A Chinese foreign exchange student in Utah is “being held against his will” and his parents in China say they have now received a ransom demand along with a photo of their son, police say.
The bizarre saga began early Friday, when the Utah Department of Public Safety and the Riverdale Police Department both sounded the alarm over 17-year-old Kai Zhuang, who was reportedly last seen in the wee hours of Thursday morning at his host family's home and was feared abducted.
With apparently little information to go on, police sent out an endangered missing person alert that, just hours later, spiraled into an investigation including the FBI, the U.S. Embassy in China, and Chinese officials.
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“Officers were contacted by the high school the foreign exchange student was attending, and they reported they were contacted by the student’s parents in China. The parents reported to school officials that they received a photograph of their child that would indicate he was abducted and they requested a ransom,” Riverdale Police Chief Casey Warren said at a Friday press conference.
“The host family was unaware that the juvenile was missing from the home,” Warren said.
The police chief walked back an earlier claim by authorities that Kai was believed to have been “forcibly taken,” but gave no further details on the circumstances surrounding his sudden disappearance. Authorities have said they believe he is “being held against his well,” though it is not clear by whom.
Warren said police wanted to issue an Amber Alert for the teen but were unable to because they have no suspects.
“At this point, the information we have is very limited,” he said.
Kai is about 5 feet, 6 inches tall, 150 pounds with black hair and dark eyes, police say. They said it was not known what he was last wearing, but “he has been known to wear a green jacket.”
