Liang Zhao began his call to 911 dispatchers on Monday by saying he needed some help.
"I can't find my daughter," he added.
His daughter, five-year-old Ashley, was later found dead Tuesday at Ang's Asian Cuisine in Jackson Township. The family owns the restaurant.
As the call progressed, the 911 dispatcher asked, "So you haven't seen her in five hours?"
Zhao responded, without sounding frantic, or panicked. "She was there sleeping... where was she sleeping in the restaurant. We all saw her sleeping there... and we got busy and then... uuuh after it got busy we started cleaning up. We opened the door and she's not here."
Police say Zhao's wife, Ming Ming Chen, punched Ashley in the head multiple times, killing her. They hid Ashley's body and waited 12 hours to finally make the call to 911.
Meanwhile, WKYC Channel 3 News has also learned that Liang Zhao's wife, Ming Ming Chen, was a deep believer in the Chinese spiritual practice of Falun Gong.
Its central beliefs are truthfulness and compassion.
In court documents, when Chen tried to remain in the U.S. after defecting here from China, she says the government persecuted those who practice the ancient Chinese method.
Moving forward, a central question will be how deep was Chen's fear of deportation? And what kind of role, if any, did that play in her actions on Monday?
Listen to Liang Zhao's full call to 911 dispatchers below:
