[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.

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