Joyce Chiang

Joyce Chiang (; December 7, 1970 – ) was an American attorney with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service who disappeared on January 9, 1999, in Washington, D.C., and was later found dead. The story of her disappearance and the discovery of her remains in the Potomac River, which drew only local news coverage at the time, was rediscovered and received some national attention in the wake of the similar disappearance of Chandra Levy in May 2001. Police initially promoted the idea that she had committed suicide, but a decade later said she had been the victim of a robbery-related homicide. They identified two suspects but no one was charged with the crime. Chiang was the sister of future California State Treasurer John Chiang.

Life Joyce Chiang was one of four children and the only daughter of Taiwanese immigrants raised in Chicago and in Southern California. Her three brothers are John Chiang, who became Controller of the State of California in 2007 and Treasurer of California in 2015; Robert Chiang; and Roger Chiang, who is currently the Executive In Charge at the television show America's Most Wanted, and in 1999, lived with Joyce and was working for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Disappearance and death On January 9, 1999, the day of Chiang's disappearance, she had met with several friends for a movie and dinner, and one of those friends offered her a ride home. Chiang asked her friend to make one quick stop at the Starbucks at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue NW and R Street NW. Chiang told her friend that she would walk the four blocks home from the coffee shop, but she never made it to her apartment. Her brother Roger was her roommate and reported her missing. Because Chiang was a federal employee, the FBI took the lead in investigating the case.

In May 2011, D.C. police held a press conference in which they said that Chiang had not committed suicide, but was instead the victim of a homicide, and said the case was now considered closed. Partly based on similarities to another attack committed by the two men after Chiang's disappearance, police hypothesized that the men drove Chiang to the Anacostia River (which eventually leads to the Potomac). The police did not confirm or deny Walsh's theories, nor were any charges filed.

The Joyce Chiang Memorial Award was established at Georgetown University Law Center by her friends and colleagues. It supports "an evening student with a demonstrable commitment to public service."