Suspect in university kidnapping visited "Abduction 101" forum, FBI says

 The FBI says a suspected kidnapper visited an online forum called "Abduction 101."

Brendt Christensen will appear in court Monday for allegedly kidnapping Yingying Zhang, a scholar at the University of Illinois. She is still nowhere to be found, but investigators believe she is dead.

A criminal complaint says investigators searched Christensen's phone and discovered he had visited a website called "FetLife" where the user went to a forum with threads that included "Perfect abduction fantasy" and "planning a kidnapping."

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UPDATE (WKOW) -- A UW-Madison spokesperson confirms to 27 News Brendt Christensen graduated from UW-Madison in 2013 with a double major in physics and math. The university has not released any other comment on the investigation.

********URBANA, IL (WKOW) -- A UW-Madison graduate is charged with kidnapping a Chinese student who is now believed to be dead, according to reports by the Associated Press.

Brendt Allen Christensen is in federal custody, awaiting a court appearance Monday in the kidnapping of Yingying Zhang, 26, a scholar at the University of Illinois. 

The Associated Press reports Christensen was admitted to the university's competitive physics graduate program in 2013. The AP reports public records show Christensen previously lived in Stevens Point and graduated from UW-Madison in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in physics and math. A criminal complaint shows Christensen's vehicle was seen in an apartment complex parking lot a few days after Zhang went missing. He was put under surveillance and investigators captured an audio recording where he explained how he took Zhang to his apartment and held her against his will, according to the court documents. 

For more on this story: http://www.wkow.com/story/35796519/2017/07/01/ap-university-of-illinois-kidnapping-suspect-graduated-from-uw-madison


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