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Associated Press

The parents of Zhang Yingying, a visiting University of Illinois scholar who disappeared two years ago, have arrived in Illinois from China for the murder trial of the man accused of abducting and killing her.
Lawyer Steve Beckett told The News-Gazette that Zhang Ronggao and Ye Lifeng arrived in Champaign over the weekend with their son.

Their daughter went missing from the school’s Urbana-Champaign campus in June 2017.
Former Illinois student Brendt Christensen is charged with killing Zhang, whose body has not been found.
Man charged with student’s kidnap visited ‘Abduction 101’ website
He pleaded not guilty and his trial is set to begin on Monday.
The family said in a statement that they “want to be present on behalf of Yingying and follow the case closely”.
Beckett says the family plans to be in Peoria on Monday for the beginning of the proceedings.

Zhang’s family, who are from China’s Fujian province, also travelled to Illinois soon after she went missing.


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Chinese overseas

Vanished Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying’s parents arrive in US for trial of her alleged killer, Brendt Christensen

Zhang Ronggao and Ye Lifeng display a photo of them with their daughter Zhang Yingying in Urbana, Illinois in November 2017. Photo: AP

FILE - This photo provided by the Macon County Sheriff's Office in Decatur, Ill., shows Brendt Christensen. Lawyers for Christensen, who is accused of killing Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang, say they are abandoning their mental-health defense. His attorneys had been planning to argue he suffered from severe mental illness in an attempt to avoid the death penalty if he is convicted. Mental health exams were scheduled to begin Monday, April 29, 2019. The attorneys gave no reason in a Friday filing. (Macon County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

This undated photo provided by the University of Illinois Police Department shows Yingying Zhang. The parents of the visiting University of Illinois scholar who disappeared two years ago have arrived in Illinois from China for the murder trial of the man accused of abducting and killing her. Former Illinois student Brendt Christensen is charged with Zheng, whose body hasn't been found. He pleaded not guilty and his trial is set to begin Monday, June 3, 2019. (Courtesy of the University of Illinois Police Department via AP)

US man Brendt Christensen, accused of killing visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying, abandons mental health defence

Zhang Yingying, a visiting scholar at the University of Illinois, went missing in 2017. Photo: University of Illinois Police Department via TNS

US student Brendt Christensen, accused of killing Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying, claims he was denied care when seeking help for homicidal thoughts

An undated file photo of Zhang Yingying. Photo: University of Illinois Police Department via AP

Yingying Zhang, visiting scholar missing from University of Illinois, in June 2017. (University of Illinois Police Department/TNS)

FILE - This undated photo provided by the Macon County Sheriff's Office in Decatur, Ill., shows Brendt Christensen. Lawyers for Christensen, a former University of Illinois student accused of killing Chinese scholar Yingying Zhang say university counselors didn't offer him adequate care when he sought help for homicidal thoughts months before Zhang went missing. A Tuesday, April 9, 2019, statement from the Champaign-based school says counseling center staff are trained to provide care "consistent with the best practices in mental health care nationally." (Macon County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

Ronggao Zhang, left, and Lifeng Ye, display a photo them with their missing daughter, Yingying Zhang, in Urbana, Ind., Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. They had hoped to stay in the United States until the remains of their daughter were found. But after months of agony, they are ready to return to China, where they will wait for answers half a world away. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Brendt Christensen (right) is accused of kidnapping and killing Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying in Urbana, Illinois, in 2017. Photos: AP

Evidence against suspected killer of Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying includes bloody handprint and cadaver dog’s reaction in Illinois flat

FILE - This photo provided by the Macon County Sheriff's Office in Decatur, Ill., shows Brendt Christensen. Prosecutors are building a case based partly on a bloody handprint and responses of a cadaver-sniffing dog that Christensen, a former University of Illinois student, killed a Chinese scholar in his apartment near campus. Prosecutors revealed more of their evidence in a series of public filings, on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019, saying it will help prove to jurors that Christensen kidnapped, tortured and killed Yingying Zhang in 2017. (Macon County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

This 2016 selfie photo provided by her family shows Yingying Zhang in a cap and gown for her graduate degree in environmental engineering from Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School. She chose the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for its highly regarded agriculture program. Zhang had been doing research on crop photosynthesis and was to begin her doctoral work in September 2017. (Family Photo via AP)

Zhang Yingying went missing from the University of Illinois in June 2017. Photo: University of Illinois Police Department/TNS

News

China

World

United States & Canada

Zhang Ronggao and Ye Lifeng say they ‘want to be present on behalf of Yingying and follow the case closely’
Christensen pleaded not guilty and his trial is set to begin on Monday


Zhang Ronggao and Ye Lifeng say they ‘want to be present on behalf of Yingying and follow the case closely’.


Crime

United States

Vanished Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying’s parents arrive in US for trial of her alleged killer, Brendt Christensen

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Zhang Ronggao and Ye Lifeng say they ‘want to be present on behalf of Yingying and follow the case closely’ Christensen pleaded not guilty and his trial is set to begin on Monday

Zhang Ronggao and Ye Lifeng say they ‘want to be present on behalf of Yingying and follow the case closely’

Christensen pleaded not guilty and his trial is set to begin on Monday