Man held in Illinois abduction was a graduate student
CHICAGO — The 28-year-old Illinois man charged with kidnapping a Chinese scholar now believed to be dead was among a select few admitted to the University of Illinois’ highly competitive physics graduate program in 2013.
Christensen is in federal custody awaiting a court appearance Monday in the June 9 kidnapping of Yingying Zhang, the 26-year-old daughter of a working-class factory driver from China.
Weeks ago, Zhang arrived at the university to conduct research in agricultural sciences and planned to begin work on her doctorate in the fall.
A criminal complaint accuses Christensen, of Champaign, of abducting Zhang shortly after she stepped off a bus near the university campus.
According to an affidavit filed in federal court, Christensen was under surveillance Thursday when agents overheard him explaining he had kidnapped Zhang.
Public records show Christensen lived previously in Stevens Point, Wis., and his LinkedIn profile states he graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2013 with bachelor’s degrees in physics and math.