A hearing is scheduled Wednesday to determine whether the Champaign man charged with kidnapping in the disappearance of visiting University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang will be held without bond. Brendt Christensen made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Urbana on Monday.
The man accused of kidnapping Yingying Zhang is scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court Monday morning. Brendt Christensen, 27, of Champaign was arrested Friday, three weeks after 26-year-old Zhang went missing.
The FBI has made an arrest in the Yingying Zhang case, and the agency believes that the 26-year-old University of Illinois visiting scholar from China is dead. The FBI said in a news release that agents arrested 27-year-old Brendt Christensen of Champaign, a former University of Illinois graduate student, on Friday.
While the search for missing University of Illinois scholar Yingying Zhang closes its third week, University of Illinois officials say about 350 people marched through campus Thursday night and gathered for a concert by a group of Chinese students.
As the state of Illinois approaches two years without a full budget, University of Illinois president Timothy Killeen remains optimistic that legislators and the governor will come to an agreement.
