Cai Zhuang, a 17-year-old Chinese student, was found “extremely frightened and suffering from hypothermia,” but alive, in a tent in a rural area in the US state of Utah, where he was on an exchange, after his parents told him. Extortion of $80,000 in what was described as “electronic kidnapping”It is a practice that affects foreign students in the United States and consists of convincing young people to isolate themselves and take selfies as if they were prisoners. The victims are then detained Under remote control via Facetime or Skype They, along with their families, were convinced that they would be beaten if the ransom was not paid.

The kidnappers reportedly began monitoring Kay early on December 20, when police officers saw him with camping gear in Provo, Utah.

The officers suggested, in vain, that he be returned to the family where he was living in Riversall. On December 28, the school he attended contacted police, after being alerted by parents in China who had received a ransom demand. He was told that his son had been kidnapped. The location of his kidnapping was only 40 kilometers from Riversdale. There was no heat in his tent and he had limited amounts of food and water. A sleeping bag and several phones used by the kidnappers to keep him under control. After his release, Kay ordered a hot cheeseburger and talked to his family.