The woman, identified by authorities only by her first name, Liang, had met her attacker a week
before the September 8 kidnapping. That day, DeQiang Song, a Chinese immigrant on a student
visa, picked Liang up for a trip to the mall, but detoured to a desolate patch of desert between
Victorville and Apple Valley. There, he tied her up before taking her phone to call her father and
demand a ransom. Despite her father's willingness to pay, Song allegedly proceeded to put on
latex gloves and choke the petite woman with a cord. When he realized she was still breathing,
he drew a knife and slashed her throat. He believed she was dead and left her in the desert before
driving off to pick up his ransom.
By the early morning of the next day, the drop-off ramson was made in a parking lot. As Song
went to pick up the package, authorities moved in and arrested him.
Authorities said Liang regained consciousness and crawled to a shack half a mile away, where a
resident called for help. She was airlifted to a nearby hospital, and is recovering at home,
authorities said. Dried blood and clothing were found in the area off Interstate 15 where she had
been attacked.
Liang's relationship with Song was not romantic, and she knew him only by an alias: Xia-Yu. (Source: Robert Faturechi and Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, Sep 18, 2010).