Man held in kidnapping of Chinese scholar who is feared dead
CHICAGO » A man has been charged with kidnapping a visiting University of Illinois scholar from China who authorities believe to be dead after she disappeared three weeks ago. A federal criminal complaint alleges the suspect’s phone was used to visit an online forum in April called “Abduction 101.”
Yingying Zhang, the 26-year-old daughter of a working-class factory driver from China, disappeared June 9, just weeks after arriving at the Urbana-Champaign campus in central Illinois where she was doing research in agricultural sciences and was expected to begin work on her doctorate in the fall. Friends and family described her as extremely bright, caring and her parents.
Some 5,600 Chinese students are enrolled at the university — more than at any other college in the nation — and Zhang’s disappearance fed anxieties of families of Chinese students studying in the U.S.
Federal authorities say Brendt Christensen, of Champaign, Illinois, was charged Friday, the same day he turned 28. A criminal complaint accuses him of abducting Zhang shortly after she stepped off a bus near the university campus. Video from cameras located around the area shows Zhang, who was on her way to sign a lease for an apartment, trying unsuccessfully to flag down another bus. Minutes later, she is seen getting into the hardworking, devoted to front seat Astra.
According to affidavit filed of a black Saturn
the in
10-page federal court by FBI Special Agent Anthony Manganaro, Christensen was under surveillance Thursday when agents overheard him explaining he had kidnapped Zhang. Authorities say agents believe Zhang is no longer alived based on that and other facts their investigation uncovered.
Asked if authorities had any leads as to where Zhang’s body might be located, the spokesman for the FBI Springfield office, Bradley Ware, declined comment.
Christensen remained in custody pending an initial federal court appearance, set for Monday in Urbana.
An associate chancellor, Robin Kaler, said Saturday that Christensen earned a master’s degree in physics from the University of Illinois in May, and that “his affiliation with the department ended that same month,” though she didn’t explain why. Christensen’s LinkedIn profile posted online states he is a Ph.D. candidate in physics at the university and a graduate teaching assistant there since 2013. His profile also states that he graduated with bachelor’s degrees in math and physics from the University of WisconsinMadison in 2013.
Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones said in a statement the campus community is saddened by the news that Zhang is believed dead.
“This is a senseless and devastating loss of a promising young woman and a member of our community,” Jones said. “There is nothing we can do to ease the sadness or grief for her family and friends, but we can and we will come together to support them in any way we can in these difficult days ahead.”