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Authorities in Utah have located a missing 17-year-old Chinese exchange student after he was reportedly forced to isolate at the instruction of “cyber kidnappers.”
The Riverdale Police Department first asked for the public’s assistance in helping find Kai Zhuang on 28 December, after his family in China received a photo of him and a ransom letter demanding money.
Police said that cyber kidnappers manipulated Mr Zhuang into believing his family in China was in danger and forced him to isolate in a wooded area. As a result of the fake kidnapping scheme, Mr Zhuang’s parents paid $80,000 to the cyber kidnappers.
Mr Zhuang had been captured on surveillance video purchasing camping gear, leading detectives to believe that he had used it to camp out. Several law enforcement agencies began searching for Mr Zhuang in the Brigham City Canyon area on Saturday night after learning that he had visited the area.
On Sunday, the exchange student was found “very cold and scared” inside a tent.
“The victim had no heat source inside the tent, only a heat blanket, a sleeping bag, limited food and water and several phones that were presumed to be used to carry out the cyber kidnapping,” Riverdale Police Chief Casey Warren said in a statement to FOX 13.
Investigators with the agency hiked on foot to the wooded area where Mr Zhuang had been isolated. According to the department, Mr Zhuang was relieved to see law enforcement personnel and asked for a cheeseburger and to speak with his family.
The FBI, the Chinese Embassy, Brigham City police, Utah DPS Aero Bureau and Weber County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Drone team assisted Riverdale police in the search efforts.
Police had previously stated that they did not believe Mr Zhuang had been forcefully taken by kidnappers.
His host family did not know about the alleged kidnapping when they were notified by Mr Zhuang’s high school after his parents, who live in China, contacted the school.
Chief Warren said during a press conference last week that cyber kidnappers often target foreign exchange students when carrying out false kidnapping scams. Victims are told their families are in danger and are instructed to isolate themselves.
They are forced to take pictures of themselves in distress, which the cyber kidnappers then use to demand money from worried families.
People who believe they have been targeted by cyber kidnappers are advised to cut all communications with them and contact law enforcement immediately.
The investigation into the cyber kidnapping plot is still ongoing.
The Riverdale Police Department has asked for anyone with information about the incident to contact detectives.
