Scholar kidnapping suspect to enter plea

The Illinois man indicted by a federal grand jury in the kidnapping of visiting Chinese scholar Zhang Yingying is to be arraigned on Thursday in a federal courthouse in Urbana, Illinois.

Brendt Christensen, 28, of Champaign, who has a master's degree in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was arrested on June 30, charged with kidnapping Zhang, 26, who attended the same school.

Zhang has not been seen since, and police think she is no longer alive.