Moment dad Jeffrey Chao weeps when pressed on search for missing daughter Alison – before his arrest over disappearance

A SURPRISING new video shows the father of a missing teenager crying just days before he got arrested in connection with her disappearance.

The father of a missing California girl shed tears during a press conference only a few days before he was charged with child abduction, conspiracy, and falsifying a police report.

FOX 11

Monterey Park Police Department

KTLA

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Alison Chao, 15, vanished on July 16 after leaving her father Jeffrey Chao’s home in Monterey Park, California .

She was cycling four miles from her father’s home to her aunt’s when she disappeared.

After a week-long search for the girl, a woman found the teenager on July 23 outside a local TV station.

Police eventually arrested the 15-year-old’ s father after evidence indicated he was involved in her disappearance.

However, only a few days before his arrest, Jeffrey told the press that he had no idea where his daughter was and hadn’t heard from her in days, Fox 11 reported.

When talking about the case, Jeffrey said, “It’s just been very tiring. I’ve been very concerned.”

“I just want what’s in the best interest of Alison at this point.”

The emotional father sat in a room full of his family, friends, and attorneys.

When asked whether he had heard from Alison in the days she’d been missing, he asked his attorney for help.

In the background, his attorney instructs him to answer, “No.”

“She’s a very intelligent person,” the father continued.

Three days after Alison was found, police arrested Jeffrey Chao following an “extensive investigation.”

The arrest comes after the teenager shared heartbreaking information with the pedestrian, Rachelle, who found her outside of the ABC affiliate station KABC .

“What struck me immediately was how self-possessed she was. Sound of mind. Very articulate, very clear on what the situation was,” Rachelle said.

FOX 11

KTLA

“She was very clear on ‘I’ve come to ABC to tell my story. No one else will listen to me.'”

“She was crying. She was very upset. Mostly about not being able to tell her story,” she added.

Alison’s parents, Jeffrey and Annie, were in the middle of a messy custody battle at the time of her disappearance.

Once the teen was found safe, her mother said she always tried to “protect Alison’s interests.”

“Alison is a young girl and her feelings about my divorce from her father are understandably complicated, but she has a family (both my side and her dad’s side) that loves and adores her,” she said.

“I will always do my best to protect Alison’s interests, no matter the circumstances and regardless of the stones that may be thrown at me.”

It is unknown where the teenager stayed during the week she was missing.

She was taken into the Department of Children and Family Services’ custody after she was found.

Timeline of Alison's disappearance

• July 16 : Alison goes missing after leaving her father’s home at 6:20 pm
• July 16: At 9:36 pm, four hours after the teen left her father’s, her family reports her missing
• July 23: Alison is found outside a local TV station
• July 26: Jeffrey Chao, Alison’s father, is arrested in connection with the disappearance