RIVERDALE, Utah — A foreign exchange student in Utah who became victim to cyber kidnapping and was eventually found in the mountains of Box Elder County had been financially extorted for over a month, police said.
In Tuesday's final update by the Riverdale Police Department, officials said 17-year-old Kai Zhuang was reunited with his parents and the family returned home to China following the traumatizing ordeal.
WATCH: Recent 'cyber kidnapping' should be a warning for Utah parents, experts say
Local officials disclosed more information about the cyber kidnapping as the case concluded in Utah.
About a month before his disappearance on Dec. 28, the cyber kidnappers began contacting Zhuang and demanding money from him. Zhuang would then request money from his parents and send it to the extortionists from a bank in Utah.
"Kai was under the impression that if he called his parents and said anything to them that they would be harmed in China," explained Police Chief Casey Warren, "so, basically, if you don't do exactly what we say then your parents will be in danger because he's talking to them in person, not over the phone because they're in China, he believes he's doing these things here in the U.S. to protect his family in China."
Watch full police briefing on cyber kidnapping below:
Eventually, Zhuang's parents got suspicious of the amount of money they were sending to their son and cyber kidnappers escalated their tactics, officials said.
A week before Zhuang mysteriously disappeared, prompting an endangered missing alert to be issued across Utah, he was seen in Provo with camping gear.
Riverdale officials said on Dec. 20 a witness saw the teen in Provo with a tent and sleeping bag and was concerned due to his age and the frigid temperatures. They contacted authorities, who reached out to the host family and sent Zhuang back to Riverdale on a train.
At the time, Zhuang did not disclose he was being manipulated in any way, officials reported.
About a week later, a school liaison for the foreign exchange students received word and a photo from the Zhuang family in China with concerns that their son had been kidnapped.
Officials called the situation a "double-blind" because cyber kidnappers made Zhuang's parents believe their son was in danger while Kai believed if he did not send money and do exactly as he was told, his family would be harmed.
"They started with Kai they believe to extort money from him," explained Warren. "His parents had began transferring money to him out of the usual, and he began transferring the money to these kidnappers to protect his family."
Using a variety of resources including officers from multiple agencies, drones, helicopters and cell phone data, investigators were able to narrow down the mountains of Brigham City as a place where Kai may be and began to focus their efforts in the area.
Officials said as the search was going on, they were less concerned about kidnapping and more concerned about the possibility the teenage foreign exchange student would freeze to death in Utah's harsh winter climate.
"One of our main concerns wasn't so much that the kidnappers were going to harm him because we knew the kidnappers were in China, it was that he was going to freeze to death overnight," Warren said.
A sergeant with the Riverdale Police Department decided to check out the area and found a way across the creek, then located Zhuang in a tent nearby. Officials said above all, Zhuang was "relieved" to see help had arrived.
Inside the tent were very minimal supplies, including a sleeping bag, foil blanket, a little food and a little water were all the teen packed with him.
Calling the investigation a "great team effort," Riverdale police thanked those who worked through the holiday weekend, some dedicating 36 hours straight to ensure Zhuang was safely reunited with his family.
Now that Zhuang has been found and returned home with his parents, Riverdale officials said there isn't much that can be done to bring the cyber kidnappers to justice.
"I'm glad they're not here in the U.S., but I wish they were so we could hold them responsible," said Warren. 'We have good faith the Chinese officials there will help locate these suspects identify them, and bring them to justice there."
