Naman Shrestha
In the summer of 2017, Yingying Zhang was tragically kidnapped and murdered by Brendt Christensen. In order to get a confession out of him, the authorities worked with his girlfriend, Terra Bullis, who agreed to wear a wire during her interaction with the killer. The chilling recordings were also featured in ABC’s ’20/20: Undercover Girlfriend,’ which delves deep into the entire case and the investigation that followed. The episode also consists of insightful interviews with the loved ones of the victim and the officials linked to the case, directly or indirectly.
Yingying Zhang’s Family Tried Their Best to Locate Her Remains
The disappearance and murder of 27-year-old Yingying Zhang on June 9, 2017, took a huge toll on her family, including her father, Ronggao, mother, Lifeng Ye, and brother Xinyang. Although the conviction and life sentencing of the perpetrator, Brendt Christensen, provided some sort of relief to the family, they still lacked a sense of closure as Yingying’s remains were yet to be found. Lifeng, in particular, hoped that the perpetrator had received the death sentence for snatching away her daughter from her.
At the time, Ronggao was employed at a power station while Lifeng was a full-time homemaker. Despite their best efforts, the parents and her boyfriend, Xiaolin, could not recover Yingying’s body. After she went missing, Ronggao and Lifeng, who had hardly left their native city of Nanping, traveled to the United States along with Xiaolin on a couple of occasions. Before returning to China in 2019 after the sentencing, they buried some of her clothes in a small box near the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Yingying Zhang’s Family is Still Hopeful to Recover the Remains of Yingying
After learning about Yingying Zhang’s tragic demise, her younger brother, Xinyang, became a jade sculptor after dropping out of middle school. Later, he returned home and sold mobile phones before trying to make it as a chef. In order to make ends meet, her parents decided to try selling their products by live-streaming on TikTok. By February 2023, they had successfully made the switch and began selling products through live-streaming, allowing them to become more stable and hopeful as a family. Although they tried to record their videos from their house, they soon realized that they needed someplace quieter. Thus, they relocated to a recording studio in May 2023 as they took their new business more seriously.
In the initial stages, Ronggao and Lifeng asked Xinyang to help them shoot and edit videos. But since some people had been accusing them of “eating steamed buns soaked in human blood,” he refused to take any part in the business. Thus, they reached out to a relative to help them navigate their issues regarding live-streaming. As of 2023, Xinyang was working as a contract worker at a company that gave him about 2,000 yuan per month for his service. A married man himself, he entered fatherhood in 2019 when his wife gave birth to their son. For a short while, the arrival of a new baby into the family helped Ronggao and Lifeng put aside their grief related to the loss of their daughter and focus on taking care of their grandson.
Moreover, in order to lead a peaceful life in the countryside, Ronggao and Lifeng also had plans to sell their property. However, they postponed their plans after realizing that Xinyang and his family might need their love and support. In 2023, Xinyang’s son began preschool. Still hoping to find their daughter’s remains, her parents were planning to join Yingying’s boyfriend, Xiaolin, and go on their third trip to the United States sometime in 2023.
Read More: Xiaolin Hou: Where is Yingying Zhang’s Boyfriend Now?
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