Utah police found a Chinese foreign exchange student over the weekend after he had gone missing last week in a bizarre case of "cyber kidnapping."
Kai Zhuang, 17, was reported missing to Riverdale police Thursday after his family in China received a ransom note claiming the teen had been kidnapped, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. The message, which included a photo of Zhuang, claimed the teen being held captive, and his parents paid $80,000 in ransom for his release.
But when police went to the home of Zhuang's U.S. host family, officers found that the teen had slept in his bed the night before, and the family had not heard of any kidnapping. Zhuang, however, had been contacted by the kidnappers and told his parents in China were threatened, according to Riverdale Police Chief Casey Warren.
The teen had tried to set up a camp away from his host family on Dec. 20, but Provo police arranged for him to get back to his Riverdale home. On Thursday, police used cellphone and bank records to try to find Zhuang and were able to pinpoint his location to the Brigham City canyon area.
Riverdale police, along with the Weber County Sheriff’s Office and the Utah Division of Public Safety, began searching for Zhuang in the mountains. The teen was finally found with a tent, sleeping bag, blankets and a small amount of food and water.
Zhuang was "very cold and scared" but happy to see officers, police said. After being found, he wanted to speak to his family in China and asked officers for a cheeseburger.
Zhuang had several phones with him at the time, and police believe they were used to take photos requested by the cyber kidnappers. Warren said that the cyber kidnapping scheme was part of a string of similar incidents targeting Chinese exchange students.
“I want foreign exchange students to know they can trust police to protect them and to work with police to ensure their safety as well as their family’s safety abroad," he said.
