Mystery of missing Chinese scholar shakes up Illinois school

CHICAGO (AP) - Authorities are searching for a young Chinese scholar who vanished from the University of Illinois three weeks ago as she headed out to sign an apartment lease.

The June 9 disappearance of Yingying Zhang (ying ying zhawng) is being treated as a kidnapping. The case has shaken staff and students at Illinois' flagship public school in Urbana-Champaign. And it's led some parents of Chinese students studying at American universities to question whether it's safe to send their children to the United States.

Zhang is the daughter of a working-class factory driver from China. She took the same career path as many other young Chinese academics before her by travelling to a university in the U.S. with dreams of one day landing a professorship and being able to help her parents financially.