As family of a Naperville woman who died after being shoved from a cliff in Germany traveled to retrieve her body this week, the father of the surviving woman said she remains traumatized by the attack.
“She’s pretty damaged by the incident,” Weihan Chang of Normal told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “It’s life-changing.”
His daughter, Kelsey Chang, 22, a recent University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate, survived the attack June 14. She was released from a hospital on Sunday and was on a plane bound for home Tuesday. Weihan Chang said he hadn’t had a chance to talk with his daughter very much.
Meanwhile in Naperville, the community was mourning the loss of 21-year-old Eva Liu, the young woman killed while hiking with Kelsey Chang near Neuschwanstein castle in southern Germany.
Liu was remembered during services Sunday at her family’s church, Living Water Evangelical Church in Naperville, where she was a member of the congregation’s Overflow Youth Group.
“It’s a very tough situation,” said the church’s pastor, Mark Zhang. “Our words are powerless. We just mourn together with them and pray for them. When one family suffers, our whole church suffers.”
A formal prayer service and funeral arrangements are pending her father and twin sister’s return from Germany, pastor Barry Gin told the Daily Herald.
On Tuesday evening, Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico said Eva Liu “represented the best of our community.” He offered the city’s condolences to her family and called for a moment of silence at the start of the City Council meeting.
According to authorities, Liu and Chang were hiking near the castle on the afternoon of June 14. The two women encountered a 30-year-old Michigan man on the path. He lured them onto a trail leading to a viewpoint, according to police. At some point he attacked Liu. When Chang tried to help her, the man threw Chang off a cliff. She fell almost 165 feet.
The man then apparently tried to sexually assault Liu before throwing her off the cliff as well. Mountain rescue teams were able to reach the women, but Liu died in a hospital that night.
The Michigan man left the scene but was arrested nearby. A bystander said the man had scratches across his face but said nothing as police took him into custody.
The man is suspected of murder, attempted murder and a sexual offense, but prosecutors have said it may be three to four months before he’s charged.
Liu and Chang were both recent graduates of the University of Illinois. Liu earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science. Chang earned a degree in computer engineering. Liu and Chang were on a trip through Europe after their graduation last month. The pair also graduated together from the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora in 2019.
Nancy Chen, founding president of Chinese American Women in Action, said she is organizing a group to attend the council meeting to show their support.
Members of the Naperville-based civic/business organization are mourning the loss of “a vibrant and promising young life that was so senselessly extinguished,” Chen told the Daily Herald.
“Eva Liu was our sister, daughter and granddaughter. Her death is deeply felt not only by her family, friends and neighbors, it touches all of us who can feel the pain of her parents and family,” Chen wrote on Facebook. “The Chinese American community in Naperville and elsewhere is shaken and saddened by the brutal murder of this young, bright woman.”
Contributing: Daily Herald
