GUILTY WA - Zina Linnik, 12, Tacoma, 4 July 2007

Hilltop, the neighborhood where Zina lives, has been associated with
gangs, drugs and high crime for many years. Community involvement, especially the Hilltop Action Coalition, has done great work in lessening the dangers and moving the gangs out of Hilltop. It's just the sort of neighborhood -- near downtown, beautiful views, affordable single-family houses -- that would make it attractive to recent immigrants and lower-income families. Still, though, it's a relatively dangerous section of Tacoma.

Zina's house is within a couple of blocks of I-5, which leads north to Canada and south all the way to the border of Mexico. She could be anywhere. Also, Hwy 16 splits off less than a mile from her home and leads to the Kitsap Peninsula, which is basically wilderness, about 10 or so miles away.

I have often wondered why this area is so rife with serial killers and kidnappers.

LatteDa said:

I heard this on Fox News...her father had asked her to go out to the alley to see if there any other family members out there because they had been watching fireworks. That just seems strange to me.

Click to expand...

It's not all that strange if you think about it. They may have been getting ready to eat or watch a movie. I have been sent outside many times to round up everyone the eat or sing happy birthday. It's sounds to me like the alley in question is not a dark creepy alley like on TV. The neighbors report a lot of kids play there and there is a basketball net.

40 registered sex offenders within a half mile of her home!:furious: Tacoma in general is one of the more dangerous cities in the state; they couldn't pay me enough to live there. Prayers for the family of this little girl..........I doubt it will turn out with a happy ending.

For an amber alert it really doesn't seem like this is getting much coverage or attention. This poor girl has been missing for almost 4 whole days now. What's going on? Why haven't they found her yet? Is the family afraid to stir up to much media attention for fear of their immigration status becoming an issue? Is their immigration status an issue? Are they here legally? I know Bryan Dos-Santos Gomes parents were illegal and that case didn't seem to get the attention it warranted either.

spazkat,
I know what you mean. I've rarely heard Zina's disappearance mentioned on tv...... WHY? She deserves to be found. Let's hope and pray she's found and returned home safely.

TACOMA, Wash. -- Several new promising leads surfaced overnight in the case of 12-year-old Zina Linnik's disappearance, police said on Sunday. But police did not elaborate on exactly what those leads are.

On Saturday, police said they were looking for two possible witnesses to the disappearance of Zina Linnik. The two people were seen at a bus stop near Zina's home around the time she disappeared.

Spokesperson Mark Fulghum said the two were seen at the bus stop at 25th and South 'J' Street before and after the time the girl disappeared. Police are now trying to find the two people in hopes they may have new clues that could aid the investigation.

Also on Saturday, police said they've also obtained video footage that may lend a clue.

"Now we have video to review from neighborhood cameras that may show the suspect or the vehicle for us," Fulghum said, "so everything is still moving forward in a positive way."

www.komotv.com/news/local/8381157.html

philamena said:

spazkat,
I know what you mean. I've rarely heard Zina's disappearance mentioned on tv...... WHY? She deserves to be found. Let's hope and pray she's found and returned home safely.

Click to expand...

Its Tacoma. People probably think little girls disappear all the time "over there".

I hope they find this little girl.

Many prayers for Zina's safe return.

Spazkat9696 said:

It's not all that strange if you think about it. They may have been getting ready to eat or watch a movie. I have been sent outside many times to round up everyone the eat or sing happy birthday. It's sounds to me like the alley in question is not a dark creepy alley like on TV. The neighbors report a lot of kids play there and there is a basketball net.

Click to expand...

There's an alley behind practically every house in Tacoma. Most houses have a garage leading to the alley, trash is picked up in the alley, kids play in the alley, dogs get walked down the alleys. It's a much safer place for kids to play than the street in some ways. However, most alleys in Tacoma have quite a bit of brush and overgrown bushes lining them, and they're not lighted except by backyard lights. At night they are kind of creepy since anyone could be out there hiding.

Praying hard for Zina...poor little thing. :banghead:

I feel like the ruston area would offer a great deal of seclusion for someone especially during the cover of night, I feel that helicopters and ground crews should at least take a look into this area. maybe this person that did this is someone that knows this alley, maybe even a trash collector or something of that nature. non the least, It is too strange that she just happen to disappear moments after she was ask to go outside to check for more family members, I think two people are involved, one to drive the van up next to where she was, and when they got alongside of her the other person slides the door open and drags her inside and they speed off, other wise this person would have had to gotten out of the van and forced her into the van and then would have had to climb back in the van and speed off. or its possible that this is someone from near there that she had seen before and wasn't scared at first until she was being forced into the van. I feel strongly that this person has canvassed the area looking for a prime target, and probably has seen her in that alley before, in fact that person may have been through there hours before the abduction took place.

I agree this isn't getting enough news attention. I hope and pray there is a good ending.

Tacoma police have scheduled a news conference at 1 p.m. today to discuss the case of Zina Linnik, the 12-year-old girl who went missing from her Hilltop neighborhood last Wednesday.

FBI agents were searching a house on 117th Street South today. A gray van was discovered in a carport near the house.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/updates/story/106103.html

Rle7 said:

Tacoma police have scheduled a news conference at 1 p.m. today to discuss the case of Zina Linnik, the 12-year-old girl who went missing from her Hilltop neighborhood last Wednesday.

FBI agents were searching a house on 117th Street South today. A gray van was discovered in a carport near the house.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/updates/story/106103.html

Click to expand...

Oh please let this be good news!

I did see this on CNN today at lunch. Thought that was a good sign.

Rle7 said:

Tacoma police have scheduled a news conference at 1 p.m. today to discuss the case of Zina Linnik, the 12-year-old girl who went missing from her Hilltop neighborhood last Wednesday.

FBI agents were searching a house on 117th Street South today. A gray van was discovered in a carport near the house.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/updates/story/106103.html

Click to expand...

Yes, but it's 90 min. past 1 pm on the West Coast....any news?

englishleigh said:

Yes, but it's 90 min. past 1 pm on the West Coast....any news?

Click to expand...

This is the news from the presser. I guess the other lead didn't pan out, unfortunately:

Police believe Zina was taken by a man driving an older model, box-shaped gray van, possibly a Toyota or Volkswagon, with a partial plate of 677 or 667.

During a news conference Monday, Tacoma Police Department Chief Donald Ramsdell asked the public to keep an eye out for unusual behavior that may point to a suspect.

"The broadcast of the vehicle description makes the vehicle a liability for the offender," said Ramsdell. "The offender will likely seek to distance himself from that liability in many ways. If the vehicle was borrowed, he will immediately return it. He may park the vehicle in an inconspicious location, perhaps covering the vehicle with a tarp or storing the vehicle in the garage out of sight. If questioned, he may explain the vehicle has mechanical problems and is no longer driveable."

Ramsdell added the suspect could have changed the vehicle's appearance, possibly repainting it or altering the license plate, or selling it.

Police say they have been following up to 200 tips and leads since Zina's disapperance, but so far their search efforts have come up empty.

http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/NW_070907WAB_amber_alert_update_zina_linnik_LJ.5b8658c8.html

Awww, poor little Zina. I'm so afraid this will end up badly. Thanks for the update!!

dannyodie said:

I feel like the ruston area would offer a great deal of seclusion for someone especially during the cover of night, I feel that helicopters and ground crews should at least take a look into this area. maybe this person that did this is someone that knows this alley, maybe even a trash collector or something of that nature. non the least, It is too strange that she just happen to disappear moments after she was ask to go outside to check for more family members, I think two people are involved, one to drive the van up next to where she was, and when they got alongside of her the other person slides the door open and drags her inside and they speed off, other wise this person would have had to gotten out of the van and forced her into the van and then would have had to climb back in the van and speed off. or its possible that this is someone from near there that she had seen before and wasn't scared at first until she was being forced into the van. I feel strongly that this person has canvassed the area looking for a prime target, and probably has seen her in that alley before, in fact that person may have been through there hours before the abduction took place.

Click to expand...

I used to live in Ruston, and the little town itself has hardly any wild areas -- all back and front yards. BUT there's lots of wilderness at Point Defiance Park, just to the north, and there's also a large superfund clean-up area just on the Sound (SE) side of Ruston. (For all I know, though, that could be all cleaned up and developed these days!) The whole area around Tacoma, in all directions and for hundreds of miles, is mainly forest. I don't know how they could ever pinpoint a spot to search. It just worries me sick.

Here's more on that house that was searched yesterday:

About the time the news conference started, FBI and Tacoma police investigators appeared to wrap up what neighbors said was an 18-hour search at a small gray house in Parkland, prompted by a tip.

A gray Chevy van missing a front license plate had been parked in a carport next to the house in the 1200 block of 117th Street. Police towed the van away early Monday afternoon, said Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum.

No one was arrested, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials detained an Asian male who had been questioned by police, Fulghum said.

“Right now he’s just somebody we’re talking to and we’ve not been able to eliminate him,” Fulghum said.

Ramsdell said the man’s possible ties to Zina’s disappearance are unclear and still being checked. Other statements from the news conference made it clear police are still looking for suspects.

“We haven’t ruled anything out,” Ramsdell said.

In Parkland, neighbors Jacob Ault and Jack Shipton said the gray house had been occupied by about three generations of an Asian family, including a man in his 30s or 40s. An elderly neighbor who lives across the street from the house said its occupants were quiet people who didn’t attract attention to themselves.

Late Monday morning, about 15 FBI searchers passed in and out of the house and small yard. Some carried boxes from the house and loaded them into a white truck. The agents also walked in and out of what looked like a mobile office: a long, black windowless trailer lined with filing cabinets.

Ault and an elderly neighbor said police had arrived early Sunday evening and worked through the night. In the morning, they went door-to-door, questioning neighbors, residents said.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/crime/story/106488.html