2024-01-02 05:49:00
(CNN) — Utah Police say they found a Chinese teenager, an exchange student, alone and cold in a tent following he was the victim of what they are calling a “cyberkidnapping.”
The Riverdale Police Department said Kai Zhuang, 17, was reported missing last Thursday by his high school. His parents in China had contacted the school following receiving a ransom photo for their son and sending $80,000 to bank accounts in China “due to continued threats from the kidnappers,” according to a press release issued. this Sunday.
Police found him this Sunday “alive but very cold and scared” in a makeshift camp in the mountains near Brigham City, using Zhuang’s bank and telephone records, according to the statement. The Police said that the young man was there following following instructions from his cyberkidnappers to isolate himself.
Zhuang was relieved to see police, the statement said, and “did not have any heat source inside the tent, only a thermal blanket, a sleeping bag, limited food and water, and several phones that were presumably used to carry cyberkidnapping”.
The Brigham City Fire Department examined Zhuang for cold-related problems. He was cleared of any major medical problems and was given a cheeseburger, which he requested.
Zhuang also asked to speak to his family to make sure he was safe, and police helped him do so, according to the statement.
More than a week before he was reported missing, Provo Police officers had picked up Zhuang on Dec. 20 while he was apparently trying to camp, according to the statement. Concerned for his safety, they arranged for him to be transferred to Riverdale and contacted his foster family.
Riverdale Police stated this Sunday that Zhuang was already being “manipulated and controlled by cyberkidnappers” then, but that he had not told anyone.
Last Thursday, police went to her foster home, and her family said they did not know Zhuang was missing, according to the statement. They told police that the young man was home the night before and that they had heard him first thing in the morning. Police said there was no evidence he was forcibly taken from the home.
Riverdale Police worked with the FBI, the American embassy in China and Chinese officials to find Zhuang.
According to police, the FBI has informed them that other foreign exchange students, especially Chinese, have been the target of similar “cyberkidnapping” scams in the United States. The perpetrators threaten the students, order them to isolate themselves, monitor them through video calls and demand ransoms from their families.
The FBI said it referred CNN to Riverdale Police for further questions regarding the case.
— CNN’s Kaylene Chassie contributed to this report.
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