Toronto police confirm one of three missing Chinese students has been found safe and sound.
Juan Wen Zhang, 20, was located Saturday afternoon at around 4:45 p.m. She had been missing since Wednesday.
Police add they urged several of her friends to continue texting her. Zhang turned on her phone Saturday and saw messages from her friends and immediately got in touch with police.
Const. Allyson Douglas-Cook said Zhang left the city for a number of days out of fear for her own safety.
Investigators are working with her to try and identify the perpetrators of the scam.
Another student, Yue ``Kandy'' Liu, 17, was last seen in north Toronto on Friday morning while a third student, Ke ``Jaden'' Xu, 16, was last seen on Thursday.
Police believe the three were caught up in a scam meant to extort large sums from their families and that investigators are concerned about the safety of the two students who remain missing.
They believe the disappearances are linked to a scam in which Chinese students are told to go into hiding and stay off social media or their relatives in China will be hurt.
The families in China are then contacted and told that the student has been kidnapped, and are then asked to pay a large ransom
RCMP officers in B.C. and Alberta say they have seen this type of scam perpetrated in the west before.
Anyone with any information about these instances is asked to call police at 416-808-2222 immediately.
with files from CP24 and Canadian Press