A 17-year-old Chinese foreign exchange student who was reported missing last week has been found alive, with police saying he was the victim of a “cyber kidnapping.”
Kai Zhuang had been staying with a host family in Riverdale, Utah, when he disappeared last week, ABC4 reported. The host family reportedly told police that Zhuang had been home on December 27, and that they heard him in the early morning hours of December 28, and thought nothing was wrong.
But Zhuang left on the morning of December 28 and didn’t return home. His parents in China reported him missing after they received a ransom demand. They contacted school officials in Riverdale and were told by police that Zhuang’s host parents didn’t even know he was missing.
Several days later, on December 31, Zhuang was found safe in a tent near Brigham City, Utah, following a search that included multiple counties and was aided by the FBI, ABC4 reported.
Zhuang was “very cold and scared” but relieved to see police, Riverdale Police Chief Casey Warren said in a statement released Sunday.
The statement said that Zhuang’s parents had received a photograph of their son and claimed he was abducted, demanding a ransom. The image of Zhuang appeared to show that he “was being held captive and was in danger,” police said. The family told police they transferred around $80,000 U.S. dollars to bank accounts in China to pay off the kidnappers, who repeatedly threatened their child.
Riverdale police learned while working with the FBI that cyber kidnapping has become a recent trend, particularly with Chinese foreign exchange students.
“The kidnappers threaten the young foreign exchange students and their family, and they demand ransom,” the police statement said. “They tell the victims to isolate themselves and they monitor them through Facetime calls and or Skype. The cyber kidnappers convince the victim under duress to take photos of themselves that make it appear they are being held captive and send the photos to their parents. The victims comply out of fear that their families will be harmed if they don’t comply with the cyber kidnappers.”
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Meanwhile, the kidnappers “continue to extort the family by using fear tactics, photos, and voice recordings of the victim leading the family to believe the kidnappers are with the victim causing them harm.”
Police believe Zhuang had been contacted and manipulated by the kidnappers prior to his disappearance on December 28, as Provo Police said the teen had attempted to go camping in Provo, Utah, on December 20, but was returned to Riverdale.
“We believed the victim was isolating himself at the direction of the cyber kidnappers in a tent,” Riverdale Police said in their statement. “Due to the cold weather in Utah at this time of year, we became additionally concerned for the victim’s safety in that he may freeze to death overnight.”
Once found, Zhuang reportedly “only wanted to speak to his family to ensure they were safe and requested a warm cheeseburger,” Riverdale police said. Both requests were accomplished before Zhuang returned to Riverdale.