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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any time you need support
00:01:55
please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support please see the show
00:02:00
notes for this episode on your app or on our website in mid-2017 emily hogan was far from
00:02:14
home the british graduate student was studying abroad in the us at the university of illinois 135 miles
00:02:23
southwest of chicago the campus which is nearly equally distributed between neighbouring twin
00:02:30
cities urbana and champaign was and remains popular with international students in that year alone
00:02:39
almost 11 000 students from 113 countries attended uiuc over half were from china on the
00:02:50
morning of friday june 9 2017 emily was walking the streets of urbana-champaign alone she was on her way to a bus stop
00:03:00
when at around 9 30 a black four-door car pulled up alongside her behind the wheel
00:03:07
was a male driver wearing mirrored aviator sunglasses and a black t-shirt he wound down the driver's side window
00:03:16
and yelled out to emily i'm an undercover cop and said he was doing some work in the area he then
00:03:25
flashed what appeared to be a police badge that was hanging around his neck on a chain
00:03:32
emily approached the car the undercover officer requested that she get in so he could ask her some questions about
00:03:39
things that had been going on in the neighborhood emily paused something about this
00:03:47
situation didn't seem right sensing that the man wasn't really a cop emily firmly said no before backing away
00:03:57
surprised by her answer the men remarked well if you see anything suspicious call
00:04:04
the police he then drove away unsettled by the encounter emily phoned the university of illinois campus police
00:04:17
they scoured the area but failed to find the so-called undercover cop a bulletin was published
00:04:25
alerting the college community of the potential danger and emily posted about the incident on
00:04:30
facebook where it quickly spread among campus forums she described to the man and his ploy
00:04:38
but couldn't recall the make or model of his car simply referring to it as a black sedan
00:04:45
she warned other students don't get into the car even if they claim to be police
00:04:53
or have a badge [Music] [Music] [Music] friday june 9 was a warm sunny day the sprawling grounds of the university
00:05:28
of illinois were unusually quiet with many students off for the summer break visiting family
00:05:34
vacationing or completing work placements that morning ying yin zhang a 26 year old international student from china
00:05:44
arrived on campus and headed for the laboratory where she worked she set about cleaning some equipment
00:05:52
with her colleague and friend guo fung meow guovong had been a pillar of support for yin ying
00:05:59
who had found herself struggling while in america ying ying had been attending the uiuc
00:06:06
for a little over a month now her plan was to complete a year-long research appointment
00:06:12
focusing on photosynthesis in soybeans and corn but she found herself longing for home
00:06:20
she missed her family and the closeness they shared ying ying was also concerned that her
00:06:27
english wasn't as fluent as she'd believed it to be [Music] in an effort to distract herself
00:06:34
ying-ying threw herself into her work where she met and befriended a gorfon the pair helped each other come out of
00:06:43
their shells often sampling new cuisines and travelling together when they took a work trip to nebraska
00:06:51
ying ying was fascinated the state's flat sprawling fields were so different to the hilly landscapes of her
00:06:59
home province and the bustling city of beijing as her homesickness dissipated ying-yin
00:07:07
considered staying on at the uiuc to complete a doctoral program once her appointment had ended
00:07:15
at around noon ying yin got permission from guafong to take a longer lunch break than usual
00:07:22
this would give her ample time to attend an appointment as she didn't own a car and was reliant
00:07:30
on buses to get around ying yin could be gone for a couple of hours at 12 30 pm she bid gua fong
00:07:39
farewell and headed to her apartment on the south end of campus after having something to eat ying ying
00:07:47
made her way to a nearby bus stop [Music] not long afterwards rontra's stone's cell phone pinged
00:07:58
it was 1 30 pm and he had just received a text message it was from yin yin zhang who he had an
00:08:07
appointment with that afternoon she informed ron tras that she was running late and would now be meeting him at around
00:08:15
10 past two [Music] rontras was the marketing manager for one north student living apartments two miles from
00:08:24
the uiuc one north was an off-campus residential facility that offered university students a range
00:08:31
of amenities and social events its apartments were modern and nicely furnished and the complex was safe and secure with
00:08:40
an on-site property manager and gated grounds one north appealed to yin ying as it was
00:08:47
less expensive than her current residence their apartments were also larger and even had a spare bedroom
00:08:56
yin-ying was excited maybe she could find a roommate to help her overcome her loneliness
00:09:04
by early june she'd submitted an application and scheduled an appointment to view an apartment
00:09:11
yin ying had planned to meet rhontre stone at around lunch time on friday june 9.
00:09:18
when rontress received a text from yin ying informing him that she was running late
00:09:23
and would be there just after 2pm he replied to say it was fine he continued to wait but ying-ying was a
00:09:32
no-show rontras pulled out his phone opened his messages and typed hey ying ying
00:09:41
just checking in to see if you're on your way he never received a reply by the middle of the afternoon ying ying
00:09:56
had not yet returned to the lab this concerned her colleagues over the past month
00:10:02
she had proved herself to be a responsible employee she wasn't someone who would take half a
00:10:09
day off on a whim [Music] guerphon was particularly worried for her friend the pair had discussed to getting dinner
00:10:17
together that night ying ying would always confirm plans with her first but gua fong hadn't heard a thing
00:10:27
at around 4 pm guo fong and others rang ying ying's mobile phone there was no answer
00:10:35
[Music] guofeng was forced to grab dinner alone she rushed back to the laboratory at
00:10:43
around 6 15 to check if ying ying had returned there was still no sign of her guo fong then went to yin ying's
00:10:53
apartment but no one answered the door convinced something was wrong guofeng reported
00:11:01
ying ying missing to the campus police as it was a friday night they were inclined to think ying-ying might have
00:11:10
just gone out but the overt concern expressed by her colleagues hinted that something was
00:11:18
truly amiss officer ezard hoskins headed over to ying ying's apartment to check up on her
00:11:26
but no one came to the door although the student population had dwindled over the
00:11:32
break there were still plenty of young people milling about no one recalled seeing yin ying
00:11:41
during his search hoskins continued to call yin ying's cell phone each time it rang out
00:11:51
officer hoskins headed back to ying ying's apartment her worried colleagues were gathered
00:11:57
outside awaiting news hoskins noticed that a business card he had left at yin ying's front door
00:12:05
hadn't been touched housing staff unlocked the apartment and hoskins entered with a colleague
00:12:12
to conduct a preliminary search the apartment was lived in but nothing appeared to be out of place
00:12:21
an unassembled bicycle laying in the living room there were several pots and pans out in
00:12:26
the kitchen the covers of yin ying's bed were pulled back slightly some cash had been left on top of a
00:12:34
dresser the officers agreed that everything appeared to indicate that ying ying had
00:12:40
intended to return by midnight ying-ying was still missing as the situation had become increasingly
00:12:52
dire yin ying's colleagues phoned her family in china her father raced home from work and her
00:13:00
mother fainted upon hearing the news one of the last people yin ying spoke to from back home
00:13:08
was her boyfriend xiao ling the couple had been classmates at university in china
00:13:14
and started dating towards the end of their first year of studies they were maintaining a long-distance
00:13:21
relationship while ying-ying was in the u.s and hoped to get married later in the
00:13:26
year [Music] ying ying spoke to xiao ling on the phone the night before she vanished
00:13:34
she was looking forward to moving apartments and detailed her plans to sign a lease for her new place the
00:13:40
following day xiaoling was certain that something terrible must have happened he knew ying ying would never want to
00:13:49
cause undue concern to others he called her over and over but there was never any
00:13:57
answer [Music] officers spoke with the rentress stone the one north student living apartment's
00:14:05
marketing manager he hadn't heard from yin ying since she texted him to say she was running late to their
00:14:12
appointment phone records revealed that yin ying's cell phone was last active on the afternoon she vanished
00:14:22
it pinged a cell tower in downtown champaign around a four minute drive from the uiuc
00:14:30
the final ping was at 2 28 pm near 20 minutes after she had planned to get to one north
00:14:40
the champagne urbana mass transit district is a bus network that serves both cities
00:14:48
locally it's known as the mtd this was the system used by yin ying to navigate around
00:14:55
town buses within the mtd are equipped with multiple cctv cameras while examining footage taken by the
00:15:05
vehicles on june 9 investigators caught sight of yin ying outside her apartment building
00:15:11
at 1 35 p.m a buses external camera captured yin ying as she boarded internal cameras recorded
00:15:21
her as she walked down the aisle and found a seat she was dressed in jeans a pink and
00:15:28
white long sleeve shirt with a white top underneath and white shoes she was carrying a navy
00:15:35
blue backpack and on her head was a grey baseball cap the bus was operating on what was called
00:15:43
the teal line its route took passengers north east through the college campus at 1 52 pm it stopped at the
00:15:54
intersection of springfield and matthews avenues in urbana where yin ying disembarked
00:16:02
as this site was still about one and a half miles south of the one north apartments
00:16:07
it seemed likely that ying ying had intended to transfer to another bus four minutes later a bus known as the 22
00:16:16
limited travelled through the area the vehicle's external cameras filmed yin ying walking north along
00:16:24
springfield avenue towards another stop when ying ying noticed the bus passing her she ran after it and attempted to
00:16:33
flag it it was clear she wanted the board however as she was on the wrong side of the road
00:16:41
it continued on without stopping the bus turned left onto a street named to goodwin avenue
00:16:51
ying-ying chased after it but didn't make it to the next stop in time and ultimately missed it
00:17:00
to piece together yin ying's movements from then onwards investigators pulled footage from
00:17:06
security cameras in the vicinity of her last known location uiuc campus police telecommunications
00:17:14
officer kenny costa was scrutinizing footage taken from a parking garage camera when he noticed something standing
00:17:23
across the road was yin ying waiting by a bus stop she had seemingly continued along
00:17:30
goodwin avenue to the stop after missing the bus officer costa kept watching the video
00:17:41
at 2pm a black four-door hatchback could be seen driving south along goodwin avenue
00:17:47
on the opposite side of the road from yin ying the car then turned left onto a side
00:17:54
street before reappearing on goodwin avenue several minutes later this time it was on yin ying's side of
00:18:02
the street the vehicle approached her slowed down and pulled over ying-ying approached the
00:18:11
car and chatted to the driver through the passenger window after almost a minute she opened the
00:18:19
front passenger door and climbed inside closing the door behind her the car then pulled away from the curb
00:18:28
continued north along goodwin avenue and disappeared from view this sequence of events bore striking
00:18:37
similarities to an incident reported to police just hours before yin ying vanished
00:18:44
another uiuc student emily hogan had been approached by a black car in a similar manner
00:18:51
while walking alone to a bus stop in emily's instance the car's male driver posed as an undercover police
00:18:59
officer in an attempt to coax her into his vehicle the area where emily was confronted was
00:19:07
roughly four blocks from where yin yin zheng was taken other security cameras in the area
00:19:19
captured the car containing yin-ying travelling a quarter mile before it turned onto a street named
00:19:25
university avenue it couldn't be tracked any further it appeared as though the motorist had
00:19:33
been following yin ying well before approaching her as she chased after the bus the black vehicle was filmed driving
00:19:42
along the same road no matter how they looked at the footage investigators couldn't get a clear view
00:19:50
of the driver or the vehicle's license plate they tried zooming in but the images became too pixelated
00:19:59
however the footage was sufficient to identify the vehicle as a black satin astra this was a very
00:20:07
rare macond model saturn astras were first produced in 2008 but due to the global financial crisis
00:20:15
only a few thousand were sold the model was discontinued after just one year of production
00:20:24
police firmly believed that ying ying had been kidnapped as there was a chance she might have
00:20:30
been transported across state lines the fbi were brought in to assist the investigation
00:20:38
a list of all saturn astras registered in the county was quickly obtained there were approximately 26 in total
00:20:47
of these only 18 were four-door hatchbacks agents began visiting the individuals
00:20:55
that these vehicles were registered to they started with an address in champaign that was the closest
00:21:02
to their field office but none of the inquiries provided any leads back in china yin ying's case was making
00:21:14
headlines the fact that ying ying was from an ordinary family increased intrigue though the household
00:21:23
was full of love ying ying's family did not have much money they lived in a modest apartment with
00:21:30
simple furnishings yin ying's father rong gao was a truck driver her mother li fong was a homemaker who
00:21:40
was unable to read or write the family didn't have much to contribute to any prospective
00:21:48
ransom making the scenario seem unlikely the chinese parents of other students attending college in the us
00:21:57
were gripped by fear that their children might be randomly targeted next yin ying's distraught family couldn't
00:22:05
understand why she would have gotten into a stranger's vehicle her boyfriend speculated that she must
00:22:12
have been desperate to get to her appointment just over a week after yin ying vanished
00:22:21
her boyfriend father and aunt arrived in champaign to join the search her mother was too exhausted to
00:22:29
make the journey she hadn't slept or eaten since learning of yin ying's disappearance
00:22:37
the college community rallied around yin ying's loved ones providing them with housing and meals
00:22:44
students also set up an online fundraiser to support the family financially with an initial goal of thirty thousand
00:22:51
dollars in less than a week eighty thousand dollars had been donated champaign county crime stoppers worked
00:23:00
with the yin ying's family to provide a forty thousand dollar reward for information
00:23:05
leading to an arrest it was the largest of its kind ever offered by the organization
00:23:14
the fbi offered its own reward of ten thousand dollars volunteers assisted as yin ying's family
00:23:22
scoured the streets and followed up on leeds one tip said that ying ying had been
00:23:29
spotted in the city of salem 124 miles southwest of champaign her family made the considerable journey
00:23:39
only to discover the sighting was a case of mistaken identity complicating matters was yin ying's
00:23:47
father's inability to speak english and the difficulties of navigating a foreign country
00:23:54
ron gao zhang struggled to sleep at night and would often leave his bed to go stand outside his daughter's
00:24:01
apartment he waited there for hours hoping ying ying would come home ron gao gave his first media interview
00:24:12
on thursday june 22 through a translator he begged the person who had taken yin ying to return her
00:24:20
before addressing his daughter directly ying be strong dad is waiting for you here
00:24:29
i hope that being a good person you will be safe forever i will wait for you and we will
00:24:36
definitely find you in an effort to raise awareness ying ying's boyfriend xiao ling organised a vigil to take place on
00:24:48
the night of thursday june 29 participants would begin at the campuses krannert center for the
00:24:56
performing arts then walk to the location where ying ying was last seen after pausing at the site they would
00:25:04
return to the krannert center for a concert that evening megan not her real name
00:25:12
received a text message from her boyfriend the pair had only been dating a month
00:25:17
after meeting on a dating website in his message megan's boyfriend requested that she accompany him to the
00:25:26
walk that was being held for ying yin zhang he wrote i am going to this no matter what i'd
00:25:34
love it if you were there with me megan was aware of yin ying's case she asked her boyfriend why he was
00:25:44
interested in going and why he wanted her to go too he replied that he didn't know but he
00:25:52
was asking her to megan agreed when the couple met at the venue megan's boyfriend held up a collar that
00:26:01
she sometimes wore when they were intimate and asked her to put it on [Music] the pair often engaged in acts of bdsm
00:26:11
erotic consensual role-playing that includes bondage discipline dominance and submission
00:26:18
megan refused to wear the collar stating that it wouldn't be appropriate the occasion was too somber and she was
00:26:27
uneasy wearing such an item in public he accepted this and didn't press the matter
00:26:33
[Music] the pair joined the 350 strong crowd including yin ying's loved ones chatting
00:26:42
quietly as they strolled after briefly talking about their relationship megan's boyfriend brought up the nearby
00:26:50
fbi field office he described where it was located then named some of the media agencies
00:26:58
covering the walk he also made some obtuse remarks about the walk's participants
00:27:05
being there for him after a while he picked up one of megan's hands and traced the number 13 on her palm
00:27:15
she was confused the end of the walk megan went to the bathroom when she returned outside her boyfriend
00:27:27
was sitting on a bench waiting for her he grabbed her iphone and tapped away on it before handing it back
00:27:36
he had written a short message on her notes app it read it was me she was number thirteen she's
00:27:48
gone forever after megan had seen the message her boyfriend deleted it the pair then attended the concert
00:28:01
megan's boyfriend exhibited strange behavior throughout the show he consumed a large amount of alcohol
00:28:08
and clapped in a weirdly slow staccato fashion when the crowd gave yin ying's boyfriend
00:28:16
a standing ovation he remained seated at one stage he pointed out another attendee to megan
00:28:25
and remarked that she would make quote a good target by the time the concert concluded megan
00:28:35
was extremely disturbed as the pair walked off her boyfriend brought up the message he had typed
00:28:43
earlier on megan's phone he revealed that he was a serial killer he had started murdering when he was 19
00:28:53
and had killed a total of 13 women he didn't know the names of any victims aside from yin yin
00:29:01
zhang she was the only one who'd had a public profile and could be tied back to him
00:29:09
he told megan she was the first person he'd ever confided in and remarked the last person i would
00:29:18
consider at my level that actually did anything was ted bundy he was caught in the 80s
00:29:27
concealing her fear megan continued the conversation she asked if 13 was a large number of
00:29:36
victims her boyfriend responded incorrectly it's bigger than jeffrey dahmer bigger
00:29:44
than john wayne gacy i have caught the nation's attention apparently he then reassured megan that he would
00:29:54
never harm her she responded unless for some reason i'm a complete idiot and say something
00:30:03
to somebody and then i'm not safe he replied that's true investigators fronting the yin yin zhang
00:30:18
case remained tight-lipped refusing to divulge publicly how it was progressing [Music]
00:30:25
behind the scenes they had been working around the clock to find her ongoing efforts to enhance
00:30:33
security camera footage of the suspect's saturn astra proved fruitless uiuc campus police officer sergeant
00:30:42
james carter asked whether he could help carter was known for his knowledge of cars and eye for detail
00:30:52
over the course of five to ten minutes he continually slowed and paused the video to make sure nothing
00:30:59
escaped him carter then noticed something the hubcap on the car's right front wheel appeared to have a dark spot
00:31:10
he rewound the footage and studied every single frame he realized that the hubcap was broken
00:31:18
with a chunk missing from its outer rim sergeant carter also determined that the
00:31:24
vehicle had a sunroof of all the black satin astra hatchbacks within the county only one was noted as having a sunroof
00:31:35
it was the first vehicle the fbi had inspected during their initial inquiries it was registered to a 27 year old local
00:31:45
man named brent christensen who lived right there in champaign christensen a former masters student at
00:31:56
the uiuc had no criminal record he lived with his wife lisa not her real name in a two-bedroom
00:32:04
apartment on west springfield avenue christensen had also been a teaching assistant at the university
00:32:12
but was currently unemployed and looking for work when initially questioned by the fbi
00:32:19
brent christensen had been polite and upfront he was familiar with the yin ying jung case
00:32:26
and acknowledged that he drove a car matching the suspect's vehicle he maintained that he was at home all
00:32:34
day on friday june 9 sleeping or playing video games he allowed his apartment and car to be
00:32:41
searched nothing suspicious was found but the discovery that the suspect's car had a sunroof
00:32:51
narrowed the investigative spotlight directly on christensen his black satin astra was the only one
00:32:58
in the county that had such a feature officers headed straight to the parking lot at christensen's apartment building
00:33:08
they honed in on his car a large chunk was missing from its front passenger hubcap
00:33:19
it had been a week since emily hogan's unsettling encounter with the man purporting to be an undercover police
00:33:25
officer investigators for the yin ying jung case approached her once again seeking her assistance
00:33:35
they provided her with a photographic lineup that contained six different driver's license pictures
00:33:42
when she saw the third photograph a wave of nausea washed over emily she was sure that the man pictured was
00:33:51
the one who had tried to lure her into his car emily then reconsidered saying that she
00:33:59
was 60 sure the third image was of brent christensen investigators were granted a federal
00:34:09
warrant to search christensen's home and car they arrived at his apartment and knocked on the front door
00:34:18
it opened a fraction the officers couldn't see who was on the other side one of them called out that they were
00:34:26
there to search the property the door opened to wider a surprised but calm brent christensen
00:34:35
stood before the group dressed in his underwear it appeared as though he had just gotten out of bed
00:34:43
he permitted the investigators to enter his home his wife lisa was standing a few feet
00:34:51
behind him naked one of the agents asked her to put on a robe christensen was shown the warrant and
00:35:00
was asked if he was willing to talk back at the investigator's office looking nonchalant christensen turned to
00:35:08
lisa and asked everything i've seen in the movies tells me i shouldn't talk to the police what
00:35:16
do you think in an equally unconcerned tone she replied [Music] yeah i think you should go
00:35:26
[Music] christensen put on a black t-shirt and some pants before he was escorted to the fbi field
00:35:34
office once there he was asked to recap his alibi although he admitted that he couldn't
00:35:42
recall friday june 9 clearly he maintained that he was at home playing video games
00:35:50
he suspected that he had a nap for a couple of hours in the middle of the afternoon
00:35:56
one of the interviewing detectives abruptly asked look you know that we didn't bring you
00:36:03
all the way up here to talk about video games or what you had for lunch that day
00:36:09
why do you think that we brought you up here christensen replied because the car i own was seen picking up a girl
00:36:19
that's missing when asked who was driving his car on the day in question christensen said no one else had access
00:36:28
to it [Music] in an effort to get him talking christensen was told there was footage of him picking up yin
00:36:37
ying jung he remarked that he hadn't seen himself in any of the footage shown by the media
00:36:46
a detective retorted you've seen what we've allowed you to see christensen began breathing heavily
00:36:56
his eyes darted around the room there was a long pause that seemed to drag suddenly he said that he might have
00:37:06
gotten his days mixed up he now admitted to picking up an asian girl on what he thought was saturday
00:37:14
june 10. he'd been out driving around the uiuc when he saw a girl looking distressed
00:37:22
and pulled over to speak with her she was late for a meeting with her professor and showed christensen a map
00:37:30
on her phone of where she needed to go he offered her a lift and she accepted but after he'd driven a few blocks the
00:37:40
girl became distraught she tried to get out of the car christensen thought he must have
00:37:47
accidentally taken a wrong turn and inadvertently scared her he stopped and let her out
00:37:55
after the girl exited the car she stood on the sidewalk looking at her phone christensen then drove back home
00:38:04
he couldn't remember his passenger's name but provided a brief description of her
00:38:10
she spoke broken english had been wearing jeans and was carrying a backpack he estimated
00:38:17
she had only been in his car for five minutes or less but he couldn't remember where he had taken her
00:38:25
when asked why he had withheld this information christensen insisted that he thought he'd given the
00:38:31
girl a lift on the saturday not the friday that yin yin zhang was taken [Music] the topic of christensen's marriage was
00:38:41
then raised christensen and his wife lisa were in a mutually agreed upon open relationship which enabled them to
00:38:49
date other people while remaining married lisa had a boyfriend whom she knew through work
00:38:57
the weekend yin ying was taken lisa and her boyfriend were vacationing interstate christensen was left home
00:39:06
alone he admitted that he had gone out driving because he'd been stir crazy and lonely all he'd wanted was to clear his
00:39:15
head [Music] christensen pointed out that he still wasn't sure the girl he'd met had been
00:39:22
yin ying zhang he was asked if he'd picked up the girl because he wanted to sleep with her
00:39:29
christensen replied i mean that would have been nice but then he trailed off a more forceful approach was taken
00:39:44
interviewing officers demanded that christensen tell the truth where'd you take her brent we need to
00:39:52
find yin ying there was a pause then christensen said i think it's time that i stop answering
00:40:02
questions i know the typical advice is to get a lawyer before you answer anything
00:40:08
and i think i've tried to help enough forensic examination of christensen's cell phone
00:40:18
revealed that less than two months earlier he had visited a website for individuals interested in sexual
00:40:25
fetishes and kinks he spent time in a forum titled abduction 101 in threads labelled perfect abduction
00:40:36
fantasy and planning a kidnapping he chatted to a woman about how he would like to abduct her
00:40:44
he described how he would bind and gag her then put her in a large duffel bag in
00:40:50
the trunk or back seat of his car the following month christensen purchased a six-foot long
00:40:58
green canvas duffel bag online but soon returned it then just six days before yin ying vanished
00:41:08
he reordered the same bag investigators hadn't found the bag at his home the search of christensen's apartment
00:41:19
did uncover a pair of aviator-style sunglasses like those worn by the phony undercover
00:41:25
cop that approached emily hogan hours before yin ying was taken in the main bedroom two twin mattresses
00:41:35
had been pushed together to form a king-sized bed on one of these mattresses were three reddish-brown stains
00:41:44
two towards the middle and one at the end by the wall a baseball bat was also found
00:41:53
luminol revealed it too contained a stain christensen's satin astra was also examined
00:42:02
the front passenger seat and side of the car had been recently and thoroughly cleaned
00:42:10
investigators were certain that brent christensen was involved in yin ying's disappearance
00:42:16
but they didn't want to keep him in custody if released they believed he might slip
00:42:23
up and do something that would lead them to yin ying on friday june 16 christensen was sent
00:42:31
home without charge christensen was well aware that his movements were now being monitored by
00:42:39
the fbi he turned off the tracking function on his phone and switched to a virtual private
00:42:46
network to encrypt his internet connection in the meantime his marriage deteriorated further
00:42:56
his wife had taken to sleeping in the spare room and pushed heavy items against the door
00:43:02
to prevent him from entering the cold shoulder didn't impact christensen too harshly
00:43:10
as per the rules of his open marriage he had another intimate partner he could reach out to a
00:43:17
young woman he'd recently started dating named megan megan had been terrified of her
00:43:28
boyfriend since the night of yin yin junk's vigil christensen had insisted she accompany him to the walk
00:43:36
during which he confessed to being a serial killer that night he detailed in an excited and
00:43:44
boastful manner exactly how he had attacked yin ying he said he had taken her to his
00:43:50
apartment cut off her clothing and raped her on his bed before strangling her with his hands
00:43:58
as he was over six feet tall and had a large build it was easy for him to overpower the
00:44:04
much smaller yin-ying nevertheless she had fought back fiercely christensen described it as
00:44:14
quote unbelievable supernatural almost how she didn't give up he estimated that he had choked yin ying
00:44:25
for 10 minutes despite this she kept breathing he then carried her into the bathroom
00:44:33
and placed her in the tub before striking her with his baseball bat uncertain whether he had killed her he
00:44:41
grabbed a knife and stabbed her in the neck either consciously or as a reflex ying
00:44:48
ying tried to grab the weapon christensen then decapitated her he told megan this final act put a stop
00:44:58
to what he called this [ __ ] zombie [ __ ] but spoke admiringly of yin ying's fight
00:45:06
for survival describing her as valiant christensen then laughed about the fact that some people at yin ying's vigil
00:45:16
had thanked him for attending i am apparently very good at this he boasted they will never find her because i will
00:45:27
never tell anyone the family they won't leave until she's found they're gonna leave empty-handed
00:45:38
megan returned home a short time later and walked inside alone she then spoke directly into her
00:45:46
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that's suicide spelled p-s-e-u-d-o-c-i-d-e two weeks before the vigil for yin yin
00:52:03
zhang fbi agents paid megan a visit by this stage all eyes were on brent christensen
00:52:11
but he had yet to be directly implicated in the crime investigators needed the help of someone
00:52:17
close to him to secure the smoking gun their efforts were kept under wraps not even yin ying's own family were aware
00:52:27
that a suspect had emerged they continued to carry out their own enquiries all the while christensen was being
00:52:35
questioned and his belongings searched megan was upset to learn that her boyfriend was a prime suspect in a
00:52:44
kidnap investigation yet she couldn't deny her own concerns although her relationship with
00:52:52
christensen seemed promising to begin with in late may he'd sent her a series of
00:52:58
text messages in which he rambled about not wanting to fade away into obscurity quote
00:53:06
i would rather destroy humanity than let that happen i know most would disagree it was proposed that megan work with
00:53:20
investigators by covertly recording christensen whenever they were together she was conflicted while she loved
00:53:29
christensen megan ultimately agreed to participate believing that her actions could help
00:53:36
exonerate him she was provided with two recording devices one was hidden inside a coffee
00:53:43
mug the other was the size of a post-it note and could be worn underneath clothing megan
00:53:51
started recording christensen later that same day he initially seemed nervous about being
00:53:58
under investigation but then at another point he appeared amused by the situation
00:54:05
christensen often talked about the yin ying jung case with megan he came up with excuses regarding the
00:54:13
evidence against him often using megan as a scapegoat he said he had purchased the duffel bag
00:54:21
to transport a cat scratching post for her although she never received it he also said that
00:54:28
the blood in his bedroom belonged to her even though megan knew this wasn't true
00:54:35
on friday june 23 megan recorded a phone conversation in which christensen said he was worried
00:54:42
about what would happen to him if the investigation goes south he added they're desperate i will be in prison
00:54:52
for life the pair continued their conversation via text messages in one christensen admitted
00:55:04
i was the one who picked that girl up i dropped her off shortly after i didn't do anything wrong
00:55:11
but she is missing and i am officially the last one who saw her lisa loses a husband if this goes wrong
00:55:19
i will literally lose my life by the time christensen asked megan to attend yin ying's vigil with him
00:55:30
she was already deeply troubled by his various remarks prior to leaving home megan hid a
00:55:38
recording device on her body when she returned home later in the night she phoned the fbi to notify them
00:55:46
of christensen's chilling serial killer confession she then burst into tears the following day of friday june 30 was
00:55:57
brent christensen's 28th birthday fbi agents arrived at his apartment and charged him with the federal crime of
00:56:06
kidnapping a cadaver dog brought into the residence alerted in the bathroom where christensen had confessed to
00:56:15
killing yin ying there were no human remains at the address but agents seized a number of
00:56:22
items including a roll of duct tape none of yin ying's belongings were found an alternative light source revealed
00:56:32
handprints and swabbing marks on the drywall and carpet alongside and underneath christensen's bed
00:56:39
suggesting someone had cleaned the area a dark reddish stain was found on the underside
00:56:46
of the carpet as well as on its tack strip and the floor beneath samples of this staining were tested
00:56:55
along with swabs previously taken of christensen's mattress and baseball bat all items returned
00:57:02
a positive result for yin ying's dna although it couldn't be proven that it was christensen who had taken yin ying
00:57:15
further evidence proved he was in the area at the time security cameras from a local
00:57:21
supermarket caught christensen buying a bottle of rum at 7 40 a.m on friday june 9.
00:57:29
from there he drove around the ui uc campus [Music] in the aftermath of yin ying's
00:57:36
disappearance christensen used his smartphone to research the ingredients in cleaning
00:57:42
products news articles about the case and information on illinois's obstruction of
00:57:47
justice laws he also looked up information on how iphone tracking works despite not owning one yin ying
00:57:58
however had used an iphone [Music] months before the abduction christensen filled out an intake form for the uiuc's
00:58:09
counselling center he had written that alcohol and a drug addiction were ruining his life
00:58:15
and that he wanted to harm others when asked about his desire to hurt people christensen revealed that he'd
00:58:23
been spending lots of time researching serial killers particularly ted bundy he remarked i've always been interested
00:58:33
in the bad guys he admitted to making homicidal plans which progressed to the point of
00:58:41
purchasing items that could be used in a murder but said he later returned them he insisted he didn't want to actually
00:58:50
hurt anyone because he didn't quote want to live with the guilt [Music] he refused to attend a substance abuse
00:58:59
facility or a meeting at alcoholics anonymous however christensen did attend two
00:59:06
follow-up appointments with clinical counsellors another counselling session was planned
00:59:12
for april 6 2017 three days before yin-ying was taken christensen filled out an intake form for the appointment
00:59:22
but never met with the counsellor after that he stopped attending counselling sessions
00:59:28
[Music] during his time in custody christensen phoned his wife lisa their conversation was recorded
00:59:38
christensen wanted lisa to delete his account on the discussion website reddit as well as any of his stupid comments
00:59:48
in a post discussing the possibility that yin ying's kidnapper might have been posing as an undercover police
00:59:54
officer christensen had commented that's very ted bundy-esque scary christensen had once confided in
01:00:07
lisa that he was fascinated by serial killers as well as quote violence testing limits things of that nature
01:00:19
this troubled lisa she issued her husband with an ultimatum to stop a drinking when he failed to do so lisa announced
01:00:29
in march 2017 that she wanted a divorce this caused christensen to become emotional and distraught
01:00:38
so lisa suggested they open their relationship as a compromise lisa returned home from her week and
01:00:46
away with her boyfriend days after yin ying was abducted she didn't notice anything strange about
01:00:54
her husband's behaviour however on monday june 12 she saw him leave the apartment carrying a duffel
01:01:01
bag that didn't look to have much inside it she also noticed the petrol gauge in
01:01:08
christensen's saturn astra was at the halfway point this indicated that christensen had
01:01:14
driven 200 miles over the weekend [Music] lisa was surprised by this as her husband was a homebody that never really
01:01:24
traveled anywhere [Music] staff and students from the uiuc were shocked upon learning of brent
01:01:35
christensen's arrest he was remembered as a mild-mannered and normal student and teacher's assistant
01:01:43
if a little awkward however one young woman who lived in the same apartment building as him
01:01:49
told the media she had always found him creepy photographs and video footage taken at
01:01:58
the vigil for yin ying featured christensen with megan he was captured holding her hand
01:02:04
and walking alongside her with an arm around her shoulders in hindsight these innocuous images were
01:02:12
chilling as they implied yin ying's killer might have walked with her family that night
01:02:18
pretending to show his support on the morning of monday july 3 members of the media
01:02:27
and the uiuc community queued outside of banner's small federal courthouse to attend christensen's first hearing
01:02:36
only 45 people could fit inside the courtroom hundreds of others gathered outside
01:02:43
chanting justice for yin ying while holding banners and signs that read we are with you ying ying
01:02:53
when christensen appeared in court he was shackled at the ankles and said a little yin ying's father and
01:03:00
boyfriend watched on in silence as the judge ordered him to be held without bond
01:03:07
he was facing charges of kidnapping resulting in death and lying to federal agents
01:03:14
the prosecution was seeking the death penalty christensen pleaded not guilty ying ying's mother and brother joined
01:03:25
the rest of the jung family in the u.s in anticipation of the trial lee fong sobbed as her husband spoke
01:03:34
through an interpreter to the press this is a very painful process our dreams have been shattered
01:03:43
we just keep on telling ourselves this is the worst and we cannot really lose any more
01:03:51
he vowed that he would not leave the us until his daughter had been found and could be given a proper burial
01:03:57
in accordance with their beliefs and culture delays by the defense meant the trial
01:04:06
didn't begin until april 2019 almost two years after yin ying's disappearance in the interim
01:04:15
her family returned to china to conserve their money and so li fung could recover from
01:04:21
illness the trial was held outside of champaign-urbana after christensen's attorneys
01:04:28
successfully argued that extensive media coverage of the case might have prejudiced
01:04:33
the local jury pool the venue change would inconvenience yin ying's family who had returned to illinois
01:04:42
they were soon offered a place to stay locally for the trial's duration [Music] christensen's attorney shocked the court
01:04:51
by starting his opening address with the line brent christensen killed yin ying zhang and nothing that we say
01:05:00
or do during this phase of the trial will be an attempt to sidestep or deny that brent christensen is
01:05:06
responsible for her death the defense explained that they were only having a trial because
01:05:13
christensen might face the death penalty if convicted their intention was to prevent this
01:05:20
sentence star witness for the prosecution megan was the first witness to draw any
01:05:27
emotion from christensen he looked down at his hands and occasionally wiped away a tear as she
01:05:34
spoke when asked how it felt to be testifying against her former boyfriend megan replied terrifying
01:05:44
she was then asked so why are you doing it before answering because it's necessary
01:05:54
christensen did not take the stand the defense asserted that the government wanted to take his life
01:06:03
they relied on christensen's long-term alcoholism as an excuse for his actions going so far as accusing megan of plying
01:06:11
him with booze to get him to confess they also blamed her for introducing him to bdsm
01:06:19
claiming she quote injected the idea of fantasy and sex they described christensen as a happily
01:06:30
married successful student who was led astray by alcohol and linked sex with violence after
01:06:37
discovering bdsm culture after two hours of deliberation the jury found brent christensen guilty
01:06:46
on all three counts [Music] following christensen's conviction lawyers representing yin ying's family
01:06:58
issued a statement thanking investigators for their hard work on the case describing their coordinated efforts as
01:07:05
nothing short of remarkable they also thanked all the witnesses who had testified
01:07:12
in particular megan quote megan's courage is self-evident and the assistance she gave to law enforcement
01:07:21
was invaluable the close-knit loving jung family were able to tell the world how the loss of
01:07:30
yin ying had impacted them at christensen's sentencing hearing her father wept over the last photo he
01:07:37
had taken with his daughter it depicted ying ying flanked by both her parents outside a train station moments before
01:07:46
she departed for the u.s she had just celebrated her 26th birthday the party doubling as a farewell
01:07:55
celebration through tears her mother asked the court this wonderful daughter of mine she is
01:08:04
my everything how am i supposed to carry on living i really don't know how to carry on
01:08:14
one of the few times christensen showed emotion throughout the hearing was when his father testified that the
01:08:21
thought of his son being executed was unbearable this caused christensen to break down in tears
01:08:31
in order for christensen to receive the death penalty the jury had to reach a unanimous
01:08:36
decision they deliberated for almost two days ultimately 10 wanted to deliver the
01:08:44
death penalty while two were opposed as a result brent christensen was sentenced to life in prison
01:08:54
without the possibility of release he was also given five-year sentences for the two charges of lying to federal
01:09:02
agents and the maximum fine of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars christensen chose not to address
01:09:12
the court upon hearing the verdict but smiled at his mother when he heard his life would be spared
01:09:20
the judge told him the mercy extended to you by the jury is a testament to their
01:09:27
humanity not your character the jung family must live with the thought that ying-ying was ripped away from them by a
01:09:36
total stranger thousands of miles away fulfilling his self-absorbed and selfish fantasies
01:09:43
with no regard yet to this day for anyone other than himself your complete and total lack of remorse
01:09:53
was not lost on anyone and emphasized one more time today when given the opportunity to speak
01:10:00
and not subject to any cross-examination you could have said whatever you wanted
01:10:05
to say for as little or as long as you wished and yet today 769 days after you took yin ying's life
01:10:15
you could not muster a simple i'm sorry [Music] christensen's outcome caused an uproar
01:10:23
in china many citizens shared the desire of yin ying's family to see him receive
01:10:30
the death penalty however ying ying's family accepted that the life sentence was still a suitable punishment
01:10:37
that reflected the significance of their loss her father said we hope that every day
01:10:46
he spends in prison he feels the pain and suffering that we feel for the loss of yin ying
01:10:54
he added now that the trial is over and the jury has made its decision we ask the defendant to unconditionally
01:11:02
tell us what he knows about yin ying's location if you have any humanity left in your soul
01:11:09
please help end our torment please let us bring yin ying home the search for yin ying's remains had
01:11:22
been long but futile dumpsters creek beds and abandoned mine shafts had been thoroughly searched
01:11:31
crime stoppers and yin ying's family offered a fifty thousand dollar reward for information that led to her
01:11:37
discovery they were completely unaware that christensen had already revealed what
01:11:44
had become of yin ying in november 2018 christensen had divulged the truth to federal prosecutors in an
01:11:54
attempt to negotiate a deal that would prevent him from receiving the death penalty
01:12:00
as this information was part of an immunity agreement prosecutors had been unable to share it
01:12:06
until after christensen was convicted and sentenced after killing yin ying christensen had
01:12:14
dismembered her and placed her remains in three separate garbage bags the following day
01:12:21
he threw the bags into a dumpster outside his apartment building on monday june 12 he placed the yin
01:12:30
ying's iphone clothing and backpack in the large duffel bag he'd purchased earlier that
01:12:35
month and then drove around disposing of them in various dumpsters around the champagne urbana area
01:12:44
finally he threw the duffel bag away the dumpster where yin ying's remains were placed was emptied
01:12:52
the same day its contents were taken to a private landfill then compacted twice spread over an
01:13:00
area spanning 50 yards and buried beneath 30 feet of garbage due to the compaction process
01:13:09
ying-ying's remains would have likely been reduced to a size smaller than a cell phone investigators
01:13:16
believed it would be near impossible to recover them any attempt to do so would be extremely
01:13:23
complicated and expensive ying ying's family fronted a press conference after finally being told
01:13:32
what became of her ying ying's father told assembled reporters if what that man said is true it further
01:13:42
confirms that he is a heartless and evil person we condemn his brutal and malicious
01:13:48
actions and we hope that he suffers the rest of his life as he made yin ying suffer in the final
01:13:55
moments of her life we now understand that finding her may be impossible but if ying-ying's remains are ever
01:14:06
found we will return to take her home to china where she belongs two days after learning what had
01:14:17
happened to yin ying her family had a memorial service in illinois that same month it was announced that
01:14:25
they had assisted the uiuc in creating an endowment in honour of their daughter named ying ying's fund had aimed to
01:14:34
assist international students and their families in times of crisis ying ying's parents donated thirty
01:14:42
thousand dollars to the fund from the gofundme money that was raised for them the uiuc's chancellor spoke of his
01:14:50
admiration for their gesture the jung's cherished members of our own illinois family are going through one of
01:14:59
the most challenging points in their lives and yet they are still thinking of others
01:15:06
their gift will make an enormous impact when these students and their families need it most
01:15:12
[Music] yin yang's family also donated a further 20 000 as rewards for individuals who
01:15:20
helped solve her case the uiuc also awarded three members of their police department
01:15:27
the institution's highest honor the chancellor's medallion for their work on yin ying's case
01:15:35
sergeant james carter who identified the saturn astra's distinctive hubcap and sunroof telecommunicator kenny costa
01:15:43
who traced yin ying's path to the second bus stop and discovered she had been abducted
01:15:49
using cctv footage and detective eric stuyvesant who interrogated christensen [Music]
01:15:58
despite brent christensen boasting that he was a prolific serial killer nothing has ever been found linking him
01:16:05
to any other crimes investigators concluded that this element of his confession was nothing more than a fantasy
01:16:16
yin ying's parents chose her name as it meant the twinkling of the stars saw candlelight
01:16:23
from an early age their daughter proved to be extremely intelligent she ranked at the top of her class at
01:16:30
every school she attended in 2009 yin-ying was accepted to study environmental science at university
01:16:41
she was the first member of her family to pursue a tertiary education four years later ying yin graduated as
01:16:49
one of the top students in her year next she began a master's degree in environmental engineering
01:16:57
at beijing's prestigious per king university by 2016 yin yang had her masters and began working as a research
01:17:06
assistant at the chinese academy of sciences she set aside some of the money she
01:17:12
earned and to purchase the gifts that would make her family's lives easier such as a microwave and a cell phone
01:17:21
ying ying's ultimate ambition was to become a professor this career path would help her support
01:17:28
her family financially despite never having left china before she decided that the best way to achieve
01:17:36
this goal was to travel to the united states for further education [Music] [Music]
01:18:11
you