Deceased/Not Found IL - Yingying Zhang, 26, Urbana, 9 June 2017 #1 *Arrest*

[HeatherLiu]

Hey guys! I'm from China and I accidentally clicked in this forum. First of all, I am very shocked so many of you have expressed concerns and devoted so much time to this case. I am praying for Yingying as all of you are!!! Thank you all for your kindness.

Since I dont know any more info than you guys, I just want to add some background info about her, to clear up a few things.

She is very successful in school, and graduated from Peking University's graduate school. I'm sure at least some of you have heard of the school, which is why this is hugely controversial in China, because she is a very valuable and intelligent scholar, not just any random person out there. (This is no way saying that someone with a less prominent degree is less important. I'm sure you get my point here."

As for the social media part, a lot of us Chinese dont depend highly on western platforms like FB, Instagram, etc. We mainly use Weibo (similar to twitter, but slightly better in my humble opinion) and Wechat to chat with friends. As far as I'm concerned, Yingying did not post very regularly on those platforms.Her last Weibo post was on June the first, about her doing some field work. I can't really find anything too personal about her, and she does not post selfies often. On her other account on Wechat, I believe the last post was on June 5, something about jogging in the morning and the beautiful views in Illinois.

A lot of Chinese netizens suspect that the FBI can probably pull the record out from Wechat, Apple, etc, but we dont really know if the FBI has searched in this aspect. According to the most recent press conference of the FBI, they are not "where they were" when it first started and "has made progress" on this matter. But all of this is just too vague, I feel both hopeful and terrified at the same time.

 

[Piney Woods]

I agree. As a woman, I am very uncomfortable using public transportation alone in an area foreign to me. I don't agree that she shouldn't have been riding alone, but I do think she should have been given a lot more information and instruction on stranger danger in the US.

Yeah, that's kind of what I meant by ''she shouldn't have been alone''. I'm not saying women aren't capable of handling themselves but her being very new to the culture/area and being a young woman is bad news.

I've taken careful note of what's acceptable and what's not regarding public interactions/transit in my travels outside of the United States.

In Eastern Europe, for the most part women can walk down a major capital city street or use buses or taxis anytime day or night without fear of being assaulted. The locals don't tolerate it.

In the Middle East women usually never go out alone. They are almost always with a male or another woman. And woe unto any unknown man who approaches her/them.

In the Far East it varies but once again women are generally safe in public. It's a bit chaotic but there is an order to it.

I've come to the conclusion that the United States overall is far, far more dangerous than any of the above. And that hurts to say it as an American.

Something you begin to notice if one has traveled a lot is that very small things will out you as a clueless foreigner to the locals besides your ethnic makeup or language. Your hair style, cosmetics, a simple article of clothing or hat. How you stand, walk or your hand gestures.

There are always sharps out there ready to make a quick buck in a scam but there are also those who have more sinister ideas in mind.

 

[meanmaryjean]

Welcome Heather! :goodpost:

 

[Piney Woods]

Exactly. Super common in China. Also, super common for legitimate people to offer rides for a fee. In fact, there are crowds of them at bustops and airports and hospitals.

Yep, it's just a question of being able to negotiate a price. There's a trust factor that's sadly missing in the U.S. so doing something like this is extremely dangerous.

 

[Millhouse]

They need help. I have little knowledge of the area, but they are from China with a language barrier to overcome as well.

I have no clue where to start. I had noticed earlier that the abductor wasn't far from the interstate and going east from there they had wide open rural land. I guess I would drive east on I-75 and hit all the exits for the next 50-100 miles with posters. Once Yingying got in the car and was out of sight she could be anywhere.

At some point Yingying's father might be contacting the Chinese embassy or consulates if the family's dissatisfaction with LE starts to grow. If I were him, I would. The more he does to make LE see he is not going away, the better for Yingying.

Yes, they were very close to I-74 and could go east or west on that, or north/south on 57, or south/west on 72, and they'd have at least an hour in any direction before hitting another "big" town (using the term loosely, because Bloomington-Normal is one of the closest to the west is about 150K, so not huge, but still quite a populated area). I want to believe LE has some sense of which way they headed, but the fact they've put up billboards both in St. Louis and in Indianapolis, in addition to around IL, makes me fear that they do not.

Additionally, they could have totally avoided interstates and went on country roads that are very empty and typically surrounded by high corn (speaking mostly about the area surrounding Champaign-Urbana, but also true beyond especially in central Illinois). I've driven many of the country roads close to here before, and they are empty- it's the norm that you can drive in the middle of the road because you're unlikely to see another car and roll through stop signs and whatnot.

Of course we have no idea which they went, but there's a lot of interstate and country road in Illinois, and the interstates outside of the Chicago area do not have tolls that would pick up a car the way the ones in Chicago do.

 

[Millhouse]

Hey guys! I'm from China and I accidentally clicked in this forum. First of all, I am very shocked so many of you have expressed concerns and devoted so much time to this case. I am praying for Yingying as all of you are!!! Thank you all for your kindness.

Since I dont know any more info than you guys, I just want to add some background info about her, to clear up a few things.

She is very successful in school, and graduated from Peking University's graduate school. I'm sure at least some of you have heard of the school, which is why this is hugely controversial in China, because she is a very valuable and intelligent scholar, not just any random person out there. (This is no way saying that someone with a less prominent degree is less important. I'm sure you get my point here."

As for the social media part, a lot of us Chinese dont depend highly on western platforms like FB, Instagram, etc. We mainly use Weibo (similar to twitter, but slightly better in my humble opinion) and Wechat to chat with friends. As far as I'm concerned, Yingying did not post very regularly on those platforms.Her last Weibo post was on June the first, about her doing some field work. I can't really find anything too personal about her, and she does not post selfies often. On her other account on Wechat, I believe the last post was on June 5, something about jogging in the morning and the beautiful views in Illinois.

A lot of Chinese netizens suspect that the FBI can probably pull the record out from Wechat, Apple, etc, but we dont really know if the FBI has searched in this aspect. According to the most recent press conference of the FBI, they are not "where they were" when it first started and "has made progress" on this matter. But all of this is just too vague, I feel both hopeful and terrified at the same time.

Thanks for your insights and thoughts.

As someone who previously lived in Central Illinois and grew tired of the flat fields, it's refreshing to be reminded that they can be viewed as beautiful by others. All about perspective and what we are used to, I suppose.

I agree- I fluctuate between hopeful and terrified. You never know with LE/FBI- it's hard to tell if they are being strategic and holding back information, or if they really have nothing but are trying to make the perp think they do.

 

[HeatherLiu]

As for the hitchhiking part, I'm afraid I have to disagree. I personally don't think she would get into a total stranger's car.

Yes it's a lot safer and a lot more convenient in China than in the US to take the public transport. You dont need to buy a car or learn how to drive because the subway is more time efficient and inexpensive. However, someone like her, who is more cautious and obviously well-educated, would probably not get into a strangers car. My friends and I would never get into someone else's car, unless it is a Uber or something.

This is also much discussed in Chinese forums, because half of them believe she might be too naive and got into the car, and half dont believe that.

I think the perp must be somewhat attractive, or someone who knows Mandarin(she does not speak Cantonese), or someone she is slightly acquainted with but cant really remember.

 

[Ven]

Hey guys! I'm from China and I accidentally clicked in this forum. First of all, I am very shocked so many of you have expressed concerns and devoted so much time to this case. I am praying for Yingying as all of you are!!! Thank you all for your kindness.

Hi Heather, welcome! I'm very sorry to hear about this happening to your countrywoman. Yingying seems like such a nice woman. There are many, many people here in the U.S. who are concerned for her and hope she will be found safely.

My opinions are my own and not representative of this forum or others, but I believe this case is a top priority of the FBI, which is the best law enforcement agency in our country. They are the top top people and have the best technology and experts and money and resources to investigate. It is very, very unusual for a missing person to be receiving this much resources like Yingying's case.

In that way, even if the updates are not as informative as we would like, there is no doubt her case is receiving extraordinary attention. The horrible person who did this will be found. It's possible they have already been found, but the authorities may be waiting to make an arrest until they find Yingying, or until they have enough evidence to make sure they convict him and send him away to prison for the rest of his life.

Thank you for joining WS and offering your insights. I hope you will stick around and continue to follow Yingying's case.

 

[All4CompleteJustice]

Ugh..I just opened and zoomed in on those pics and I agree. That's very scarey to think about.

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To me it almost looks as if he is looking slighty to his lower right (passenger side). I could be extremely exhausted and imagining things... MOO

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[HeatherLiu]

I really hope they have found him, and are just preparing for the arrest. Thank you for your warm welcome!

 

[Ven]

As for the hitchhiking part, I'm afraid I have to disagree. I personally don't think she would get into a total stranger's car.

Yes it's a lot safer and a lot more convenient in China than in the US to take the public transport. You dont need to buy a car or learn how to drive because the subway is more time efficient and inexpensive. However, someone like her, who is more cautious and obviously well-educated, would probably not get into a strangers car. My friends and I would never get into someone else's car, unless it is a Uber or something.

This is also much discussed in Chinese forums, because half of them believe she might be too naive and got into the car, and half dont believe that.

I think the perp must be somewhat attractive, or someone who knows Mandarin(she does not speak Cantonese), or someone she is slightly acquainted with but cant really remember.

The speculation here is that the suspect may have been pretending to be a police officer. Another woman earlier that morning reported that a man in a black car drove up to her and claimed he was a police officer. He showed her a police badge and asked her questions for a couple minutes, then he asked her to get inside his car so he could continue to question her. She did not believe him and said no and called police, and he drove away.

I thought police interactions with civilians may be different in China, and perhaps Yingying is not familiar with them here. She may have believed he is a real police officer because of it. Many girls here will be trained to be afraid of men pretending to be police, but even American women will go for it sometimes and not suspect.

 

[HeatherLiu]

To me it almost looks as if he is looking slighty to his lower right (passenger side). I could be extremely exhausted and imagining things... MOO

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I'm with you here. But if we are right, then it's intimidating because the perp might have knocked her out by that time.

 

[HeatherLiu]

The speculation here is that the suspect may have been pretending to be a police officer. Another woman earlier that morning reported that a man in a black car drove up to her and claimed he was a police officer. He showed her a police badge and asked her questions for a couple minutes, then he asked her to get inside his car so he could continue to question her. She did not believe him and said no and called police, and he drove away.

I thought police interactions with civilians may be different in China, and perhaps Yingying is not familiar with them here. She may have believed he is a real police officer because of it. Many girls here will be trained to be afraid of men pretending to be police, but even American women will go for it sometimes and not suspect.

I guess it's a possibility, but I think all police across the world should at least have a police car. Maybe he had a fake badge and lied about being a plain clothes officer.

However, from the video, some of us believe she actively approached him instead of him approaching her, which is why we speculate she might know him. But again, maybe she was just at the wrong place for the wrong time.

 

[JnRyan]

Yes, they were very close to I-74 and could go east or west on that, or north/south on 57, or south/west on 72, and they'd have at least an hour in any direction before hitting another "big" town (using the term loosely, because Bloomington-Normal is one of the closest to the west is about 150K, so not huge, but still quite a populated area). I want to believe LE has some sense of which way they headed, but the fact they've put up billboards both in St. Louis and in Indianapolis, in addition to around IL, makes me fear that they do not.

Additionally, they could have totally avoided interstates and went on country roads that are very empty and typically surrounded by high corn (speaking mostly about the area surrounding Champaign-Urbana, but also true beyond especially in central Illinois). I've driven many of the country roads close to here before, and they are empty- it's the norm that you can drive in the middle of the road because you're unlikely to see another car and roll through stop signs and whatnot.

Of course we have no idea which they went, but there's a lot of interstate and country road in Illinois, and the interstates outside of the Chicago area do not have tolls that would pick up a car the way the ones in Chicago do.

Having spent a great deal of time in Missouri, I can imagine what those country roads are like. I've driven through IL and IN, but only stopped for gas or to eat. I can't imagine the abductor going far on the interstate, but taking an exit onto one of these country roads. I hate to think about it, but if something happened out there in the corn fields it can't be anything but bad. If he is from that general area he may have already had a place in mind.

 

[Nick_1]

Just doesn't add up. This whole thing just doesn't make sense. I'm going to make a lengthy update with some analysis here in a bit.


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[Elainera]

As for the hitchhiking part, I'm afraid I have to disagree. I personally don't think she would get into a total stranger's car.

Yes it's a lot safer and a lot more convenient in China than in the US to take the public transport. You dont need to buy a car or learn how to drive because the subway is more time efficient and inexpensive. However, someone like her, who is more cautious and obviously well-educated, would probably not get into a strangers car. My friends and I would never get into someone else's car, unless it is a Uber or something.

This is also much discussed in Chinese forums, because half of them believe she might be too naive and got into the car, and half dont believe that.

I think the perp must be somewhat attractive, or someone who knows Mandarin(she does not speak Cantonese), or someone she is slightly acquainted with but cant really remember.

Hi HeatherLiu, do you think there might be a politeness factor involved? She is new in the US and a friendly American offers a ride and she doesn't want to say 'No' because that could seem impolite?

 

[Bird of Paradise]

I guess it's a possibility, but I think all police across the world should at least have a police car. Maybe he had a fake badge and lied about being a plain clothes officer.

However, from the video, some of us believe she actively approached him instead of him approaching her, which is why we speculate she might know him. But again, maybe she was just at the wrong place for the wrong time.

BBM

I'm late to the thread but after watching the video I noticed the same thing. She didn't approach hesitantly, she walked straight up to the car. Was the first thing that struck me.

 

[Bird of Paradise]

Hi HeatherLiu, do you think there might be a politeness factor involved? She is new in the US and a friendly American offers a ride and she doesn't want to say 'No' because that could seem impolite?

Trying to put myself in that position of being on the sidewalk and a car pulls over. Even a P.O. I would stand in place a few moments to listen if he is talking through the window. I would not walk right up to the door. The video appeared to me more like she was expecting the car -- like a ride. I see it often as people use my business location to stand in front of to get a lift from Uber and the various other transport services. They are expecting the car and walk up to the curb immediately.

This could be nothing, but an observation I noticed on the video.

 

[Ven]

I think if she were expecting the car though, and in a hurry to get to her destination because she was late, then she would have just got in the vehicle.

Instead, she remained on the side, talking to the driver for a couple minutes. That's why I don't think she was expecting that person or vehicle.

Did she know him? Possible I guess? But again, if he was circling the area asking other girls to get in his vehicle all day, considering Yingying did not know many people in the area, and most of the people she knew were probably Chinese I'm guessing, then I think it's extremely, extremely remote and unlikely that she knew this person. Additionally, the suspect doesn't appear to be local to the area.

The FBI is strongly suggesting that this was a stranger abduction with Yingying being in great danger from the very beginning. That degree of confidence from LE is very rare. The billboards all throughout the midwest...it all suggests she did not know this person who abducted her and drove away.

 

[HeatherLiu]

Hi HeatherLiu, do you think there might be a politeness factor involved? She is new in the US and a friendly American offers a ride and she doesn't want to say 'No' because that could seem impolite?

I guess it's possible, but according to her friends, she always tells them where she is if she's going out. One thing to remember is, her phone was't turned off immediately after she got into the car. I think they lost the signal a few hours later, maybe when her phone died. If it really was a stranger, and he did not grab her phone & smash it, then she must had texted something to someone and had told them about a nice stranger helping her, in my opinion.