FBI think the student, Yingying Zhang, is probably dead.
A 28-year-old man named Brendt Christensen was arrested Friday by the FBI and has been charged with the kidnapping of a visiting Chinese scholar, Yingying Zhang, 26, at the University of Illinois, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for Central Illinois.
The court document also says a search of the suspect’s car revealed the front passenger door, next to where Zhang would have been sitting, was cleaned to a “more diligent extent.”
The FBI says Christensen was driving the black Saturn Astra that was captured on security camera video picking up Zhang the afternoon of June 9.
She was shown entering the front passenger side of the vehicle, which then drove away.
On June 15, Christensen admitted picking up Zhang, the complaint says, but he told the FBI that day her let her out just a few blocks away.
“Our thoughts are with Yingying’s family, loved ones. Please support fellow community members tonight,” police at the University of Illinois said.
Also in the criminal complaint is the allegation that Christensen had used his phone in April to visit online forums with titles such as “Abduction 101,” “Perfect abduction fantasy,” and “planning a kidnapping.”