Deceased/Not Found IL - Yingying Zhang, 26, Urbana, 9 June 2017 #2 *Arrest*

[Webthrush]

I’m getting lost in some of the details now …was the cell phone ever recovered, so far as we know? And if it last pinged near the Terminal does that mean it was definitely thrown out by that point or not necessarily? I assume by the time the phone was thrown out Yingying would know she was in trouble, if not well before that.
Case gets more confusing than clarifying as it goes on.

 

[bluehydrangea]

I’m getting lost in some of the details now …was the cell phone ever recovered, so far as we know? And if it last pinged near the Terminal does that mean it was definitely thrown out by that point or not necessarily? I assume by the time the phone was thrown out Yingying would know she was in trouble, if not well before that.
Case gets more confusing than clarifying as it goes on.

They have not recovered her phone as far as they have shared. All that has been recovered that has been shared with the public is the Saturn Astra. And the ping near the terminal doesn't necessarily mean it was thrown out as I BELIEVE that just happens to be the nearest cell tower, but it's possible.


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[eastcoasterinco]

why would the driver of the Saturn take her to the Illinois terminal?

Great question. It's my opinion and sense that he didn't - this was just the last place the cell phone pinged (either because it is the closest one to the bus stop where she sent her last text or because the perp left the phone near there and the last activity pinged that tower.)

If I understand correctly the terminal is sort of "on the way out" of the city. I'm not a local and can't look up a map right now but maybe someone can weigh in.

I'm no expert, but if we learned anything from the famous Serial case of Adnan Sayed, we learned that pings are not always reliable for location. I believe they're more reliable for outgoing calls rather than incoming calls, and if a particular tower is "too busy" the call/text will be rerouted to the next nearest tower.

So, to me, the last ping being at the Illinois terminal does not mean SHE was ever there. It doesn't even mean the physical phone was ever there.

However, an interesting thought-- could this have been part of a plan to throw LE off track? The perp could have left the phone there so that LE would think YingYing took off on a train and ran away on her own. (this would a very stupid perp, as there's surveillance galore in terminals).

I'll do some more research tonight on cell tower pings. If anyone has any insight please share!



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[Daae]

I keep wondering what would make an intelligent mature woman get into a strange man's car? <modsnip> I might have gotten into what appeared to be a fellow student's car when I was 24.

This guy might have masqueraded as a student who was lost and was asking directions followed by a thanks and I'll give you a lift. Maybe he had a backpack in the seat which made him appear to be a fellow grad student. Maybe he is a fellow grad student. <modsnip>

Why didn't she jump out at a stop sign when the car direction seemed off? My guess is, he took a route which had few stops and high speed.

 

[Elainera]

This is what data or intelligence analysts do

Yea I know. I used to be a data analyst.

 

[chimpanzee]

Illinois Terminal is at the Amtrak Statioin on University Ave, just 1 mile West of where Yiingying was kidnapped (Goodwin/Clark..just 1 block south of University Ave)

It's likely the perp drove north to University, then made left (going West) on University to Illinois Terminal. Perp would have had to make a right on Univeristy, going East to get to Lincoln Ave. Yingyiing's desitnation is One North apartments on North Lincoln Ave (North of University Ave).

 

[Piney Woods]

I'm curious. If that route was taken at what point would she have known she was in trouble?

Once again I don't like being cynical but that side of me says she probably realized she was in trouble as soon as she stepped into the car. It wouldn't take but a few words, perhaps minor physical threats, a strike to the face, grabbing her arm or neck, or display of a knife or gun for someone to get this victim under control. I'm basing that on the background of the victim that I've seen so far.

You guys are great at sleuthing, much better than myself at this point, but there is some naivete I find troublesome. And that's not necessarily directed at you Cardinal47 Please carry on though.

 

[Elainera]

I'm curious. If that route was taken at what point would she have known she was in trouble?

I once went to a city I didn't know. I flew in and had booked a hotel room online beforehand. I took a taxi and it took about half an hour to the hotel, which puzzled me. On the map it had looked closer but since I didn't know the city and this was a taxi driver who surely did know the fastest and best way to get to the hotel, I trusted him. When I arrived at the hotel and mentioned to the receptionist that it was a 30 min drive from the airport he told me that it actually was less than 10 minutes. That taxi driver scammed me - and I did not realize it at all. YingYing might not have either if they went in another direction, if she had hardly left campus in her month there.

 

[Webthrush]

24+ hrs. since car is found and public has still been given almost no details? FBI says they have &#8220;several additional leads&#8221; (not even sure just what that means; leads to WHAT?) and says they can&#8217;t give out details because it might interfere with the investigation, yet they&#8217;re continuing to seek information from public (that is being kept largely in the dark).
Anyone got ideas why LE can&#8217;t say when/where car was found, in what condition, with what sort of forensics, any contact with the owner/registrant? It must mean SOMEthing that they can't divulge this, but WHAT? -- just a question of legalities, or threatened harm to Yingying, or keeping the perp in the dark, or something else?). I'm baffled.

 

[HeatherLiu]

<modsnip>

She chose THIS school because of the full coverage scholarship. She went abroad instead of studying in her homeland because the US is strong in the academic field, and she had graduated from the #1 uni in China, Peking University. Nobody knows what's really going on, but let's not assume her family to be a danger to her.

 

[Skigirl]

Now that FBI no longer need info regarding the Astra I can't help but wonder if they're even considering the Astra her last point of contact with the public. Is the Astra driver the kidnapper? Or, did he drop her off elsewhere? Did she come into contact with another person that kidnapped her? Where would he have taken her that would've been an acceptable place to drop someone that may have gotten confused about the buses? If not THE terminal I wonder if it's nearby where cameras wouldn't have picked her up. Or is this his convenient excuse?

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These are good points. In the Hannah Graham case, one man was caught on video watching her, and then following her...and LE released the video and many were convinced he was the explanation for her disappearance. But it turned out that he was a total red herring. He was concerned for her welfare because she was drunk, and just after that, she was actually abducted by ANOTHER guy who took advantage of her condition. The first guy thought she was in the hands of someone she knew, and stopped following. When the first man saw the video of himself on the news, he went straight to the police to tell them the story and the focus turned to other possibilities. So perhaps the Saturn driver really was giving her a ride, saw the footage, and went to LE to explain. I hope her friends and family have answers soon.

 

[daisy.faithfull]

I keep wondering what would make an intelligent mature woman get into a strange man's car? <modsnip> I might have gotten into what appeared to be a fellow student's car when I was 24.

This guy might have masqueraded as a student who was lost and was asking directions followed by a thanks and I'll give you a lift. Maybe he had a backpack in the seat which made him appear to be a fellow grad student. Maybe he is a fellow grad student. <modsnip>

Why didn't she jump out at a stop sign when the car direction seemed off? My guess is, he took a route which had few stops and high speed.

Hi Daae, He also might have done something to her that rendered her unable to get out of the car. If he was circling the block, as it has been reported, he might have already planned what he would do when he finally found someone who was willing to get into the car.

 

[Elainera]

These are good points. In the Hannah Graham case, one man was caught on video watching her, and then following her...and LE released the video and many were convinced he was the explanation for her disappearance. But it turned out that he was a total red herring. He was concerned for her welfare because she was drunk, and just after that, she was actually abducted by ANOTHER guy who took advantage of her condition. The first guy thought she was in the hands of someone she knew, and stopped following. When the first man saw the video of himself on the news, he went straight to the police to tell them the story and the focus turned to other possibilities. So perhaps the Saturn driver really was giving her a ride, saw the footage, and went to LE to explain. I hope her friends and family have answers soon.

bbm That would explain why LE have not given any additional info about the condition and location of the car or its owner.

 

[Nick_1]

[video=twitter;880152789950713856]https://twitter.com/fbispringfield/status/880152789950713856[/video]

Yeah this makes no sense. I do not understand in the slightest what they meant by this.

 

[Millhouse]

<modsnip>

<modsnip> the FBI has classified this as a kidnapping, although they are not ruling out other scenarios.

 

[DQN]

24+ hrs. since car is found and public has still been given almost no details? FBI says they have &#8220;several additional leads&#8221; (not even sure just what that means; leads to WHAT?) and says they can&#8217;t give out details because it might interfere with the investigation, yet they&#8217;re continuing to seek information from public (that is being kept largely in the dark).
Anyone got ideas why LE can&#8217;t say when/where car was found, in what condition, with what sort of forensics, any contact with the owner/registrant? It must mean SOMEthing that they can't divulge this, but WHAT? -- just a question of legalities, or threatened harm to Yingying, or keeping the perp in the dark, or something else?). I'm baffled.

I agree why even say they located the car. How do they know that was exact car, did they get a license plate read on it?

 

[Yvettea]

Soon I hope her friends and family will have answers, but I admit I'm perplexed how these new billboards will help.

http://www.illinoishomepage.net/news/local-news/new-billboards-will-focus-on-yingying/753188626

For one, where will the billboards be placed, Chicago? Is there some reason to believe YZ is there? If not how can the residents provide MORE information than they have already?

The billboards will not feature the Astra but will flash YZ face 800+ times a day.

 

[Webthrush]

These are good points. In the Hannah Graham case, one man was caught on video watching her, and then following her...and LE released the video and many were convinced he was the explanation for her disappearance. But it turned out that he was a total red herring. He was concerned for her welfare because she was drunk, and just after that, she was actually abducted by ANOTHER guy who took advantage of her condition. The first guy thought she was in the hands of someone she knew, and stopped following. When the first man saw the video of himself on the news, he went straight to the police to tell them the story and the focus turned to other possibilities. So perhaps the Saturn driver really was giving her a ride, saw the footage, and went to LE to explain. I hope her friends and family have answers soon.

YES!, this would nicely explain why FBI so blandly says car is located but is mum on all details; though if the Astra is a red herring and NOT involved in Zhang's disappearance (just giving a ride at an ill time, before something did happen to her) you'd think they'd want to let the public know that.
p.s.: As far as some folks saying she got in the car willingly so it's not a kidnapping, kids get lured into vehicles all the time, willingly, only to then be taken captive/kidnapped.

 

[Millhouse]

I agree why even say they located the car. How do they know that was exact car, did they get a license plate read on it?

I think they announced they located the car so people would stop sending in tips about it.

It's unclear how they know it's the exact car- if it was found locally, maybe it lines up with video footage of where they went? Maybe there's forensic evidence? And it hasn't been ruled out yet that she knew the person or used a ride service (IMO, these seem unlikely, but technically still on the table) which would have made it a little easier to locate without getting a license plate read on it.

I think there's a lot more known about this case and a lot more going on behind the scenes than I would have guessed a few days ago. It's baffling how there's no media attention, no information as to whether there is a risk to the public... just no information what so ever.

 

[HeatherLiu]

<modsnip>

Just because we are under a deferent regime does not mean CHINA is a grueling horrible place.
I've said this numerous times and I'm saying this again:

She graduated from the TOP 1 UNI in China. Her family LOVES her dearly. She had been staying in Guangzhou and Shenzhen for several years during college. Those are BIG cities, like New York, LA, etc. She had been HAPPY according to the knowledge we know. Yes she wanted to support her family but so does everyone of us. I'm not ashamed to say I'm Chinese and my parents put high hopes on me. But if you have to say that, I would say it's pure stereotyping with no grounds. It's normal in Asia to study really really hard, but the issue has changed a lot during the years. This is not an age where study means everything anymore. <modsnip>