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

Police and FBI agents are searching an area near Tiger Mountain in east King County after receiving a tip related to the disappearance of a 12-year-old Tacoma girl.

Tacoma Police spokesman Mark Fulghum said detectives received information telling them to search the area, but he declined to elaborate on how they received the information or the specifics of the tip.

FBI agents, Tacoma police officers, and King County sheriff's deputies are involved in the search, he said.

http://www.komotv.com/news/8410807.html
 
I was hoping for a good outcome for this little girl, if this tip has any value to it, then it sertainly doesn't sound good for this child. of course there is still a glimer of hope, but with this much time gone by and the fact this was most likely a stranger abuduction it could be an outcome most of us have feared. I did a search on washingtons sexual offenders website and found a 38 yr old male that lives adjacent to wright park which is fairly close to where she went missing, the man I found is listed as a child molester and is of asian or pacific nationality. I called that in to police there this morning. I hope this tip is just someone that is just suspecting this to be a good area to look and not based on actual facts. prayers for this little girl and her family.
 
Isn't Tiger Mtn. in Issaquah? I used to have a boyfriend that lived on Tiger Mtn. Seems that's close to a Ted Bundy dump site? I haven't been in that area for years so I don't remember (I'm more familiar with the Eastern side of the state).
 
Isn't Tiger Mtn. in Issaquah? I used to have a boyfriend that lived on Tiger Mtn. Seems that's close to a Ted Bundy dump site? I haven't been in that area for years so I don't remember (I'm more familiar with the Eastern side of the state).

Tiger Mountain is in Issaquah,yes. I used to live a couple of blocks from the foot of the mountain and it was always very quiet - almost deserted. Although issaquah has grown since 1996 (when I lived there) I expect that the mountain is stil readily accessible by car, and very quiet.
 
My boyfriend's (at the time) parents lived at the base too, a nice community. I visited his parents in the 70's, lol, a while ago and I was a teenager. I was there last in 1999 and could not believe how much it had grown! I barely recongized it. If you knew many people in that area, I've been searching for this guy. He gave an acquaintance of mine an email address for me years ago, I lost it, found it and by the time I emailed him, it bounced.
 
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

Someone posted about spotting the van at a house in Parkland in the comments section of an article about Zinnia's disappearance on Steve Huff's Crimeblog. They posted two days ago, July 8 at 4:47pm that they had called in the tip to police.

Susan
 
A command post has been set up along Highway 18. A helicopter and dozens of people, some with dogs, are taking part in the search.

According to the Tacoma News Tribune, police are questioning a Parkland man and searched his home Monday.

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 by the Tacoma News Tribune stated that “girls' undergarments” were found in the man’s home.

Police told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News the man was being held on immigration violations.

On Monday, police urged anyone with information about the case to come forward, saying a van seen at the time of Linnik's disappearance could be the key to the case.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/13654405/detail.html

Sounds like the same house LE searched earlier. Maybe he broke down and told them where Zina is.
 
http://www.thenewstribune.com/front/topphoto/story/106840.html

Friday, a police detective conducted a computer search, seeking prior police reports linked to vans fitting the description given by Mikhail Linnik. The detective found one report from May 1 of this year that led to the Parkland house, the sex offender and his van.

Court records say the report was a vehicle prowl complaint, reported by someone who used to work for the van’s owner and sometimes drove the vehicle to work. The listed license plate of the van included the characters 667B. State vehicle registration records revealed the owner’s name, records state.

Detectives found the van and the owner Sunday, at the Parkland address, but the van had a different license plate. The man appeared to notice detectives watching him from an unmarked car, and walked away from the house, records state.

Detectives stopped the man. When they questioned him, he admitted switching the plates a few days earlier. He said the original plates had been stolen several months earlier and he couldn’t afford to buy new ones.

Police found no one else living in the home, according to the records. The man said the house belonged to his sister, and he had been living there while remodeling it. Detectives found few furnishing inside, and evidence of remodeling, including bags of concrete mix and fresh sheetrock.
 
I too am heartbroken about Zina's disappearance. I only wish she'll be found alive and well. Things sure don't sound good though.
 
Just trying to keep Zina Linnik's name bumped up. I really hope they find
her soon!!
 
I'm kind of confused. There's an Asian man detained for immigration violations and a 42-year-old convicted sex offender and a prowl-report man whose van they've confiscated. Are these all the same guy?

I can only find one Asian sex offender listed in the registry for Tacoma but he's listed as being 37 not 42.
 
Couple of snippets from: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/323112_missing11.html?source=mypi

FBI Special Agent Fred Gutt said that Tuesday's search was prompted by one of several leads investigators are following and that it should not be taken as a sign that Linnik is dead.

"We're still hopeful," Gutt said, adding that detectives have "a number of different and seemingly promising angles of investigation"

~snip~

Unlike most kidnapping victims, Linnik was apparently taken by a stranger, Gutt said.


The last part struck me as kind of strange, as I didn't think most kidnapping victims know their abductor. Until I realized most kidnapping victims are probably taken in child custody battles.

Makes me feel a little better to read they're still hopeful!!
 
My thoughts and prayers to poor little Zina and her family. Praying for a good outcome.....
 
Guy is being held on immigration charges. What in the world was he still doing here?
 
http://www.kirotv.com/news/13661241/detail.html


"ISSAQUAH, Wash. --
A search at Tiger Mountain for a missing 12-year-old Tacoma girl has been suspended, police said.

Officials met overnight and decided to suspend the search, police said. There were no immediate further details."

They're still following up on the convicted sex offender, though.
 
/\ /\ Does this mean they no longer think that she is at that particular site, or is it something worse?
 

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