Police in Utah have safely found and rescued a missing Chinese student/Riverdale Police
2024.01.03 Wed posted at 11:17 JST
(CNN) Police in the U.S. state of Utah announced that they have safely found and taken into custody a Chinese student who was allegedly the victim of a “cyber kidnapping.” The international student was reportedly alone in the tent, freezing and looking frightened.
According to the Riverdale Police Department, the person who was found was Kai Chuan, 17. On December 28th, the high school where she studied abroad reported her missing. His parents in China contacted the school saying they had received a photo of their son and received threats, and said they had transferred $80,000 (approximately 11 million yen) to a bank account in China because “the kidnappers continued to threaten me.” He was complaining.
Police traced Chuan’s bank and phone records and found him on the 31st in a tent set up in the mountains near Brigham City, New York.
Inside the tent, there were no winter gear other than blankets and sleeping bags, and there was only a small amount of food and water, as well as several phones believed to have been used in the crime.
On December 20, more than a week before she was reported missing, Chuang was taken into police custody while camping in Provo, California. Riverdale police believe that Chuang was already being manipulated by the cyber kidnappers at this point, but did not tell anyone.
An investigation revealed that there was no sign that Chuang had been forcibly removed from her host family’s home. Police continued the search in coordination with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Embassy in China.
According to the FBI, similar incidents of “cyber kidnapping” targeting foreign students, particularly Chinese nationals, have occurred in the United States. The criminal group threatened the international students and left them alone, then monitored them via video calls and demanded ransom from their families.
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2024-01-03 02:17:00
