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In the summer of 1984, a small fire broke out along a California highway. A driver pulled off the road to get a closer look at the blaze, but that closer look brought more questions than answers. What the hell was that awful smell? Soon, another driver arrived on the scene. He used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. Once the smoke cleared, the two drivers made a disturbing discovery -- a burnt human body. Investigators learned that the body belonged to a woman -- and that she\u2019d sustained multiple injuries over her lifetime. But it would take them years to discover who that woman was, and who had tortured her.
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\nThen Kristin tells us about a bright, talented young woman whose life was cut short by a total dirtbag. Yingying Zhang was beyond smart. Originally from Nanping, China, she attended one of the nation\u2019s top universities. When it came time to earn her doctorate, she headed off to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She had only been in the United States for a few weeks when she suddenly went missing.\xa0
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\nAnd now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.
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\nIn this episode, Kristin pulled from:
\n\u201cUndercover girlfriend\u201d episode of 20/20
\n\u201cThe Kidnapping and murder of YingyingZhang\u201d entry on wikipedia
\n\u201cProsecutor: Suspect in Chinese student\u2019s kidnapping discussed \u2018ideal victim\u2019\u201d by Kaylee Hartung, Janet DiGiacomo and Darran Simon for CNN.com
\n\u201cIn opening statement, attorney admits Brendt Christensen abducted, killed Chinese scholar at University of Illinois,\u201d by Jamie Munks for the Chicago Tribune
\n\u201cGuilty: Brendt Christensen found guilty in Yingying Zhang\u2019s kidnapping, killing,\u201d wandtv.com\xa0
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\nIn this episode, Brandi pulled from:
\n\u201cMother Knows Best: The Story of Theresa Jimmie Cross\u201d by David Lohr, Crime Library
\n\u201c\u2018Unbelievable\u2019 Tale Reveals Grisly Crimes\u201d by Richard C. Paddock, Los Angeles Times
\n\u201cTheresa Jimmie Knorr\u201d murderpedia.org
\n\u201cTheresa Knorr\u201d wikipedia.org\n