$80,000 raised online for family of missing Chinese scholar

URBANA, Ill. – An online fundraising effort has brought in more than $80,000 for the family of a visiting scholar from China who disappeared from the University of Illinois.

The (Champaign) News-Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/2rRsuTx ) that the U of I Community Credit Union setup the website to help relatives of 26-year-old Yingying Zhang, who was about a month into a yearlong appointment at the central Illinois university when she disappeared June 9. More than 2,100 people have donated the money, which has totalled much more than the original $30,000 goal.

UI spokeswoman Robin Kaler says Zhang’s father, aunt and boyfriend have arrived from China and are staying in university housing. She says members of the UI Chinese Students and Scholars Association are providing them with meals.

Zhang is from Jianyang, China. There is a $40,000 reward in her case.

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Information from: The News-Gazette, http://www.news-gazette.com