Yingying Zhang, the daughter of a working-class factory driver from China, disappeared on June 9, just weeks after arriving at the University of Illinois where she was pursuing studies in agriculture sciences.
Federal authorities say Brendt Christensen, 27, of Champaign, Illinois, is charged in a criminal complaint with abducting Zhang shortly after she stepped off a bus near the university campus. Video show her getting into the front seat of a black Saturn Astra.
Authorities say based on that and other facts uncovered during the investigation, agents believe Zhang is no longer alive.
Asked last night if authorities had any leads on where Zhang's body might be located, the spokesman for the FBI Springfield office, Bradley Ware, declined comment.
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Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones said in a statement the campus community is saddened by the news Zhang is believed dead.
"This is a senseless and devastating loss of a promising young woman and a member of our community," Jones said. "There is nothing we can do to ease the sadness or grief for her family and friends, but we can and we will come together to support them in any way we can in these difficult days ahead."
The vehicle belonging to Christensen was first observed June 12 in an apartment complex parking lot, and investigators questioned him. The affidavit stated that investigators noted Christensen couldn't recall what he was doing on the day Zhang disappeared. They searched the vehicle but didn't remove anything.
Investigators later determined the car in the video had a sunroof and cracked hubcap, like the vehicle belonging to Christensen, according to the affidavit.
Christensen said the woman panicked after he apparently made a wrong turn and he let her out in a residential area.
The court document indicates a search of Christensen's car indicates the area where Zhang was believed to have been sitting had been cleaned.