Family members try to piece together mystery of flight

At Metropark Lido Hotel in Beijing, Wang lay down in a corner. Years of hard farming work have made it hard for him to stand up. On the flight, there were eight passengers from Wang's hometown, who sought to make more money by going overseas to work, and his son was one of them.  [Special coverage]

Yongzi promised to call his father in Beijing after landing safely, which was supposed to happen on the morning of March 8, but the phone never rang.

One year ago, Yongzi decided to work overseas, hoping to make more income to support his family. He promised to rebuild their house in Dingzhou when he made enough money.

While working in Singapore, Yongzi chatted on the Internet with his wife every day. Several days before the flight went missing, Yongzi's wife excitedly showed Wang the pattern of a diamond ring that Yongzi had bought for her in Singapore.

It would have been Yongzi's first trip home after a year of working overseas, and Wang had decided to take his daughter-in-law and 6-year-old granddaughter to pick up his son at the railway station.

But when Wang was anxiously waiting for his son on Saturday morning, a relative came to him and asked whether Yongzi was on the missing plane.

Now, without confirmed news about the missing jetliner, Wang was lingering between every trace of hope and despair.

"If he's died, my daughter-in-law will move away together with my granddaughter because she is still so young. Then there will be only me at home," said Wang, whose wife has died.

Xiaoyun, another young man from Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, was also on the missing plane. Like Yongzi, he went to work overseas to make more money. He promised his family that once he earned as much as 100,000 yuan ($16,260), he would return to get married.

His father, surnamed Yin, had been saving the money he sent from overseas.

Yin is confused by the various information he's received. He is trying to find out the truth from all the rumors and news: crashing into the sea, terrorist attack, disintegrating in the air or other possibilities.

"So my son is gone?" he kept repeating.