Mother of Chinese student missing presumed dead in US ‘doesn’t know how to live’ without her
Brendt Christensen has been charged with kidnapping and killing Zhang Yingying, 26, but the mystery of her disappearance remains unsolved
For more than four months, Zhang Ronggao has walked to his missing daughter’s flat almost every day. At first, he stood outside, hoping she would show up. But even after he was told she had been kidnapped and was presumed dead, he has continued his routine.
“It brings peace and comfort to my heart,” Zhang explained in Mandarin, through a translator.
His daughter, Zhang Yingying, a 26-year-old visiting student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US, disappeared on June 9 on her way to sign a lease on a flat. A former student from the same campus has been charged with kidnapping and killing her, but Zhang’s body has not been found.
A few days ago, Zhang’s father made a final visit to the Orchard Downs flats with his wife, 24-year-old son and daughter’s boyfriend as they prepared to return to China. They arrived in Urbana after Zhang vanished, hopeful in the beginning that she would be found alive. After authorities relayed the grim news, they decided to stay until her remains were found so they could take her home for a proper burial, in accordance with Chinese customs.