Because her body has never been found, there has never been a funeral held for Yingying Zhang. But a memorial service for the visiting scholar from China has being planned, and will involve her family. The service is planned for Monday, August 5 at 1 PM at First Baptist Church at Savoy, 1602 S. Prospect Avenue in Savoy.
First Baptist Pastor Chuck Moore, says the service was initiated by the Zhang family and the friends they made among Chinese and other Asian students who are members of both his church and Hessel Park Reformed Christian Church in Champaign.
Moore hopes the service can be a source of comfort for both family and friends.
“When you go through a tragedy like this, you’re affected in so many different ways. There’s a sense of anger, there’s a sense of shock, there are many questions that family and friends are left hanging with over the process of time. And we really want them to know that there is a God who understands”, said Moore.
Hessel Park Pastor Tim Bossenbroek echoed that hope that the memorial service can comfort the Zhang family and the friends they’ve made in Champaign-Urbana.
“I hope they get a sense that we as humans are not suffering alone, that there is a God who cares for us and is pained by our suffering and pain, and who comforts us,” said Bossenbroek.
Bossenbroek says Zhang’s father, Ronggao Zhang, is expected to deliver a eulogy at the 1-hour, bilingual service, and that a letter written by Zhang’s fiance, Ziaolin Hou, will also be ready.
Yingying Zhang came to the University of Illinois from China in 2017, as a visiting scholar at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. But on June 9 of that year, Zhang was seen on surveillance video getting into the SUV of Brendt Christensen, a former doctoral student. She has not been seen since. Two years later, Christensen was convicted of kidnapping and murdering Zhang, and sentenced to life in prison. Without a body, prosecutors based their case on DNA evidence found at Christensen's apartment, and the defendant's own boasting of having killed Zhang in a conversation with his girlfriend.
Zhang’s family and fiancé have made extended visits to Champaign-Urbana, in hopes of finding Yingying Zhang, or at least bringing her body home for burial. Most recently, they traveled to Peoria for Christensen’s trial in federal court.
Pastor Moore says the Zhang family felt it was important to hold a memorial service in Champaign-Urbana, where Yingying Zhang was killed and because it was her home for her last few months.
“So, they really felt that it was important to do this on our soil,” said Moore.
The memorial service is open to the general public. He advises visitors to First Baptist Church at Savoy to travel by way of U.S. Route 45 (Neil Street in Champaign & Dunlap Avenue in Savoy), and turn west on Burwash Avenue, due to construction on Prospect Avenue.