Police in Utah stated a Chinese language alternate pupil was the sufferer of a cyberkidnapping rip-off the place the teenage boy was threatened into simulating his personal abduction so his household could possibly be extorted for hundreds of {dollars}.
Riverdale police stated they discovered Kai Zhuang, 17, tenting alone within the Utah wilderness Sunday after he was reported lacking Thursday.
Authorities stated they discovered the boy with minimal provides however a number of telephones in his possession so the distant kidnappers may monitor him whereas he was hiding out.
Police stated the photographs Kai took of himself to appease his “captors” precipitated his household to pay the abductors $80,000.
Authorities stated they had been capable of finding Kai’s tent in a wooded space close to Brigham Metropolis after reviewing his telephone and financial institution information.
“We believed the sufferer was isolating himself on the course of cyberkidnappers in a tent,” Riverdale police stated in a information launch. “As a result of chilly climate in Utah right now of yr, we turned moreover involved for the sufferer’s security in that he could freeze to loss of life in a single day.”
Responding officers stated they discovered the boy “alive however very chilly and scared.” He requested to name his household in China and a “heat cheeseburger” as soon as he was picked up by legislation enforcement.
Police stated Kai was being manipulated by the abductors as early as Dec. 20 — over per week earlier than his host household final noticed him.
