Chicago

Father of Missing U of I Student Arrives in United States

As the FBI investigates the alleged kidnapping of a Chinese honor student at the University of Illinois, her father is heading to Champaign in search of answers.

Her father, who arrived in Chicago on Saturday, was immediately contacted by authorities, who provided him with an update on the case.

“We have no record of where she’s at,” Dr. Kim Tee, a family friend, said. “She’s very reserved, and she doesn’t know anyone else besides her boyfriend and a few other classmates and teachers.”

That missing student is 26-year-old Yingying Zhang, who had just arrived at the University in early April. She was last seen eight days ago getting into a black Saturn. Surveillance footage at the school captured the moment when she got into the car, and police shared the image earlier this week.

According to her father, Zhang was heading out to sign an apartment lease when she went missing, and the FBI, who joined the investigation on Thursday, is looking into it as a kidnapping.

Zhang stands 5-foot-4 and weighs 110 pounds, and anyone with more information on her whereabouts is encouraged to call the FBI. 

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