A Chinese foreign exchange student who vanished in Utah last week has been found alive – and authorities believe he was targeted by cyber kidnappers.
Kai Zhuang, 17, was found Sunday inside a tent in the mountains near Brigham City, “alive but very cold and scared,” KSL reported, citing Riverdale City Police.
Kai was in the tent with only a heat blanket, a sleeping bag, and limited food and water, as well as several phones that were presumably used in the kidnapping, Riverdale Police Chief Casey Warren said in a statement.
Kai was “manipulated and controlled” by “cyber kidnappers” who convinced him that his family in China was threatened, Warren explained.
The teen’s parents even paid $80,000 to bank accounts in China due to taunts from the abductors after they received a ransom note and a photo of Kai that indicated he may have been kidnapped, KSL noted.
Kai was officially reported missing on Friday, when police responded to the residence of his host family, who did not know he was gone.
According to police, Kai actually left the house on his own, ABC4 reported.
The subsequent investigation pooled resources from the Riverdale Police Department, the FBI, and the US Embassy in China, KSL added.
Through bank records, recent purchases, and phone records – and after noting an incident in which police in Provo were concerned for the teen’s wellbeing after he attempted to set up a campsite – authorities concluded that he was likely self-isolating in the Brigham City canyon, the outlet explained.
The FBI also informed local authorities about other recent cyber kidnapping cases that targeted Chinese exchange students.
After he was found, Kai was able to speak to his family in China and assure them he was safe, police said.
He was also treated to a warm cheeseburger en route to the Riverdale Police Department, per KSL.
The Riverdale Police Department did not immediately return The Post’s request for a comment on the case.
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