Deceased/Not Found IL - Yingying Zhang, 26, Urbana, 9 June 2017 #7 *Arrest*

[kittythehare]

re blanket.
I think it's more likely he put her in plastic garbage bags, knowing what we know of his mentality, habits and apparent lack of compassion.
Also, blankets leave too many tracks, hair fibres etc.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

re blanket.
I think it's more likely he put her in plastic garbage bags, knowing what we know of his mentality, habits and apparent lack of compassion.
Also, blankets leave too many tracks, hair fibres etc.

I agree. I can't see him putting her in a blanket at all.

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[Deleted member 158085]

I have woolen blankets and even though I do not live in a cold climate, they are for sale where I live, but quite expensive. I do live in a wool producing country, so that may influence it.

Definitely a cultural thing, I think. I suspect they are easy to find in places like Ireland as well, but not here, and I do live in a cold climate.

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[dm92]

Here's a Google Maps view of the area l think is the area where they found the remains (bound in the blue box). Not 100% certain, but I think I'm close.....

 

[altojack]

I made the mistake of thinking small bits of yarn could be composted. I'm talking about 6 inches or less of string, basically. (It never did, so now I leave it outside for the birds to use for nests.)

Because I used to hike, and my husband hiked a lot, I got to know more about different fibers used in blankets and clothing. Cotton is a terrible fabric for blankets because it's not warm and if it gets wet, it takes ages to dry. That's why hikers use wool and synthetic blends that wick well. And generally speaking, you won't find any high cotton content blankets unless it is a pieced quilt. Your average blanket is going to be synthetic blend, and will be in the landfill until after many of us are gone. And I don't know anybody but me who actually owns real wool blankets, and I haven't ever seen one on the shelf at a store during my adult life. The ones I have were probably from the 60s, when people were practical enough to buy something warm but itchy. Nowadays, nobody buys a wool blanket.

So this blanket could have conceivably been sitting outside for 20 or 30 years and still be in tact.

Apologies for the long post about fibers, but it hits on my hobby interests.

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I was thinking wool blanket, maybe because I still have some stored away. Ideal in cold climates but UK not as cold as some countries, the Northern parts do get cold in winter. Anyway, I wrongly assumed that wool would rot away left out in the elements.


As to where body was found, I see that LE were looking along the tree line at the side of the field. Would a farmer burn grass or whatever right up to the trees? I wouldnt have thought that burning right up to the tree line would be of use to the farmer due to tree roots preventing sowing, harvesting and ploughing. So hopefully the body won’t have been burnt.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

I was thinking wool blanket, maybe because I still have some stored away. Ideal in cold climates but UK not as cold as some countries, the Northern parts do get cold in winter. Anyway, I wrongly assumed that wool would rot away left out in the elements.


As to where body was found, I see that LE were looking along the tree line at the side of the field. Would a farmer burn grass or whatever right up to the trees? I wouldnt have thought that burning right up to the tree line would be of use to the farmer due to tree roots preventing sowing, harvesting and ploughing. So hopefully the body won’t have been burnt.

They will burn up to a tree line to get rid of stubborn weeds that spread. In fact, that's the main place they burned a field on my road this year, in a tree line and a kind of ravine that was a mess with weeds.

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[Shiressleuth]

I have woolen blankets and even though I do not live in a cold climate, they are for sale where I live, but quite expensive. I do live in a wool producing country, so that may influence it.

I too have woollen blankets, some recently purchased for sofa and armchairs and also thick hand woven Welsh blankets that have been passed on to me and make good top layers over the duvet quilt. I think anywhere that has more sheep than people ( Wales and New Zealand for example) traditionally use woollen goods.

 

[Webthrush]

just couple of things:
1) I don’t think forensics will have too much trouble ID’ing this body through DNA & perhaps other clues, even if it’s deteriorated or burned. Might take a tad longer than usual because of fewer workers around over the Holidays & very bad weather.

2) I’d take the word “blanket” from news reports a bit loosely… may well be one, but won’t be surprised if it turns out to be a tarp, shower curtain, sleeping bag, or some other large piece of fabric/material.
In any event, I still don’t think it sounds like the work of BC, nor will turn out to be Yingying. And I don’t see local Champaign news outlets covering it much either (but I'm not there) — maybe there’s just not enough news being released to justify coverage, or maybe they know it’s unlikely to be YZ.

 

[Shiressleuth]

http://web.extension.illinois.edu/elrww/wayne4h/

I don't know if it means anything but I found that the UoI has this connection to Fairfield, Wayne County via education, food and farming. It could mean BC was familiar with the area perhaps.
Just a thought.

 

[dm92]

http://web.extension.illinois.edu/elrww/wayne4h/

I don't know if it means anything but I found that the UoI has this connection to Fairfield, Wayne County via education, food and farming. It could mean BC was familiar with the area perhaps.
Just a thought.

They do a lot of these extension service programs with different rural communities/counties. This is just a site specific for Wayne county, I would guess. BC wasn't an AG-affiliated program student, so my guess is he would have no specific, heightened knowledge of Wayne County and its landmarks. If this is her (and I debate back-and-forth in my head yea or nay whether or not to think it is her), my guess is he simply looked at a satellite mapping of rural areas and chose somewhere that looked remote but was relatively easy to get to, and where he wouldn't likely draw much attention after dark. This site is basically straight down highway 45 from Champaign, and a little jog to the west....

 

[dm92]

just couple of things:

2) I’d take the word “blanket” from news reports a bit loosely… may well be one, but won’t be surprised if it turns out to be a tarp, shower curtain, sleeping bag, or some other large piece of fabric/material.
In any event, I still don’t think it sounds like the work of BC, nor will turn out to be Yingying. And I don’t see local Champaign news outlets covering it much either (but I'm not there) — maybe there’s just not enough news being released to justify coverage, or maybe they know it’s unlikely to be YZ.

....... or a ripped open big duffle bag.

I've seen absolutely nothing in local media on this find. You would think they know about it - but that isn't necessarily so. When BC's original attorneys filed the motion to withdraw on the afternoon of September 1st, the local paper didn't get wind of it until Monday the 4th. I saw a Chinese media report on the filing of the motion the day after, and two days before the local paper reported it. Even if they have heard about these remains, they likely won't run with anything until they get a tip of some kind that says the Feds think it is her AND that YY's family has been notified.

I have no idea if this is her or not. Some days I think there's a decent chance it is her, other days I seriously doubt it is her......

 

[dm92]

FYI, they have completed their gathering of forensic evidence at the site....

http://www.wfiwradio.com/2018/01/01/headlines-for-monday-january-1-2018/

Remains were reported on Tuesday afternoon; their earlier updates make it sound like the Feds were there the same day they were discovered, so it sounds like they were at it for nearly a week.

I note they use the term "victim" when stating how long it will be before the remains can be identified. No clue if anything can be read into that choice of term....

 

[trunkizback]

Hmm, and here’s me trying to get my head around this and thinking that with a blanket in evidence the remains can’t be those of Beth, she disappeared in 2010, if it were her a blanket would have rotted away by now. So my thinking is that it is more likely to be YY.




I don’t have any details of others missing within this range.

There are 2 missing women from that area. Meghan Nichols from a town close by went missing in 2014. I'm leaning towards thinking it's going to be her. Anything is possible but I just think that's too far for BC to have gone. He would literally pass a hundred places similar getting there.
Let me end by asking if there are any scientific types on here. Why does DNA testing take weeks or longer? What all is involved?

 

[Shiressleuth]

They do a lot of these extension service programs with different rural communities/counties. This is just a site specific for Wayne county, I would guess. BC wasn't an AG-affiliated program student, so my guess is he would have no specific, heightened knowledge of Wayne County and its landmarks. If this is her (and I debate back-and-forth in my head yea or nay whether or not to think it is her), my guess is he simply looked at a satellite mapping of rural areas and chose somewhere that looked remote but was relatively easy to get to, and where he wouldn't likely draw much attention after dark. This site is basically straight down highway 45 from Champaign, and a little jog to the west....

They do research though too. And YY was an Ag student wasn't she? It has never been established whether they had ever met before I don't think.

 

[Webthrush]

There are 2 missing women from that area. Meghan Nichols from a town close by went missing in 2014. I'm leaning towards thinking it's going to be her. Anything is possible but I just think that's too far for BC to have gone. He would literally pass a hundred places similar getting there.
Let me end by asking if there are any scientific types on here. Why does DNA testing take weeks or longer? What all is involved?

Yeah, I’m kinda surprised the local press hasn’t asked the farmer how often he gets out to that part of his field — is it once every few years or once every 6 months, or what?
As far as the question about DNA-testing:
I’m a former genetic technologist, but in clinical genetics, which is hugely different from forensic genetics (and I left the field 10+ yrs. ago). They may have to take some time to grow up more cells (but that’s not long), and I don’t know any reason the testing would take weeks other than sheer backload of work to get through (and I’d guess they’re making this high priority). The whole process is very highly automated these days (not as much technologist time); I would think 6-10 days would be more than sufficient once the process starts. That’s just to ID the victim… if they are additionally looking for DNA from the perpetrator (on the “blanket&#8221 before making any announcements, as they may be, that would add more time.

 

[Deleted member 102539]

They do a lot of these extension service programs with different rural communities/counties. This is just a site specific for Wayne county, I would guess. BC wasn't an AG-affiliated program student, so my guess is he would have no specific, heightened knowledge of Wayne County and its landmarks. If this is her (and I debate back-and-forth in my head yea or nay whether or not to think it is her), my guess is he simply looked at a satellite mapping of rural areas and chose somewhere that looked remote but was relatively easy to get to, and where he wouldn't likely draw much attention after dark. This site is basically straight down highway 45 from Champaign, and a little jog to the west....

bbm

Yingying was: visiting scholar in agriculture sciences. IF he stalked her before they met, it would make sense perhaps. Of course, it would be only one of several options.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-yingying-zhang-university-of-illinois-20170627-story.html

 

[Hatfield]

Yeah, I’m kinda surprised the local press hasn’t asked the farmer how often he gets out to that part of his field — is it once every few years or once every 6 months, or what?
As far as the question about DNA-testing:
I’m a former genetic technologist, but in clinical genetics, which is hugely different from forensic genetics (and I left the field 10+ yrs. ago). They may have to take some time to grow up more cells (but that’s not long), and I don’t know any reason the testing would take weeks other than sheer backload of work to get through (and I’d guess they’re making this high priority). The whole process is very highly automated these days (not as much technologist time); I would think 6-10 days would be more than sufficient once the process starts. That’s just to ID the victim… if they are additionally looking for DNA from the perpetrator (on the “blanket&#8221 before making any announcements, as they may be, that would add more time.

Re BBM

Thanks for the information on DNA testing. You make a good point that maybe they are also trying to test for the perp's DNA too before they make any announcements.

Hopefully they will be able to identify the remains soon. And maybe even get evidence for whoever was responsible for the remains there.

 

[Shiressleuth]

Yeah, I’m kinda surprised the local press hasn’t asked the farmer how often he gets out to that part of his field — is it once every few years or once every 6 months, or what?
As far as the question about DNA-testing:
I’m a former genetic technologist, but in clinical genetics, which is hugely different from forensic genetics (and I left the field 10+ yrs. ago). They may have to take some time to grow up more cells (but that’s not long), and I don’t know any reason the testing would take weeks other than sheer backload of work to get through (and I’d guess they’re making this high priority). The whole process is very highly automated these days (not as much technologist time); I wpould think 6-10 days would be more than sufficient once the process starts. That’s just to ID the victim… if they are additionally looking for DNA from the perpetrator (on the “blanket”) before making any announcements, as they may be, that would add more time.

Does anyone know how to find out the property owners? I tried Beacon Scneider which was great for Indiana but nothing for Illinois Wayne County.

UoI owns 17 farms 10, 319 acres

UoI Foundation owns 21 farms 5, 839 acres

 

[Shiressleuth]

http://farmweeknow.com/story-u-i-changes-farmland-leasing-practices-0-164954

Would be interesting to know if there is UoI farmland in Boyleston.

 

[dm92]

They do research though too. And YY was an Ag student wasn't she? It has never been established whether they had ever met before I don't think.

YY was in an agricultural program, BC had just finished up a master's degree in Physics.

There has never been any indication given by authorities that they had previously met or seen each other. I have not heard any rumors that they had any sort of prior interaction, and I think if someone knew something, at least there would be rumors circulating. I doubt they had ever met, or had even passed each other by. She was only here for six weeks, their buildings were on opposite ends of campus, and he was finishing up when she arrived. He may have been done with his work and no longer on campus daily by the time she got here.

If you watch the video of YY getting into BC's car, just from her body language, it does not appear that she is interacting with someone she knows.