CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In conjunction with Champaign County Crime Stoppers, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will announce this evening a $40,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the individual or individuals involved in the apparent kidnapping of Yingying Zhang, who has been missing since June 9.
A news conference to announce the reward will occur at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Illinois Fire Service Institute, 11 Gerty Drive, Champaign. The reward comes at the request of the Zhang family, and the money was raised from community donations.
The FBI is investigating the disappearance of Zhang, a 26-year-old visiting scholar from China, as a kidnapping. The $10,000 reward offered by the FBI for information leading to Zhang’s location is separate from the Crime Stoppers award.
Zhang’s family will attend the news conference but will not be available for interviews. Law enforcement officials will not be able to comment on specific details of the ongoing investigation.
