Man held in Chinese scholar's kidnapping was graduate student who visited online forum about ‘perfect abduction fantasy’
Brendt Allen Christensen has been detained for the kidnap of Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying, who is now believed to be dead
Brendt Allen Christensen originally planned to earn a doctoral degree, but told his graduate adviser in 2016 he had changed his mind, Professor Lance Cooper recalled on Saturday. He did not say why, and Christensen continued taking classes and teaching as a graduate assistant. He earned his master’s degree in mid-May.
Christensen is in federal custody awaiting a court appearance Monday in the June 9 kidnapping of Zhang Yingying, the 26-year-old daughter of a working-class factory driver from China. Weeks ago, Zhang arrived at the university to conduct research in agricultural sciences and planned to begin work on her doctorate in the fall. Her body has not been found.
A criminal complaint accuses Christensen, of Champaign, Illinois, of abducting Zhang soon after she stepped off a bus near the university campus. Video from nearby cameras showed Zhang, on her way to sign a lease for an flat, trying unsuccessfully to flag down another bus. Minutes later, she was seen getting into a black Saturn Astra.
According to an affidavit filed in federal court, Christensen was under surveillance Thursday when agents overheard him explaining he had kidnapped Zhang. Authorities say agents believe Zhang is no longer alive based on that and other facts the investigation uncovered.