Deceased/Not Found IL - Yingying Zhang, 26, Urbana, 9 June 2017 #4 *Arrest*

[Satchie]

Idk. I guess I'm just wondering, how do you actually prove a kidnapping occurred when the adult victim was seen getting willingly into the car?

I think you could prove it because she was on her way to an appointment that was important to her, and then was due back at the university, and you could show she was a responsible, conscientious person who didn't just abandon her appointments to go to strange men's houses, and would always keep in touch with people thru her phone, which she stopped using the moment she got into his car.

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[Deleted member 102539]

I hate to say it, but I think there's a "bigger picture" at stake. Either it involves more victims, or more perpetrators. JMO

I'm a little bit nervous thinking of abducted murdered female children (unsolved mysterious cases) .... Had he been practicing with even more defenseless young girls in the past?

 

[KelsK]

I'm a little bit nervous thinking of abducted murdered female children (unsolved mysterious cases) .... Had he been practicing with even more defenseless young girls in the past?

I think this was his first time with kidnapping/murder. I think he's thought about it for a long time. Maybe he's attempted at something, but I truly believe this is his first kidnapping, and sadly, most likely murder. I think he's getting too much credit. Yingying seems to be so vulnerable in a sense. Intelligent, no doubt. But being in a foreign land in itself, in my opinion, would make anyone "vulnerable". He didn't choose a girl he met at the gym, let's say. He persuaded a somewhat trusting & in a hurry, foreign woman. It was "easy" on his part. Situation of circumstance. Happenstance in the worst way. He's a sociopath and coward.

 

[neesaki]

I think you could prove it because she was on her way to an appointment that was important to her, and then was due back at the university, and you could show she was a responsible, conscientious person who didn't just abandon her appointments to go to strange men's houses, and would always keep in touch with people thru her phone, which she stopped using the moment she got into his car.

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I realize I'm a little late following this case, but why would she have gotten in to the car with a stranger in the first place? I wonder if she hadn't met him previously at the University. Otherwise it doesn't make much sense to me. I guess at this point we don't know though. I feel so bad for her dear family. Bless their dear sweet hearts. :cry:

 

[Eloise]

I realize I'm a little late following this case, but why would she have gotten in to the car with a stranger in the first place? I wonder if she hadn't met him previously at the University. Otherwise it doesn't make much sense to me. I guess at this point we don't know though. I feel so bad for her dear family. Bless their dear sweet hearts. :cry:

It's quite possible she was acquainted with him or had at least seen him around. It might have been enough to make her feel safe with him.

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[Daae]

Looking back at the Hannah Graham case, which was also initially an abduction, LE requested property owners in 4 county areas to search their properties including buildings, fields, and streams. Hannah's body was found a few weeks after the abduction. LE also charged Jesse Matthew with abduction with intent to defile a few weeks after her disappearance but before the body was found. It took months, after the body was found, before they charged him with murder. This case became intertwined with another rape and murder.

I forgot how long this took.

LE is not publicly searching for a body, WHY? I agree with other sleuthers that LE probably has other significant
evidence indicating a murder was committed. There may be other witnesses and victims.

This has to be an airtight case.

 

[Elainera]

Wasn't he also on the physic department's front page? They hurriedly took his photo down after the arrest. But she might have seen him there before and felt flattered that such a 'famous' student would stop and offer her a ride. jmo

 

[TiffanyL_AS]

If in fact LE had proof of some assault having taken place, for example, wouldn't that have been mentioned in the FBI'S affidavit? Then they would be able to charge him with assault, or battery, for example.

If that makes any sense! JMO.


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[mrsobrien]

If in fact LE had proof of some assault having taken place, for example, wouldn't that have been mentioned in the FBI'S affidavit? Then they would be able to charge him with assault, or battery, for example.

If that makes any sense! JMO.


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This is probably the most stripped criminal complaint I've seen... there's a lot obviously omitted. I'm thinking that was for a good reason.

 

[Yellow]

We all here have speculated multiple times that surely LE has more than the surveillance of her getting into the car and the audio tape, to charge him with kidnapping. Both could probably be refuted by a good lawyer (she entered the car willingly, the audio was just fantasy, etc).

So I was wondering, would they have even arrested and charged him for the kidnapping if the surveillance footage and the audio is all they have? It looks rather weak imho, so I believe they must have stronger evidence of the kidnapping that we have not yet heard. But what could it be? A witness statement saying they saw or heard YY struggling, screaming? Photos, home video? Would that be enough?

The case in general is fairly strong as the circumstantial evidence is strong, at least for an arrest. Depending on jury, if he comes up with a good story or tries to argue some kind of kinky stuff gone wrong doubts could be raised but I would argue they would not be reasonable.

At the very least, they had to charge him so long as they had the minimum because they had to get him off the street. Indeed, I think they would have charged him with a traffic violation if they could arrest him. He was a danger to those around him and to others. He was pointing out potential new victims and he was in the company of females. We are very lucky that this did not turn out worse with more victims.

 

[MsFacetious]

What if he videotaped the murder/disposal and that's why there are not searches?
If they have a video of him damaging and disposing of her body... in a way in which it would not be recoverable...
That might explain it too.

 

[CluelessWonder]

This is going to be a difficult case for prosecutors. It seems the only evidence of a crime is a recorded phone call of him admitting to an abduction. I'm not sure that will hold up well in court as his defense attorney will attempt to knock holes in the recorded conversation.


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[Webthrush]

‘nother oddball thing I’ve never quite understood: from the beginning this crime got VERY little national publicity (plenty of local coverage and some newspaper, but I saw nothing on national TV or radio prior to BC’s arrest; strange), yet it was the sort of case the media usually eats up. Made me wonder early on if the kidnapper had communicated to LE that YZ would be released unharmed, but only IF they followed all his directions and didn’t publicize things much… from there things went downhill. I doubt he really communicated with them, but don’t understand the sparsity of coverage from day 1 when he could’ve been driving her states away and word needed to get out.

 

[Webthrush]

just curious: does someone know what the banner picture on Brendt’s FB page is? looks like some sort of huge downward spiral staircase… probably completely insignificant but just wondering… almost seems a metaphor for his life spiraling downward!
http://tinyurl.com/y7t5pgdx
(hope it's OK to link to this?)

 

[SteveP]

I wanted to get up to speed on this case before I started posting, so have spent the past several evenings and yesterday reading every post of all four threads here. I must say, I have seen some of the best sleuthing on this case that I have ever seen in my years on WS, and as someone living a distance away from the Champaign/Urbana area, I will say the help of several of you local to the area has been immense. Thank you for being here! I think most of us that find WS do so because of a local case, but I hope you will consider staying around when you are no longer needed here. Sadly, there is always another case that comes along that needs your dedication. Now, just a couple of thoughts on this case, and it is certainly nothing that hasn't been stated here by many. I do believe that LE has more evidence than they have released (they almost always do), and I think they probably are certain that poor Yingying has been murdered. I don't believe, however, that they have recovered her body. In this day of tv stations competing for viewers, it would be very difficult to keep that from a local news team, imo, and equally difficult to get them to sit on, if they knew. Like many of you, I do believe that BC may well have taken pics or video that LE now has in their possession, and he may have saved a 'trophy' of his deed that LE found in his apartment (a piece of clothing,a lock of her hair, etc). As to whether this was BC's first kidnapping/murder, I tend to believe that it was, due to some seeming sloppiness, but I do not believe he only very recently started having thoughts about this, and I think his digital footprint, when fully examined, will probably even more strongly confirm that. And lastly, for now, while very few cases are 'slam dunks', I feel that by the time this gets to trial, if there is one, LE will have more than enough evidence to put this away for life. JMO

 

[schroder]

Alll excellent points. they have a great circumstantial case against bc even without the body. As long as there is even the tracest amount of her DNA in his car or apt he's toast.

 

[Chambana]

Being a local and remembering the Ashley Gibson very well, the case in which she overdosed on drugs at a party and they dismembered her, and tossed her in the lake, she was last seen April 17th, and by April 18th they had already considered her “endangered” because the streets talked. When police held their press conference to address the public, they already had 3 people in custody for the crime, and no one knew it.

Point being, this is an ever more high profile case, involving the FBI in which more agents were involved with this case, than 80 counties combined. They have enough evidence to convict on kidnapping charges, they’re not actively posting to the public anymore about YZ missing or tips needed or search parties organized, because IMHO they don’t need to. I think BC recorded this crime as well. If the FBI needed tips on her whereabouts, it would be posted daily or every few days, with anyone leading to any information. Since BC arrest/confession the urgency for tips seems to have stopped from LE.

Remember this is on a federal level, it’s no longer the state of Illinois vs BC, it is the United States of America vs BC. If they didn’t feel confident about a conviction at least on kidnapping, they wouldn’t have made an arrest, remember FBI is the highest trained LE, he’s locked up and no threat, and more than likely never will be the rest of his life.

IMHO.

 

[LoremIpsum]

Curious to see a rundown of possible charges for BC at a state and federal level with their min and max sentences...

The kidnapping charge got him off the street. Seems people are back and forth whether (knowing what little we know) if the evidence is circumstantial or solid enough for a conviction.

So what could be the options for more charges moving forward?

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[roche.analisa]

I wanted to get up to speed on this case before I started posting, so have spent the past several evenings and yesterday reading every post of all four threads here. I must say, I have seen some of the best sleuthing on this case that I have ever seen in my years on WS, and as someone living a distance away from the Champaign/Urbana area, I will say the help of several of you local to the area has been immense. Thank you for being here! I think most of us that find WS do so because of a local case, but I hope you will consider staying around when you are no longer needed here. Sadly, there is always another case that comes along that needs your dedication. Now, just a couple of thoughts on this case, and it is certainly nothing that hasn't been stated here by many. I do believe that LE has more evidence than they have released (they almost always do), and I think they probably are certain that poor Yingying has been murdered. I don't believe, however, that they have recovered her body. In this day of tv stations competing for viewers, it would be very difficult to keep that from a local news team, imo, and equally difficult to get them to sit on, if they knew. Like many of you, I do believe that BC may well have taken pics or video that LE now has in their possession, and he may have saved a 'trophy' of his deed that LE found in his apartment (a piece of clothing,a lock of her hair, etc). As to whether this was BC's first kidnapping/murder, I tend to believe that it was, due to some seeming sloppiness, but I do not believe he only very recently started having thoughts about this, and I think his digital footprint, when fully examined, will probably even more strongly confirm that. And lastly, for now, while very few cases are 'slam dunks', I feel that by the time this gets to trial, if there is one, LE will have more than enough evidence to put this away for life. JMO

Welcome to the thread! I think it's great that you got caught up before posting, thereby minimizing your contribution to circular discussion. [emoji122]

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[Chambana]

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2017-07-09/attorneys-accused.html

“Christensen called their law offices even before he was arrested, after authorities seized his car, Bruno said.”