Deceased/Not Found IL - Yingying Zhang, 26, Urbana, 9 June 2017 #3 *Arrest*

[Spellbound]

<modsnip>

As a personal acquaintance of Brendt and his wife who saw them on a near daily basis, I can confirm that the woman at the rally with Brendt was not his wife.

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Thank you for the definitive answer. Glad to have you here.

 

[liltexans]

[video=twitter;881955252651556868]https://twitter.com/CNN/status/881955252651556868[/video]

 

[matou]

<modsnip>

As a personal acquaintance of Brendt and his wife who saw them on a near daily basis, I can confirm that the woman at the rally with Brendt was not his wife.

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Did you see the video of him and the women walking at the gathering for Yingying? It was posted upthread just a little while ago. Scary how he looks at the camera.

Are you ok? I mean, this must be pretty messed up for you.

 

[Skigirl]

Quoting you because I thought it was relevant. It's one thing to fantasize and research that fantasy. It's a whole nother thing to commit murder.

I don't think he really planned this. At least, not well. He likely had to (pardon my language) "shut her up" once she was panicking. To,go from a fantasy to murder seems like such a leap to me. Ofc with an ingrained hatred for women...Maybe it's not a leap.




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There have been rumors that he may have tried to pick up other women around campus. We are not normally allowed to comment on rumors, but in this case, I think it's OK because the U of Illinois police have confirmed that they are looking into at least one report that was posted on Facebook (source: http://police.illinois.edu/search-updates/). In that case, the person in the car flashed what he said was a police badge. If it really was him, it seems like he did make the leap from passive fantasy to active pursuit. Websleuths is filled with stories of seemingly normal people who, one day are living normal lives, and the next day, start doing all sorts of crazy things. Scary.

 

[whitelilac]

Hello all, I too am new, long time lurker, and have decided to be here for Yingying. Having followed from the beginning, I am heartsick over this case.

Regarding the recording, to whomever BC " confessed" having brought Yingying to the apartment and keeping her against her will, wouldn't it follow that the informant woukd have asked questions? What happened then, what did you do, where is she? I hope there is more on the recording that we are not privy to, and that incriminates BC further.

My concern is that BC could claim that he was jesting with sick humour. That he will claim yes he gave her the lift, and dropped her off after she panicked, that he never took her to the apt or elsewhere at all. He didn't come forward about the "lift" because he was scared.

That LE's belief that Yinging is no longer with us due to "other indications" or some such wording, I hope means that they do indeed have much more.

 

[Millhouse]

I was wondering something similar, especially because there were accounts of someone trying to pick up other students around campus and at least one did not think it was a Saturn, but did describe it as a black car. It made me wonder if he and his wife had two cars that both of them drove, at least on occasion.

ETA: We know the Astra belonged to Christensen because the process of finding it was described in the criminal complaint. They were able to find him because he was one of 16 people in the county with a Saturn Astra.

Ah, ok- thanks for the information. I was out of town a lot of this weekend so I'm still catching up a bit and have not read the criminal complaint.

I'm reading through the criminal complaint now, and trying to look at previous MSM articles and this thread. The timing of the FBI asking for information and the dates listed in the complaint is interesting. The complaint says they first went to his car/apartment on June 12, and on June 14 they confirmed his car had the same broken hubcap and got the authority to search his car. On June 15, they executed the warrant.

It's interesting looking at the timing of when they were asking for public information- on June 12/13, the information being released was that LE wanted information about the Astra. By this time, they had already seen him once, and within 24-48 hours they were honed in on him enough to get a warrant. On June 27, they announced that the car had been located. He was presumably under surveillance for much of this interim period, although we do not know the details of this yet. I wonder what led them to announce that they had located the car- did they want to make him think he was off the hook, and then shortly after, he stated he kidnapped her to someone? Did he know they were referring to his car? Apologies if this is already known.

Basing my media dates on these:

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/lo...-information-car-tied-missing-ui-scholar.html
http://police.illinois.edu/search-updates/

 

[creepcrusher]

There have been rumors that he may have tried to pick up other women around campus. We are not normally allowed to comment on rumors, but in this case, I think it's OK because the U of Illinois police have confirmed that they are looking into at least one report that was posted on Facebook (source: http://police.illinois.edu/search-updates/). In that case, the person in the car flashed what he said was a police badge. If it really was him, it seems like he did make the leap from passive fantasy to active pursuit. Websleuths is filled with stories of seemingly normal people who, one day are living normal lives, and the next day, start doing all sorts of crazy things. Scary.

I saw in one of the links someone posted that he was a fan of American Psycho. It's fitting.

 

[matou]

I wonder if LE found her phone at his place or some of her things? I would think he would keep something of hers considering how sloppy is.

 

[liltexans]

Hello all, I too am new, long time lurker, and have decided to be here for Yingying. Having followed from the beginning, I am heartsick over this case.

Regarding the recording, to whomever BC " confessed" having brought Yingying to the apartment and keeping her against her will, wouldn't it follow that the informant woukd have asked questions? What happened then, what did you do, where is she? I hope there is more on the recording that we are not privy to, and that incriminates BC further.

My concern is that BC could claim that he was jesting with sick humour. That he will claim yes he gave her the lift, and dropped her off after she panicked, that he never took her to the apt or elsewhere at all. He didn't come forward about the "lift" because he was scared.

That LE's belief that Yinging is no longer with us due to "other indications" or some such wording, I hope means that they do indeed have much more.

Welcome to Websleuths!

:welcome:

 

[whitelilac]

Thank you liltexans.

 

[Yellow]

A theory that he could have flashed a police badge may be one of the only reasons she would have went with him. Being in a foreign country, she might not have even thought that someone would do something like that for nefarious purposes. I wonder if LE has closeups of her face during her interaction with him- whether she appeared confused or if she looked like she was asking questions, etc.

I think the only way she would have gotten in car with him was 1) she knew him at least tangentially or they had mutual friends; 2) he held up a weapon (unlikely bc she could have run); 3) she called an uber driver and she mistakenly thought he was the driver (have they ruled out any her calling for any ride share service?) or she was going to call uber and he told her, 'hey i'm an uber driver, no need to call - I will put you in the system right now' and because of his university id she felt it was ok; 4) he held up a police badge and maid up something to her about her breaking the law or whatever; 5) he said something to her that really appeared non-threatening, like maybe asked for help.

Before I went to college my mother made me watch the made for tv movie telling the story of Ted Bundy. it scared me, but point was not to be enticed by a seemingly good looking guy asking for help. I think people forget how easy it would be to be conned - people like this are experts in this kind of stuff and that is what is so scary. They don't look or act scary from the outside.

 

[Mercedes]

Hello all, I too am new, long time lurker, and have decided to be here for Yingying. Having followed from the beginning, I am heartsick over this case.

Regarding the recording, to whomever BC " confessed" having brought Yingying to the apartment and keeping her against her will, wouldn't it follow that the informant woukd have asked questions? What happened then, what did you do, where is she? I hope there is more on the recording that we are not privy to, and that incriminates BC further.

My concern is that BC could claim that he was jesting with sick humour. That he will claim yes he gave her the lift, and dropped her off after she panicked, that he never took her to the apt or elsewhere at all. He didn't come forward about the "lift" because he was scared.

That LE's belief that Yinging is no longer with us due to "other indications" or some such wording, I hope means that they do indeed have much more.

:welcome: to Websleuths.

I, too, have wonderd if he will say he spoke in jest. Hopefully, LE has heard enough from the perp to confirm the crime.

 

[Satchie]

In quite a few cases of men who've committed these crimes for pure thrill/fantasy gratification, they've made video recordings, as well as kept momentos. In the Canadian context Bernardo, Magnotta, Williams. Bracing myself for that possibility.

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[liltexans]

[video=twitter;881961055597060097]https://twitter.com/kwqcnews/status/881961055597060097[/video]

 

[LoremIpsum]

Did you see the video of him and the women walking at the gathering for Yingying? It was posted upthread just a little while ago. Scary how he looks at the camera.

Are you ok? I mean, this must be pretty messed up for you.

Thanks for asking.

I'm ok but very disturbed. For my own sanity, I keep finding myself wanting to... not defend him... but just remind everyone that even people who do bad things are still people. Not because I think he's innocent or that what happened to Yingying is in anyway ok. But this is a couple that I saw and worked out next to for two hours every weekday for a few years. It's like I want to humanize him because I personally cannot process that I was next to a "monster/kidnapper/killer/etc" everyday. I also feel some irrational guilt as if I could have made some small gesture that would have pulled him back to reality - butterfly effect idea. It's just a bizarre mix of emotions. Still trying to wrap my head around it.

Ugh, therapy here I come!

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[Elainera]

A few questions:


1) Am I right that no plea was entered at this hearing? And if not, is a plea expected at the July 5 hearing?
Someone posted yesterday that he was going to plead innocent to all charges, but I don&#8217;t recall how they sourced that info?
2) Was BC represented by a personal lawyer or public defender at this hearing?
3) Will ask again if anyone has seen ANYthing about a search for YZ&#8217;s body happening ANYwhere?

bbm (bolded by me) - I think it was a local who posted yesterday that they heard this info on the radio. No link was available. I don't know if we here at WS treat this kind of information (radio, no link) as fact? Maybe mods can clarify.

It is so hard to find parking in Chambana that I think he would have had more problems doing that then as one person said leaving it in plain sight.

Somebody researched the apartment complex he was staying at and found that they have garages for rent. He could have rented one? Or rent one somewhere else, for that matter. I find it very odd that he did not try to hide the vehicle.

 

[Millhouse]

A theory that he could have flashed a police badge may be one of the only reasons she would have went with him. Being in a foreign country, she might not have even thought that someone would do something like that for nefarious purposes. I wonder if LE has closeups of her face during her interaction with him- whether she appeared confused or if she looked like she was asking questions, etc.

I think the only way she would have gotten in car with him was 1) she knew him at least tangentially or they had mutual friends; 2) he held up a weapon (unlikely bc she could have run); 3) she called an uber driver and she mistakenly thought he was the driver (have they ruled out any her calling for any ride share service?) or she was going to call uber and he told her, 'hey i'm an uber driver, no need to call - I will put you in the system right now' and because of his university id she felt it was ok; 4) he held up a police badge and maid up something to her about her breaking the law or whatever; 5) he said something to her that really appeared non-threatening, like maybe asked for help.

Before I went to college my mother made me watch the made for tv movie telling the story of Ted Bundy. it scared me, but point was not to be enticed by a seemingly good looking guy asking for help. I think people forget how easy it would be to be conned - people like this are experts in this kind of stuff and that is what is so scary. They don't look or act scary from the outside.

I don't want this to turn in to a political conversation, but, part of me wonders if he implied he was an immigration officer, or if her concerns about being a non-citizen in America played in to her willingness to get in his car if he was pretending to be LE. I don't want this post to be misconstrued as racist or ill-meaning in any way. I say this as someone who is watching many immigrants have slightly higher tensions and stresses with legal issues. She was of course here very legally as a student scholar, so I know she didn't really have a concern, but many people are very stressed about having trouble getting in/out of the country or losing visas.

Just a thought, of course. We don't even know if BC was impersonating LE or not at this point, so all speculation.

 

[r2so3cxz]

I, too, have wonderd if he will say he spoke in jest. Hopefully, LE has heard enough from the perp to confirm the crime.

I really do hope they have something solid, and are just keeping their cards close. The information known to the public does seem kind of weak at this point. It's possibly enough for a jury conviction, but not guaranteed. If there isn't more evidence, I have to reluctantly keep open the possibility that he did let her out of the car somewhere.

This reminds me of the Netflix series The Fall. he even looks like the serial killer on that show. Smart criminals are frightening.

 

[PhoneJockey]

Ah, ok- thanks for the information. I was out of town a lot of this weekend so I'm still catching up a bit and have not read the criminal complaint.

I'm reading through the criminal complaint now, and trying to look at previous MSM articles and this thread. The timing of the FBI asking for information and the dates listed in the complaint is interesting. The complaint says they first went to his car/apartment on June 12, and on June 14 they confirmed his car had the same broken hubcap and got the authority to search his car. On June 15, they executed the warrant.

It's interesting looking at the timing of when they were asking for public information- on June 12/13, the information being released was that LE wanted information about the Astra. By this time, they had already seen him once, and within 24-48 hours they were honed in on him enough to get a warrant. On June 27, they announced that the car had been located. He was presumably under surveillance for much of this interim period, although we do not know the details of this yet. I wonder what led them to announce that they had located the car- did they want to make him think he was off the hook, and then shortly after, he stated he kidnapped her to someone? Did he know they were referring to his car? Apologies if this is already known.

Basing my media dates on these:

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/lo...-information-car-tied-missing-ui-scholar.html
http://police.illinois.edu/search-updates/

I'm sure they wanted to shake him up and see if they could catch him either disposing of evidence or doing other suspicious/incriminating things.

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[Trinitee]

Thanks for asking.

I'm ok but very disturbed. For my own sanity, I keep finding myself wanting to... not defend him... but just remind everyone that even people who do bad things are still people. Not because I think he's innocent or that what happened to Yingying is in anyway ok. But this is a couple that I saw and worked out next to for two hours every weekday for a few years. It's like I want to humanize him because I personally cannot process that I was next to a "monster/kidnapper/killer/etc" everyday. I also feel some irrational guilt as if I could have made some small gesture that would have pulled him back to reality - butterfly effect idea. It's just a bizarre mix of emotions. Still trying to wrap my head around it.

Ugh, therapy here I come!

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I can relate to most of what you've said and I am sorry you are going through this. I was in the same position not that long ago. I experienced a broad range of emotions, some of which took me quite by surprise.