- Utah police are searching for 17-year-old Chinese exchange student Kai Zhuang, who was “forcibly abducted” from his home in Riverdale, north of Salt Lake City
- Zhuang's parents in China received photos showing she had been kidnapped along with a ransom note
- The circumstances of his disappearance and the relationship between Zhuang and the suspect remain unclear, with no information available about the suspect or his current whereabouts
A search is underway after a teenager from China was “forcibly abducted” from his home in Utah.
Officials with the Utah Department of Public Safety said 17-year-old Kai Zhuang, who had been living in the state as part of a high school exchange program with the Chinese, was last seen around 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
On Friday evening, Riverdale police said they received a picture of the boy along with a demand for a ransom.
During a press conference, Riverdale Police Chief Casey Warren said Zhuang's parents, who live in China, have contacted his high school.
17-year-old Kai Zhuang, who had been living in Utah as part of a high school exchange program with Chinese people, was last seen around 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning
During a news conference Friday, Riverdale Police Chief Casey Warren said Zhuang's parents, who live in China, had received photos of their son “indicating that he was kidnapped.” In addition, the parents said they received a ransom note
They reported that they had received photos of their son “indicating that he had been kidnapped.”
The parents also claim that they received a ransom note.
An endangered missing persons alert had previously been issued in Utah after the boy was “forcibly abducted from his home and held against his will” from the house where he was staying in Riverdale – about 30 minutes north of Salt Lake City. had been.
But Warren says police don't believe Zhuang was forcibly removed from the home.
His statement contradicted the information given in the initial missing persons report.
The host family where Zhuang was staying told police that they were unaware of his disappearance and had last seen him the night before and may have heard him in the early hours of the morning.
Zhuang was described as being between 5ft 10in and 5ft 1in tall and weighing 70kg.
The Utah Department of Public Safety said the missing boy also had black hair and brown eyes.
Riverdale police did not have a specific description of what the teen was last seen wearing, but were known to be “wearing a green jacket.”
Officials did not provide further details about the suspected abduction or say what led investigators to believe Zhuang had been kidnapped.
It is also unclear whether the incident involved anyone Zhuang or his host family knew.
No information was given about a possible suspect. It is also not known whether the boy is still believed to be in the area.
Anyone with information about Zhuang or his whereabouts is asked to contact Riverdale police at 801-394-6616.
A 17-year-old foreign exchange student is “forcibly taken from his home” in Utah as police launch a desperate search