A man has been arrested for kidnapping Zhang Yingying, a Chinese visiting scholar missing in the United States since June 9, with local police saying they believe she is dead.
Brendt Christensen, 27, was driving the car that Zhang got into when she was last seen near the University of Illinois campus, police said.
Christensen will be held in custody until Monday, when he is scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court in Urbana, the State's Attorney's office said.
According to a post on the University of Illinois police department’s website, “Law enforcement agents believe that Ms. Zhang is no longer alive,” based on their investigations including surveillance of Christensen.
Screenshot from Brendt Christensen's Facebook page
According to the charging document released Friday, police found Christensen's car on June 12, three days after she disappeared.
FBI agents told local media that the front passenger-side door of the car had been cleaned "to a more diligent extent" than other parts of the vehicle.
A day later, police got a warrant to search Christensen's apartment and questioned him, before he was put under surveillance on June 16.
On June 29, FBI agents overheard Christensen saying he kidnapped Zhang and took her back to his apartment.
He was arrested on June 30.
China's Consulate-General in Chicago said it contacted Zhang's family after receiving the update from the FBI.
Related stories:
Missing Chinese student's family to kidnapper: Let her come home
