Bail Denied in Kidnapping of Yingying Zhang

 
A judge today in Urbana, Illinois denied bail for Brendt Christensen, the University of Illinois-Champaign graduate student accused of luring visiting Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang into a vehicle, and kidnapping her.
 
The News-Gazette reports U.S. Magistrate Judge Eric Long called Christensen a flight risk and a danger to the community.
 
A federal criminal complaint disclosed today alleged Christensen attended a public vigil for Zhang and picked out other potential victims.
 
The complaint also said prosecutors had audio of Christensen explaining how Zhang “fought and resisted” when he brought her back to his apartment and that he also explained the “characteristics of an ideal victim.”
 
According to the Stevens Point Journal, Christensen attended Stevens Point High School in Wisconsin where he graduated in 2007.
 
“I can’t really say that I saw it coming or had an inclination that he would do this,” said Lawrence Andersen who was a teammate of Christensen on Stevens Point wrestling and football teams. “It’s terrible,” he told the Journal.
 
Professor Matthew Herndon worked with Christensen when he was an undergraduate.
 
“We met weekly in order for me to direct his research. To me he seemed to be a completely typical student, not unusual in any way,” Herndon said.
 
Zhang was last seen alive June 9 when she was seen on surveillance video getting into a vehicle believed to belong to Christensen. Authorities say she is presumed dead.
 
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