CA CA - Tera Smith, 16, Redding, 22 August 1998

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I came searching for this thread as a real-life friend of Tera Smith. Since I became aware of online sleuthing communities I have hoped for some resolution of her case. I attended Zink's felony weapons sentencing hearing at the Shasta County courthouse which was full of Tera's friends and family (including her parents) wearing yellow ribbons. TZ's family also attended.

Here are some details I know that were not mentioned in the thread:
  • TZ's truck was detailed before it was searched
  • TZ was convicted of felony rape (my recollection is that it was spousal rape) in the early 1990's.
  • A search warrant 'unrelated to Tera's case' was carried out at TZ's place of business where he had a number of firearms. He was then charged with felony possession.
  • TZ's defense was that the weapon's belonged to his father
  • Tera's fastidious journal keeping indicated a sexual relationship with Zink and her intention to end it
I am so confident TZ is responsible and can't understand how he was never charged.
 
It appears that human bones were just found across from Redding City hall, and there's been many other human bones found nearby in the past year. It looks like they're keeping pretty tight lipped on who those bones may belong to and whether they are all separate sets of bones from different people or belong to just one or two different people. I do wonder if one of the sets of bones that have been found are Tera's remains. Hopefully they will be able to identify these remains soon so some families can get some closure.

Coroner confirms human bones found across from Redding City Hall
 
Tera Lynn Smith – The Charley Project

Updated April 2022


Details of Disappearance
Tera was last seen leaving her family's residence on Tarcy Way in rural Redding, California to go for a jog between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. on August 22, 1998.

She wasn't allowed to leave the house at night on her own and her sister tried to stop her, but Tera said she would be back before their parents got home. She never returned home and has not been seen again.

The last person to possibly see Tera was her former Taekwondo instructor and boyfriend, Troy Zink. A photo of Zink is posted with this case summary. He told authorities that Tera called him during the evening hours of August 22 and asked him to meet her near her home at 6:30 p.m.

Zink claimed that Tera requested $2,000 from him during the meeting, but wouldn't say what it was for. He said he refused to give her the money and she became angry. She asked him to drop her off at the intersection of Old Alturas Road and Old Oregon Trail in Redding. He stated that he drove to Hang Glider Hill by himself to pray afterwards and returned to his house at approximately 11:30 p.m.

Zink was 29 years old and married with a young son at the time of his sexual relationship with Tera. He pleaded guilty to a spousal rape charge in 1993 and spent a year in jail. He has always denied he was involved with Tera's disappearance. He said he had received a letter from her, which allegedly stated she was planning to leave her home.

Tera's family has maintained that she was a typical teenager who had some problems with her life, but nothing that would have led her to run away. Prior to her disappearance, she had written in her journal that she planned to end her relationship with Zink. Her parents believe that Tera contacted Zink and tried to end the affair on the day she was last seen, as opposed to Zink's version of events.

After his initial police interview, Zink has refused to cooperate any further with authorities regarding Tera's case. After her disappearance, he served a four-year prison sentence for weapons charges. As a convicted felon, he wasn't allowed to own firearms, but when police investigating Tera's disappearance searched his Taekwondo studio, they found some old sporting rifles and shotguns in the attic.

There was an unconfirmed sighting of Tera on the evening of her disappearance in Redding. A witness told investigators that someone matching Tera's description was spotted inside a full-size dark blue 1976 Ford pickup truck with mag wheels and a yellow tailgate. The girl was accompanied by an unidentified Caucasian male. It has not been established if this sighting is related to Tera's case.

Tera was a junior at Central Valley High School at the time of her disappearance. She has three siblings. Her parents are still living in Redding. No arrests have been made in connection with her disappearance and her case remains unsolved.
 
Dateline features haunting vanishing of Calif. homecoming queen

4/18/22

Although Terry Smith says Tera’s case has been “stone cold” for years, it has had one strange recent addendum. In 2016, Tera’s old classmate Sherri Papini went missing while on a jog on Old Oregon Trail, the same road where Tera supposedly went for her final run; the girls were one year apart at Central Valley High School. Tera’s family spoke with the Papinis during their ordeal, genuinely believing Sherri had been kidnapped. Last week, Papini admitted she made up the story.

Tera Smith would be 40 years old today, if she is still alive. She has blond hair and blue eyes and is 5-foot-7. Anyone with information regarding her disappearance is asked to contact the Shasta County Sheriff's Office at 530-245-6135.
 
Family pushing for justice in 1998 disappearance of daughter Tera Smith in Redding, California

4/17/22

“My parents own a fun center. My brother actually owns it now,” Kyra told Dateline. “It just has, like, the mini-golf and go-karts and bumper boats – all that kind of stuff.”

It’s called the Oasis Fun Center and Kyra said that the whole family worked there. “Tera and I would both run the counter… and, like, the Lazer Tag,” Kyra said.

That evening, August 22, 1998, Tera was supposed to go to work at the fun center. Her shift started just about an hour after her mother Marilyn’s did.

But Tera never showed.
 
Tera Smith: Questions remain about Redding teen who vanished in 1998

4/19/22

Shasta County sheriff's Sgt. John Hubbard said in 2008 that "hundreds and hundreds" of tips have been investigated since Tera's disappearance and that three or four tips, or suggestions, were followed up within the past year.

But none panned out.

"It's a frustrating case," Hubbard said, adding that his heart breaks for Tera's parents. "If I could pick a case to be solved, this one is it."

Despite the dead ends, Smith remains hopeful that evidence might someday be uncovered to reveal the truth.

Smith said since his daughter disappeared, his other three children, Trevor, Sierra and Kyra, have married and started families of their own, he said.He and his wife, Marilyn, now have grandchildren.

"We're quietly going ahead with our lives," Smith said.

But not seeing Tera grow into adulthood is a painful truth, and he admits he sometimes has a difficult time remembering her voice, as well as her smile.

"The memories are fading," he said. " And I hate that."
 
24 years ago, a homecoming queen disappeared. A letter found in her room revealed the truth. | Fatim Hemraj | NewsBreak Original

4/20/22

One friend told them that she believed Tera was involved in an inappropriate relationship with Troy Zink, Tera’s Taekwondo instructor and a 29-year-old married father of one.

Tera’s parents rushed to Troy’s house. When his wife informed them that he wasn’t home, they called the police and reported Tera missing.

According to NBC News, Troy told the police that Tera called him at 6:30 pm while he was at work and asked to meet. He picked her up down the street from her home and she asked him for $2,000. Troy claimed that when he refused to give her the money, Tera became angry and asked him to drop her off at the trail for her jog.

Troy said that after dropping Tera off, he went to Hang Glider Hill and prayed…for five hours. He insisted that he wasn’t involved with the teen but a damning letter found in her room told a very different story.

The letter revealed that Tera was in a “relationship” with Troy and that he had allegedly been grooming her for some time. She wrote:

This fear is a stronger fear than I have ever experienced before. This fear comes from the fact that I know that what I am doing with you is wrong. There is no way to overlook this fact. It’s against Gods will and we both know it. We have fallen into Satans snare and it seems we are traped (sic). We are traped (sic) because we feel we are in love.

When the authorities searched Troy’s home they discovered several firearms, a violation of his status as a convicted felon. He was ultimately sentenced to 4 years in prison for possession of a firearm but he has never been named a suspect in Tera’s disappearance and he maintains his silence.

Many believe that Tera planned to mail the letter to Troy but ultimately changed her mind and decided to break things off in person, instead. That was nearly 24 years ago and she hasn’t been seen since.

image.php
 
Is anyone watching where TZ goes? I've heard that criminals sometimes like to relive their crimes. Also, if TZ did dispose of TS it was probably in a place he was familiar with at that time.
 
Question for those of you who are local to the area where Tera went missing: Where is the hill located, where Zink claimed he went to pray for several hours after allegedly dropping Tera off?
 
Interesting suggestions earlier in this thread, about the possibility that Tera may have been placed into an abandoned mine. According to TheDiggings.com, Shasta County has 578 mines. (I assume that includes both active and abandoned, but it seems most of them are inactive based on some info further down on the website.) I can't imagine how LE would even begin to narrow down where to look, unless they get a tip or confession.
 
Tera Lynn Smith

Tera Lynn Smith

MISSING SINCE:08/22/1998SEX:Female
DOB:01/06/1982RACE:White
HEIGHT:5' 7"EYES:Blue
WEIGHT:120 lbs.HAIR:Blonde
AKA:Terra Lynn Smith
CLOTHING:White sports bra, multi-colored running shoes
SCARS/MARKS/TATTOO:Pierced ears
DENTAL X-RAYS AVAILABLE:No
Tera Lynn Smith was last seen on August 22, 1998, in Redding. Photo on left is age-progressed to 23 years of age. Age progression is provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Contact
AGENCY:Shasta Sheriffs Department
PHONE NUMBER:(530) 245-6025
CASE NUMBER:9825673

oag.ca.gov

Tera Lynn Smith

oag.ca.gov oag.ca.gov

<modsnip - not approved sources>

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I have moved back and forth between Redding and California’s Central Coast. In San Luis Obispo there was the case of Kristen Smart which was very similar. A young girl vanished and a very sketchy guy with a strange story was the last person known to be with her. No charges were filed because there was no body. Last year, a locally produced Podcast called “Your Own Backyard” came out and brought the case to the limelight again. It prompted Law Enforcement to reopen the case (although it hadn’t been officially closed.) One thing led to another and the guy was arrested, tried and convicted.

I always thought the Tera Smith case was a lot stronger than the Kristen Smart Case but there were certain political issues holding back the investigation. I wonder if renewed attention to this case might have the same effect it did in San Luis Obispo county.
 
I have moved back and forth between Redding and California’s Central Coast. In San Luis Obispo there was the case of Kristen Smart which was very similar. A young girl vanished and a very sketchy guy with a strange story was the last person known to be with her explore rates.
 
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