Memorial marks year since Chinese scholar went missing
CHICAGO — Bunches of flowers, several teddy bears, a garland and an envelope flanked a tree near a bus stop at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
On Saturday, UIUC held a memorial for Zhang Yingying on the first anniversary of her kidnapping, reminding people of her kindness, diligence and young life.
On June 9 last year, 26-year-old visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying, who was on her way to sign a house lease, got into a black Saturn Astra sedan. She has not been seen or heard from since.
Police arrested 28-year-old Brendt Christensen on June 30, 2017, and eventually charged the former UIUC doctoral student with kidnapping, torturing and killing Zhang.
Addressing dozens of people who attended the memorial, Martin McFarlane, director of UIUC international Student and Scholar Services, said: “I find it very difficult to be standing here talking to you today because I shared it. I shared your feelings of helplessness, a sheer desire to want to do more and not know what that is.
“I wish there was more our office could have done. I wish I had some magic words to give you today, but I don’t.
“What I do know is that all of us at UIUC continue to feel a great sorrow over the loss of Yingying. We’re here today to honor her, to celebrate her life, celebrate all the hope that she had,” McFarlane added.
“Your presence here speaks a lot to this, and means a lot.”
Matt Myrick, interim chief of the UIUC Police Department, was deputy chief when the incident took place. He participated in the investigation and communicated with Zhang’s family.
“I met with Yingying’s family several times when they were here on campus. Sometimes it’s easy to tell somebody that you know how they feel or things are going to be OK. But in this particular circumstance there is no way to know how they feel and it will never be OK for them,” Myrick said.
“Life will never be the same again for Yingying’s family. I’m a parent and I certainly can’t begin to imagine what they’ve gone through this last year. No family should have experienced the type of pain and suffering.”
Myrick said he was proud of the campus community for rallying around Zhang’s family and providing them with support while they were in the US, and equally proud of his police department, the local agencies that have assisted the police and the FBI investigating the case.
“There’s nothing I can do to change what happened on that day,” he said. “All I can offer is diligence and investigation of this matter, and a relentless pursuit of justice for Yingying and her family.”
Christensen’s trial is set for April 2, 2019. He will face the death penalty if found guilty of kidnapping resulting in death.