Ellen Williams

The parents of a University of Illinois scholar from China who was abducted and killed two years ago are giving at least $20,000 to people who provided authorities with crucial information that led to the arrest and conviction of their daughter’s killer.

The father of a slain scholar who begged his daughter’s killer to reveal what he did with her remains so that they could be returned to China for burial says his family now understands that recovering them may be impossible.

After an Illinois scholar was kidnapped and murdered, her family is still hoping for a miracle as they search for her body. 

The remains of Yingying Zhang, a Chinese scholar at University of Illinois who was murdered in 2017, could be in a landfill in central Illinois, according to multiple reports, though her body has still not been found, authorities say.

The man who killed a Chinese student at the University of Illinois may have provided a tip to authorities about where his victim’s remains are located. NBC 5’s Phil Rogers has the details. 

A former University of Illinois doctoral student was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without parole for the 2017 rape and murder of a 26-year-old scholar from China, prompting her family to beg the killer to reveal where her body is so the remains can be returned home.

Brendt Christensen was sentenced to life in prison today, and the family of the woman he killed spoke out after the verdict was delivered. NBC 5’s Natalie Martinez has more. 

Jurors have gone home after a first day of deliberations without a decision on whether a former University of Illinois doctoral student should be put to death for slaying a young scholar from China.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys are delivering final arguments to jurors on whether a former University of Illinois doctoral student should be sentenced to death for killing a young scholar from China.

The sister of a former University of Illinois student convicted of killing a Chinese scholar told a jury deciding whether he should be executed that he was a “very gentle person” who never raised his voice.

The mother of a former University of Illinois student convicted of killing a Chinese scholar told the jury deciding his fate that it would be horrible if he is put to death.

A jury has reached a verdict in the federal death penalty trial of a former University of Illinois doctoral student charged with kidnapping and killing a 26-year-old visiting scholar from China. NBC 5’s Phil Rogers reports.