Thread: WA: Police find body of missing Tacoma girl

[Poster Note: Watch this one carefully. It's really shaking up the people in the Tacoma area and even regionally too. So far, the TPD has not released info on the perp - only to say he was initially arrested on 'immigration violations'. Are senators Cantwell and Murray watching to see the 'fruits' of their Open Borders policies and support for amnesty?]


Police find body of missing Tacoma girl

10:39 PM PDT on Thursday, July 12, 2007

KING 5 News and KING5.com Staff

Video

Person of interest gives Tacoma Police information that leads them to missing girl's body

Statement from Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell

Aerials: Search for missing girl

TACOMA, Wash. - Tacoma Police say they have found the body of a 12-year-old girl snatched from behind her home on the Fourth of July.

Police Chief Don Ramsdell says information provided by a man arrested earlier this week on an immigration complaint led police to an undisclosed Pierce County site where the remains of Zina Linnik were recovered.

He says crime scene investigators are processing the scene.

There is no immediate word on whether the man in custody will be charged in the little girl's death.

Developments will be discussed in detail at an additional press conference sometime Friday.

Earlier Thursday, Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum had said that investigators learned nothing new about the abduction of the 12-year-old girl from stopping cars Wednesday night in her neighborhood. He said detectives continued to follow leads, including the investigation of a sex offender described as a "person of interest."

Zina Linnik was kidnapped outside of her home on the Fourth of July. Police were asking the community to help in any way they can.

Wednesday was the second time since the girl's disappearance that they set up a road block, stopping every car, talking to drivers, writing down license plates and handing out fliers.

"There are still people out there who have not heard about this," said Detective Chris Taylor, Tacoma Police. "I just talked to a business owner today who had no idea about the amber alert and the missing girl, so I don't think we can get enough information out."

On July 4, Zina and her sisters were watching fireworks and playing in an alley behind their Tacoma home located near South 25th and J Streets on July 4 when a family member heard Zina scream. When her dad ran out of the house to see what happened, he saw a man in a gray van speeding away.

A tip led searchers to Tiger Mountain east of Issaquah earlier this week, but after taking a closer look at a shallow grave, authorities discovered it was the disposal of a family pet.

Police impounded a gray van Monday for evidence and took the van's owner, a 42-year-old Parkland man from Thailand, into custody on an immigration violation. He now has been charged with failing to register after a 1990 incest charge. Police confirmed the man is also a convicted Level 1 sex offender.

Police have already searched his home, confiscated evidence, and were now awaiting on DNA test results from that evidence.

"We're still not able to eliminate him, so he's still our person of interest." said Fulghum, "There are some other leads we are following, but there are no other persons of interest right now."

Zina Linnik

Court documents obtained by KING 5 News show the man was stopped by detectives near 118th and Ainsworth on Sunday. They asked for permission to search the man's home and gray van, which is similar to the one described seen leaving the area the night Zina disappeared.

The documents state the man "agreed and said he understood why detectives need to look through the van."

The van's plates had partially matched a description for the suspect vehicle, but detectives say the person of interest admitted that he put the switched license plates on his van a few days ago.

Two of the man's friends have also told police the man left their house on July 4 at approximately 8:45 or 9 p.m.

Zina disappeared at 9:45 p.m.

Police recovered 45 different items from the convicted sex offender's home, including bedding, tools and what documents say was "girls' underpants."

The court documents say the man denied any involvement in the abduction.

Zina Linnik is of Ukrainian descent. She is described as white, 4-foot-10, 80 pounds, blonde hair. She was last seen wearing a pink T-shirt, pink/orange/yellow Capri pants and red flip-flop sandals. Her hair was in a ponytail.

Multiple rewards are being offered for information leading to the safe return of Zina. The rewards are also for the apprehension and prosecution of the person responsible for the girl's apparent abduction. The FBI is offering $10,000, the Washington State Patrol Trooper Association $5,000, and Tacoma-Pierce County Crimestoppers $1,000.

http://www.nwcn.com/topstories/stories/ ... 8272c.html

I just heard on CNN that the man they suspect having killed the girl is an illegal immigrant (they didn't way from where) who ALREADY had a conviction for raping another little girl and had been deported!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by americangirl

I just heard on CNN that the man they suspect having killed the girl is an illegal immigrant (they didn't way from where) who ALREADY had a conviction for raping another little girl and had been deported!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know I heard the same thing and that he is from Thailand. This just sickens me-absolutely sickens me. How many more murders, rapes, etc. have to be commited by illegal aliens before people wake up. If we only enforced our laws this beautiful little girl would be alive today.

Enforce the current laws-you will save our country, our culture and our lives.

How many more times must these thing happen....?
My heart is breaking. The poor family.

I just heard on CNN that the man they suspect having killed the girl is an illegal immigrant (they didn't way from where) who ALREADY had a conviction for raping another little girl and had been deported.

If the CNN report is true there should be a thorough investigation of how he was able to re-enter the country. It would give great exposure to the problem of deportees so easily returning to commit another heinous crime. Once again, I reference the difference between the prosecution of an American citizen and an illegal immigrant. If the defendant had been an American he would likely have still been in jail, or at least been under watch as a sex offender, and this precious child would not have been harmed.

Immigration violation and from Thailand.

Absolutely heart-breaking.

I was putting this post together from local news sources, when I found this thread. The Police Chief praises the Feds (FBI) in one video. Why wasn't the federal gov't enforcing current laws, then the alleged suspect (who gave police info on where to find Zina's body!) wouldn't have been able to kidnap this child on the 4th of July, while watching fireworks with her family, then murder her.

Hey there, Gov. Gregoire, Senators Cantwell, Murray and Rep. Reichert...watcha think about illegal aliens now??????

http://q13.trb.com/news/kcpq-linnikfoun ... cpq-news-1

Missing Girl's Body Found
July 12, 2007

TACOMA, Wash. — Tacoma police say they've found the body of 12 year old Zina Linnick.

She disappearred from her home on the Fourth of July.

Chief Don Ramsdell spoke to reporters just after 9:30 this evening.

He said information regarding the wherabouts of Zina were obtained from a person of interest in the case the man is being held in a federal detention center on immigration charges

Chief Ramsdell says Tacoma police and FBI agents are now in an area of Pierce county where the victim was discovered but he did not disclose it's exact location. He did say crime scene investigators are now on the scene gathering evidence.

" We never lost hope that the final outcome of this investigation would bring Zina safely home to her family. Tthe loss of Zina has brought great anguish upon the Linnick family, all of the investigators and officers that participated in this investigation and to our Tacoma community." said Ramsdell.

The news came just hours after police held a community meeting tonight in Tacoma to update residents about the investigation into the abduction of the 12-year-old girl in the Hilltop neighborhood.

Zina Linnik was taken in an alley near her home the night of July 4th. She disappeared after her father heard her scream and ran outside to see a gray van pulling away.

Ramsdell did not name the person whose information led them to the girl's body. But on Tuesday officer released information about the man described as a "person of interest " in the case.

They said the FBI is testing girl's underpants and other possible evidence taken from the man's home in Parkland. He was detained Monday after investigators looking for a van seized his vehicle.

The Tacoma News Tribune reports he was convicted in 1990 of incest and completed a 60-day jail sentence and five years of sex offender treatment.

The 42 year old from Thailand is being held for an immigration violation and failing to register as a sex offender.
There is no immediate word on whether the man in custody will be charged in the little girl's death.
Copyright © 2007, KCPQ

http://www.king5.com/video/index.html?nvid=158597

http://www.king5.com/video/news-index.html?nvid=158602

The above video gives more of the suspect's background.

[quote]http://www.kirotv.com/news/13674277/detail.html
12-Year-Old Girl's Body Found

POSTED: 8:58 pm PDT July 12, 2007
UPDATED: 5:38 am PDT July 13, 2007

TACOMA, Wash. -- The body of Zina Linnik, the 12-year-old girl whose July 4 abduction sparked a massive search, has been found in Pierce County, authorities said.

The man held on immigration violations and described as a person of interest in the case provided information that led to the discovery, police said.

Police said the body was found as a community meeting about the case was getting under way.

Police and FBI agents, who made the announcement at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, declined to take questions or provide further details.

The search for Zina led police to set up roadblocks in the Tacoma neighborhood where she disappeared, stopping drivers and asking them whether they saw anything on the night she was abducted.

It also led to a search on Tiger Mountain that turned up nothing related to the case, police said.

Zina was taken from an alley near her home. Police have a man they described as a person of interest, a sex offender from Thailand who is being held on an immigration violation.

The man is a 42-year-old convicted sex offender who investigators said owns a grey van matching the description of the van seen leaving the alley where Linnik disappeared. Police said the man recently changed the plates on the van, the Tacoma News Tribune reported.

A search warrant obtained stated that “girls' undergarmentsâ€

Hey there, Gov. Gregoire, Senators Cantwell, Murray and Rep. Reichert...watcha think about illegal aliens now??????

Yes, I agree CuriousPat - those fools need to be reminded early and often on what their misguided (shortsighted, actually) policies have done.

I hope the good people of WA will find this another good reason to help Cantwell and Murray join the ranks of the private sector (urging 'unelection' for both of them).

Here's a little more of the story......

A partial license plate description of a gray van seen in the alley around the time Zina vanished led police to Terapon Adhahn, 42, a Thai immigrant who was convicted of incest in 1990.

A search of the home where Adhahn had been staying turned up "girl's undergarments," according to a search warrant return.

Adhahn denied any involvement in Zina's disappearance and said he was not in Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood July 4, Detective L.J. Wade wrote in an affidavit filed in Pierce County Superior Court in support of the search warrant application.

Investigators and forensic experts from the FBI searched the home on Monday, seizing items including used vacuum cleaner filters, bedding, black plastic sheeting and the undergarments.

Adhahn was being held at a federal immigration detention in Tacoma because he could face deportation for his 1990 incest conviction, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lorie Dankers. He also has been charged in Pierce County with failing to register as a sex offender, and would face that charge before being deported.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,289165,00.html

He was being held because he COULD face deportation????????? He should have been deported the first time!!!!

He was being held because he COULD face deportation????????? He should have been deported the first time!!!!

I agree. Any crime comitted by an illegal alien is preventable. They shouldn't be here in the first place and in this case, he should have already been deported.