Updated post: July 12, 2017, 7:10 p.m.
SALEM, Illinois– Salem Police Detective Bryan Green says a possible citing of missing kidnapped Chinese student Yingying Zhang in Salem, Illinois has been ruled out.
WJBD Radio reports that Green traveled to Champaign Tuesday to meet with the parents of 26-year-old Zhang to show them surveillance video of the woman who apparently had been mistaken for their daughter. Green says they said the woman in the video was not their daughter.
Surveillance video captured the same woman on camera on May 19th, weeks before Zhang went missing.
Green said the video had been gathered from surveillance cameras at several area businesses.
Original post: July 12, 2017, 3:45 p.m.
SALEM, Illinois– The FBI is reportedly investigating multiple tips from people who say they’ve seen missing University of Illinois student Yingying Zhang, 26, in the southern Illinois town of Salem, 4.5 hours south of the Quad Cities. Zhang has been presumed dead by the FBI.
This new finding comes from St. Louis news station KMOV. Salem, Illinois is 1.5 hours east of St. Louis. They report that detectives have looked into the reports, but have not found concrete leads. The FBI says they are taking all tips and following through on them.
Despite investigators’ belief that Zhang is dead, her family is still holding out hope. A business in Salem says her family has been in town looking for her, going off tips of sightings.
Zhang disappeared from the University of Illinois in June. Brendt Christensen, 28, is charged in connection with her disappearance. He attended a vigil for Zhang, and prosecutors say he talked about the “ideal abduction victim.” At an appearance in federal court last week, Christensen was denied bail.
The FBI is offering $10,000 to anyone with information about Zhang’s whereabouts. Champaign County Crimestoppers is offering a $40,000 reward.
