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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Yingying Zhang arrived at the University of
3Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in April of 2017 to contribute to
4the research being done in the Department of Natural Resources
5and Environmental Sciences; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Yingying Zhang was an environmental engineering
7scholar from Nanping, a small city in the Fujian province in
8southeast China, where her parents and boyfriend lived; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Yingying Zhang went missing in June of 2017 after
10getting into a black SUV near the University of Illinois
11campus; and
 
12    WHEREAS, After an extensive investigation and search
13efforts by local, State, and federal authorities, Yingying
14Zhang was found to be dead in the summer of 2017; and
 
15    WHEREAS, The loss of Yingying Zhang's life devastated the
16Champaign/Urbana community, the academic community, and the
17global community, and the University of Illinois honored her
18life with a number of vigils and rallies; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Sergeant James Carter, a member of the University
20of Illinois Police Department, made an acute observation while

 

 

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1reviewing video footage of the car that picked Yingying Zhang
2up the day she went missing; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Although Sergeant Carter was not assigned to the
4case, he asked the FBI agents if he could help; this offer
5proved to be exactly what was needed; in reviewing video
6footage, he observed that a small, nearly unnoticeable part of
7the hubcap on the front passenger side wheel of the black SUV
8was missing; and
 
9    WHEREAS, This discovery enabled investigators to narrow
10their search for Yingying Zhang's kidnapper down to one man,
11who is now being held accountable for his heinous crime; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Sergeant Carter's greater body of work and service
13should also be honored; he has been in law enforcement since
142008; in 2011, he joined the police department at the
15University of Illinois; since that time, he has been a
16detective, a field training coordinator, and now a patrol
17sergeant; his diverse experience and attention to detail has
18made Champaign County safer for the better part of a decade;
19and
 
20    WHEREAS, It is likely that the Yingying Zhang case could
21have gone unsolved if not for Sergeant Carter's work, and now,
22her family will at least have the comfort of knowing who was

 

 

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1responsible in this devastating case of their daughter's
2murder; therefore, be it
 
3    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
4HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
5we recognize Sergeant James Carter for his exemplary work in
6the murder case of Yingying Zhang and for his service to
7Champaign County and the entire State of Illinois; and be it
8further
 
9    RESOLVED, That we send our deepest sympathies and
10condolences to the family of Yingying Zhang; and be it further
 
11    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12presented to Sergeant Carter as a symbol of our respect and
13esteem.