Two U-Va. Students Charged in Kidnapping

Police and the FBI conducted surveillance at the Stratford Motor Lodge, and police obtained records from the motel indicating that Room 27 was registered to a man from Charlottesville, the affidavit states.

The man was a "known associate" of the victim, police said, although Gotthardt said investigators did not know the extent of the relationship.

"This is not a random crime," Gotthardt said. "We think this particular victim was targeted." He said he did not know why.

A police detective and an FBI agent went to Room 27 sometime after midnight on Thanksgiving morning, Gotthardt said. The two men inside allowed the detective and agent into the room, where they saw the victim lying in the bathtub, Allen wrote. Lu and Shu were arrested.

The victim was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he was treated for mild dehydration, Gotthardt said.

Shu lives in an apartment on campus, and Lu lives off campus, said a friend of Shu's from U-Va. who also knew him in Shanghai and who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals.

"That's unbelievable," the friend said. "I couldn't imagine this kind of stuff would happen." He said he knew the men were heading to the Washington area but did not know why. "He plays sports. He plays basketball," he said of Shu. "He has a lot of friends."