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

[liltexans]

Missing Chinese student's family to kidnapper: Let her come home

Meanwhile the search for Zhang Yingying is not stopping, with Chinese communities across the state of Illinois and the whole of the US trying to find her.

The family said on Thursday they would remain in the US for as long as it takes to find Zhang.

"We all miss you very, very much and we ask Yingying, never ever, ever give up and we will forever find you," a message from Zhang's boyfriend said, revealing his and her family's determination to find her.

 

[Elainera]

As WideOpen says, caught on camera several times, in broad daylight, rare car model .... I mean, who does that??? Who is so brazen?

Could this man be innocent? Could he really just have been a nice traveling salesman offering a girl stranded in the heat a ride? Could he have dropped her off at her destination and something happened to her there?

I know I'm reaching. Just trying to think of alternative scenarios.

 

[liltexans]

[video=twitter;878501421729148928]https://twitter.com/yicaichina/status/878501421729148928[/video]

 

[liltexans]

[video=twitter;878280561873178624]https://twitter.com/WCIA3Jenn/status/878280561873178624[/video]

 

[liltexans]

News video at this link, including interviews with Yingying's family and some really nice photos of Yingying:

http://www.illinoishomepage.net/news/local-news/family-of-missing-scholar-has-a-message/748772529

 

[liltexans]

[video=twitter;878259272152358913]https://twitter.com/WILLJimMeadows/status/878259272152358913[/video]

 

[liltexans]

As Search For Missing Scholar Continues, International Students Express Frustration With Pace

“They are frustrated and they wish they could contribute more to this event, to push things forward,” Ping said.

University spokeswoman Robin Kaler said frustration is understandable but should not be directed at investigators.

“So, be angry at us if you want, be angry at me if you want, but they’re going to do their jobs,” Kaler told the several dozen people at the forum.


Some in the crowd Thursday raised questions about everything from whether the university community could offer technical expertise and resources, to whether the university should have better, higher-resolution cameras and have them in more places than it does now.

Holloway said the FBI has the best forensic resources available, while university police Chief Jeff Christensen said the university has roughly 1,500 cameras in place and plans to add more and, in some cases, better cameras.

 

[LoremIpsum]

This is facing the corner she was on. What is interesting to me, is that there is an emergency box right there in the corner. They are all over campus. Makes me assume she didn't feel threatened before getting into the car. Otherwise she could have run over there and slapped the button before the person in the car could do anything.

Also, some posts have been saying she immediately walked up to the car in the video. Keep in mind that the speed of the video has been edited - it's all happening much quicker than it appears. I would not assume she knew the person in the car based on that.

Video of the area: https://youtu.be/7FGiDnMW5gk

 

[LadyL]

[bbm] that's a lot of cameras
sadly, criminals have proven that cameras don't deter them

As Search For Missing Scholar Continues, International Students Express Frustration With Pace

“They are frustrated and they wish they could contribute more to this event, to push things forward,” Ping said.

University spokeswoman Robin Kaler said frustration is understandable but should not be directed at investigators.

“So, be angry at us if you want, be angry at me if you want, but they’re going to do their jobs,” Kaler told the several dozen people at the forum.


Some in the crowd Thursday raised questions about everything from whether the university community could offer technical expertise and resources, to whether the university should have better, higher-resolution cameras and have them in more places than it does now.

Holloway said the FBI has the best forensic resources available, while university police Chief Jeff Christensen said the university has roughly 1,500 cameras in place and plans to add more and, in some cases, better cameras.

 

[LadyL]

seems deserted ... and after the fact, feels creepy ...
is this whole area the campus? where is everyone? is school out?

ETA: Thank you for driving there & posting the video for us!

A view of the area for those unfamiliar. Video taken this morning; not very busy out.

https://youtu.be/7FGiDnMW5gk

 

[EIM]

seems deserted ... and after the fact, feels creepy ...
is this whole area the campus? where is everyone? is school out?

ETA: Thank you for driving there & posting the video for us!

Campus is very quiet in summer. Most of the undergrads leave and and it's just faculty/staff and grad students there. Even some of the graduate programs break for summer and people go home or have internships.

Sent from my LGUS997 using Tapatalk

 

[GigTu]

In the series of three stills, I have this awful feeling that we are seeing the driver grab her hair/back of her head and pulling her down to his lap to possibly hide her from sight. The image where we can see his hand on the wheel, it looks as if his right elbow is being held high, as if over her torso.

Still not sure how he could drive easily like this if she was fighting back/conscious, but it would explain how quickly she seems to disappear from view.

Hoping for a safe return <3

I don't have the link handy, but it's been posted multiple times in the thread that this particular shot was taken before Yingying was picked up. Also, when this exact image is not cartoonized, if you zoom in on a larger device you can see a watch, and him wearing a maroon sleeveless shirt.

 

[GigTu]

As WideOpen says, caught on camera several times, in broad daylight, rare car model .... I mean, who does that??? Who is so brazen?

Could this man be innocent? Could he really just have been a nice traveling salesman offering a girl stranded in the heat a ride? Could he have dropped her off at her destination and something happened to her there?

I know I'm reaching. Just trying to think of alternative scenarios.

If so, why hasn't he come forward? I think he took her with nefarious intentions.

 

[LadyL]

sbm/bbm

speaking from a woman's perspective who has stupidly in my younger years gotten in cars with men who offered me a ride (a handful of times that I can remember atm)(yes, I know I was foolish) ... I got in the front seat every time except once where two guys were in the front so my friend & I got in the back, then we got the willies and hopped out after a few blocks

I can't think of any logic that would make the back seat more appropriate or safer from Yingying's perspective; in fact it might seem awkward unless it was a cab but if someone is being 'nice' and offering a ride, you don't sit in their back seat IMO

Finally, the victim entered the vehicle through the front passenger door. That's a critical piece of information. She entered the car voluntarily, as listed in the missing persons poster. As another poster noted, she is a 26 year old intellectual individual. Yes, she is from China, but that doesn't diminish her intellectual level. Even if she entered the car under some sort of false pretense, why did she choose to sit directly next to the driver? The victim's intellectual level leads me to believe that even if she somehow was convinced to enter the vehicle, with a complete stranger, she would have gotten in the backseat. She may be new to this country and get in the backseat of a stranger's vehicle, but not the front, I believe.

Once again, that's what I have viewed as notable based on what we know. Until more information is released, we simply do not know what happened.

I apologize for any grammatical errors that I may have made; it's a bit late. If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

- Nick

 

[Gardener1850]

As WideOpen says, caught on camera several times, in broad daylight, rare car model .... I mean, who does that??? Who is so brazen?

Could this man be innocent? Could he really just have been a nice traveling salesman offering a girl stranded in the heat a ride? Could he have dropped her off at her destination and something happened to her there?

I know I'm reaching. Just trying to think of alternative scenarios.

I think he would have been found and cleared by now if that was the case. Maybe he stole the car or borrowed it from someone he knew without their knowledge?

 

[Webthrush]

Always surprised in these cases, where a suspect vehicle model is known, that LE can&#8217;t immediately home in on a subset of &#8216;interesting persons&#8217;. In our digitally-interlocked world can&#8217;t a few questions, like the following, in a computer database produce a rank-ordered list in a few minutes for further inquiry?:


1) Black Saturn Astros registered in the central Illinois area (and from there outward in concentric circles)
2) BSA owners with criminal records (especially violent records)
3) male BSA owners under the age of say 60
4) any BSAs stolen recently
5) any BSAs put up for sale in last couple weeks


I realize there are LOTS of ways the answers to such searches could actually lead authorities astray, but still, you have to start somewhere. Perhaps such algorithms have been run and police just aren&#8217;t releasing any info or leads generated, hating to point fingers at innocent people &#8212; I&#8217;d think in 2-weeks time there could be a computer inventory of every black Astra in the country. Anybody know more about how this vehicle-tracing business works (or doesn&#8217;t work)?
Really hoping LE knows MUCH more than they&#8217;re saying, because they&#8217;re closing in on the perp and don&#8217;t want to spook him, but it&#8217;s been a long 2 wks.

 

[LoremIpsum]

seems deserted ... and after the fact, feels creepy ...
is this whole area the campus? where is everyone? is school out?

ETA: Thank you for driving there & posting the video for us!

Video is from this morning. Not a lot of students out and about early Saturday mornings when school is out. Especially not on the northern edge of the engineering campus.

In the photo here, purple is the route I drove. Red is the area generally referred to as campus. Orange is Orchard Downs, her current residence. The blue is One North, where she was to be signing a lease.

 

[HoldySi]

I think it's important to keep in mind that a cultural/language barrier may have existed here. Also that she had only been at UIUC for a month. Someone would've had to specifically tell her about the blue emergency boxes and what their purpose is (IMO) in order for her to have the forethought to think to use one. I take daily walks on campus during my work breaks and hardly give those a second thought when I pass one- though now I'll sure be paying more attention.

I can't get past the similarities of this case to the Libby/Abby case. Broad daylight, surveillance video of the suspect, and still nothing! Brazen continues to be the best word for these crimes, I just can't imagine the state of mind of these perps.

 

[Elainera]

If so, why hasn't he come forward? I think he took her with nefarious intentions.

He might not be in the area anymore and hasn't even heard of Yingying going missing.

 

[GigTu]

She wouldn't have used an emergency box because she didn't realize she was entering a dangerous person's car. She got into the car willingly, by her own choice, calmly and casually.