CHICAGO, July 5 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric Long on Wednesday ordered the man accused of kidnapping University of Illinois' visiting Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang to be held in jail indefinitely until he goes on trial.
Long called suspect Brendt Christensen both a flight risk and a danger to the community because of evidence presented by U.S. attorney Bryan Freres.
Christensen is accused of luring Zhang into his car as she was waiting for a bus in Urbana and then holding her hostage in his Champaign apartment. Zhang has not been seen since, and authorities said Friday that she is presumed dead.
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. She had just arrived at the University of Illinois in late April.
FBI and local policemen arrested Christensen last Friday evening based on the fact the suspect called someone about how he kidnapped Yingying Zhang.
"While Christensen was under law enforcement surveillance, agents overheard him explaining that he kidnapped Zhang," the FBI press release said.
