SAVOY, Ill. (WAND)- Family, friends and supportive strangers gathered at a memorial service for Yingying Zhang Friday afternoon.
The service at First Baptist Church in Savoy included music, prayers and remarks in Chinese and English.
Yingying Zhang's father, Ronggao Zhang, remembered his daughter as a dedicated student, a generous young woman, a loving daughter and a caring sister.
"This is my daughter; as a father, whenever I think of her, it is hard to describe how much I miss and mourn her," he said.
Ronggao Zhang also described the support his family has received in the two years since Yingying's kidnapping.
"In the past two years, we have had God with us," he said. "The local churches in Champaign and Savoy and the church in China have been a great help to us. Without them, it is hard to imagine how we could have gotten through this."
Ronggao Zhang also called on others to care for current international students.
"Everyone, please reach out and help these international students, and don't let such a tragic event happen again," he said.
In a eulogy read by Yingying's brother, her fiance Xiaolin Hou pointed to changes enacted after Yingying's murder: including enhanced police response to missing persons cases and new protocols at the University of Illinois counseling center.
"I believe this is also what Yingying would love to see," he wrote.
In a meditation, Pastor Chuck Moore lauded the work of international students, police, attorneys, news media and others in the two years since Yingying's kidnapping.
"It was because you cared," Moore repeated.
After the service, Yingying's family left to deposit a box of her belongings at a memorial garden created in her memory.
