Index.php

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - The Latest on the Illinois disappearance of a Chinese scholar (all times local):

11:30 p.m.

A criminal complaint says the smartphone of Brendt Christensen, who is charged in the kidnapping of a visiting Chinese scholar, was used to visit an online forum in April called "Abduction 101," months before the abduction.

Fangqin Wan, a graduate student at the University of Illinois, walks for Yingying Zhang, a Chinese scholar who went missing three weeks ago, Thursday, June 29, 2017, in Urbana, Ill. Illinois students and others from the wider community are gathering at the Urbana-Champaign campus to show support for the Chinese scholar who disappeared three weeks ago. (Holly Hart/The News-Gazette via AP)

The federal charging document released Friday says that among the threads on the forum was one entitled, "Perfect abduction fantasy."

Authorities said in a statement they believe Yingying Zhang to be dead. She disappeared on June 9, just weeks after arriving at the University of Illinois.

The charging paper only briefly mentions the online forum. It doesn't provide details about the content of the forum.

___

9 p.m.

Authorities say a man has been charged in Illinois with kidnapping a visiting Chinese scholar who was last seen three weeks ago.

Federal authorities say a criminal complaint charges 28-year-old Brendt Christensen of Champaign, Illinois, with kidnapping Yingying Zhang on June 9.

In its federal court filing, the FBI alleges Christensen was driving the black car observed on security camera video as it stopped next to Zhang at a corner near the University of Illinois.

Zhang is observed on video entering the front passenger side of the vehicle.

The affidavit filed in support of the complaint says Christensen was under surveillance Thursday when agents overheard him explaining that he kidnapped Zhang. Authorities say based on this and other facts uncovered during the investigation, agents believe Zhang is no longer alive.

___

This update has been corrected to show that Christensen's age is 28, not 27.

___

10 a.m.

Hundreds of people gathered at the University of Illinois to show support for a Chinese scholar who disappeared mua ruột gối hanvico hà nội three weeks ago.

Students and other community members participated in events Thursday night at the Urbana-Champaign campus, including a walk and concert.

Twenty-six-year-old Yingying Zhang was last seen the afternoon of June 9 getting into a black car. The FBI announced this week that the car had been found, but it provided no detail.

Zhang's father, Ronggao Zhang, carried a banner during the walk.

The Chinese Students and Scholars Association as among the events' organizers. Some 5,600 Chinese are enrolled at the University of Illinois. Yingying Zhang had been conducting research in the agricultural sciences.

Yingying Zhang's father Ronggao Zhang, left, and her friend Xiaolin Hou carry the banner as community members join together to walk for Yingying, a Chinese scholar who went missing three weeks ago, Thursday, June 29, 2017, in Urbana, Ill. Illinois students and others from the wider community are gathering at the Urbana-Champaign campus to show support for the Chinese scholar who disappeared three mua ruột gối hanvico hà nội weeks ago. (Holly Hart/The News-Gazette via AP)

This undated photo provided by the University of Illinois Police Department shows Yingying Zhang. Police said the FBI is investigating the disappearance of Zhang, a Chinese woman from a central Illinois university town, as a kidnapping. Zhang was about a month into a yearlong appointment at the University of Illinois' Urbana-Champaign when she disappeared June 9, 2017. (Courtesy of the University of Illinois Police Department via AP)