":"Police Investigating the Disappearance of 100 Vietnamese Brides in China","datePublished":"2014-12-12T07:10:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:48:17.273Z","description":"The brides, sold to Chinese bachelors by a matchmaker, vanished in late November under mysterious circumstances","url":"https://time.com/3631276/china-brides-vietnamese-disappearance-mysterious/","keywords":["China"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3631276/china-brides-vietnamese-disappearance-mysterious/","name":"Police Investigating the Disappearance of 100 Vietnamese Brides in China"}}]}] ```