A photo of Zhang Yingying released by the police
CHICAGO, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Local police arrested a man Friday evening for kidnapping Zhang Yingying, a visiting Chinese scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in the U.S. Midwest.
Brendt Christensen, a resident of Champaign who turned 28 on Friday, was charged with kidnapping Zhang, who authorities believe to be dead.
Christensen will remain in law enforcement custody pending his initial federal court appearance in Urbana scheduled on Monday.
Zhang, 26, went missing on June 9 after she got into a black Saturn Astra car about five blocks from where she got off a bus as she was heading to an apartment complex to sign a lease. She had just arrived at the University of Illinois in late April.
When FBI agents first talked to Christensen, who owns one of the 18 four-door Saturn Astra cars registered in Champaign County, he said he was either sleeping or playing video games at home when Zhang went missing.
However, later when police reviewed the surveillance video footage of Zhang's last appearance, it was found the vehicle which Zhang entered had a cracked hubcap on the front passenger side, which matched Christensen's car and made the FBI put him under surveillance.
According to the federal charging document, Christensen in April visited via his smartphone two sub-threads entitled "perfect abduction fantasy" and "planning a kidnapping."
"While Christensen was under law enforcement surveillance, agents overheard him explaining that he kidnapped Zhang," the FBI press release said.
"Based on this, and other facts uncovered during the investigation of this matter, law enforcement agents believe that Ms. Zhang is no longer alive," said the press release.
Members of Zhang's family, who have arrived in the United States and followed the search and investigation closely, were advised of Christensen's arrest and the evidence, the document added.
University of Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones said that the entire campus community is saddened by the news.
"Our hearts are with the family of Yingying Zhang tonight," he said in a statement.
He added that University of Illinois would support Zhang's family "in any way we can in these difficult days ahead."
The Chinese Consulate-General in Chicago also conveyed deep condolences to Zhang's family. In a statement, the diplomat expressed "strong indignation and condemnation" of the kidnapping and called on the U.S. judiciary to "bring the criminal to justice."
