Illinois

Police at U of I Search for Missing Scholar Who Disappeared Friday

Police on Monday released security video showing Zhang entering a vehicle just 30 minutes after friends and family said they last heard from her

University of Illinois police are searching for a 26-year-old scholar who disappeared Friday.

Yingying Zhang, who was visiting the school from China, was last heard from around 1:30 p.m. and has not been reached or seen by friends and family since.

Zhang was seen on surveillance cameras boarding an MTD Teal line bus at Orchard Downs around that time. She exited the bus at Springfield and Mathews avenues in Urbana about 20 minutes later.

At the time, she was wearing a charcoal gray hat with a white logo on the front, a white and pink flannel printed long-sleeved shirt, a white undershirt, jeans, white shoes and a navy backpack.

[[427992723, C]]

Police on Monday released security video showing Zhang standing on a corner just after 2 p.m. near a parking garage on North Goodwin Avenue.

The video from the B-4 parking garage shows a black Saturn Astra pulling up beside her.

“She and the driver speak for some time before she enters the vehicle, which then continues north on Goodwin Avenue,” police said.

[[427992763, C]]

Police said it was not clear whether Zhang is in danger but the police department is “doing everything it can to work toward her safe return.”

Anyone with information about the vehicle or Zhang’s appearance is being asked to call 911 or the University of Illinois Police Department at (217) 333-1216.

Contact Us