Zebb Quinn
The Disappearance of Zebb Quinn
Cold Case File
Disappearance: January 2, 2000
Zebb Wayne Quinn
Zebb Wayne Quinn was born on May 12, 1981 and is an American man who went missing in Asheville, North Carolina on January 2, 2000. Quinn was 18 years old and working at a local Walmart when he disappeared after finishing his shift. His car was discovered several days later in a restaurant parking lot under unusual circumstances. Seventeen years later, on July 10, 2017, Robert Jason Owens was indicted on charges of murdering Quinn, even without a body. Zebb Quinn has never been found.
Robert Owens worked with Quinn at Walmart and was the last known person to have seen Quinn alive.
January 2, 2000
18 year old Zebb Quinn ended his shift at Walmart around 9 pm on January 2, 2000. He met a friend named Robert Jason Owens in the Walmart parking lot. The two then parted ways, each going to his own vehicle, but intending to both head to a common destination to check out a vehicle that Quinn was considering buying.
The two men were seen on surveillance footage at a gas station down the road at approximately 9:15 pm. Owens later told police that sometime between leaving the gas station and 9:30 pm, Quinn flashed his headlights, signaling for him to pull over.
Quinn told him that he had received a page and needed to return the call. After Quinn returned from the pay phone, Owens described him as “frantic.”
Quinn told him (Jason) that he needed to cancel their plans to look at the vehicle and, as he sped off, he rear ended Owens’ vehicle. Zebb Quinn was never seen again.
Hours later, Jason Owens was treated at the hospital for fractured ribs and a head injury that he said he sustained in a second car accident that evening. No report for that alleged accident was ever filed with police.
Zebb Quinn Reported Missing
Zebb Quinn’s mother, Denise Vlahakis, tried all evening to reach her son. When he hadn’t returned home the next afternoon she filed a missing person’s report.
Two days after Zebb was last seen, a phone call was placed to the Walmart where Quinn was employed by a man purporting to be Zebb Quinn. The man told them he wouldn’t be in to work because of illness.
The coworker, who received the phone call, was familiar with Quinn’s voice and became suspicious. The phone call was traced back to a Volvo plant where Jason Owens worked. Authorities went to speak with Owens at once.
Owens admitted making the phone call, claiming that he was doing his friend a favor after Quinn phoned and asked him to call in sick for him. Owens denies any involvement in Quinn’s disappearance but was immediately considered a person of interest in the case.
The Investigation
During the investigation, police interviewed a woman named Misty Taylor, whom Zebb Quinn was interested in romantically. Quinn had developed a relationship with her in the weeks preceding his disappearance. He had told his friends and family that Misty’s boyfriend, Wesley Smith, was abusive and had threatened Quinn after he discovered Misty and Quinn had been speaking.
Misty and Wesley deny any involvement in the disappearance.
A review of the phone records in the case indicates that the page Quinn received that evening was dialed from the home of his paternal aunt, a woman named Ina Ustich. Quinn had very little contact with Ustich prior to his disappearance and she denied making the call.
Ustich told police she was having dinner at the home of her friend Tamra Taylor, Misty’s mother. Misty and her boyfriend, Wesley, were also present.
Two weeks after Quinn’s disappearance, his vehicle was found parked near the hospital where his mother works. A pair of lips were drawn on the car’s back windshield and a live Labrador mix puppy was found inside the vehicle. A hotel key card was found in the vehicle, but investigators were unable to trace the key. Also found in the car were several drink bottles and a jacket that did not belong to Quinn. Police collected forensic evidence from the car but uncovered no new leads. Quinn’s mother believes the car was placed there by someone who had knowledge that she worked nearby, with the hope that she would find it.
Investigators now believe more than one person was involved in Quinn’s disappearance.
The next day police received a tip from a couple who had seen Zebb’s case on the news. They said they had seen that same car in Asheville a few days prior. The authorities questioned them about the driver of the vehicle and they stated that they had indeed seen the driver. A composite sketch was done and it resembled one of their suspects: Misty Taylor.
Unfortunately no evidence was ever brought forward against any of the suspects and therefore the case went cold.
15 Year Later
On March 17, 2015, fifteen years after Zebb Quinn’s disappearance, Jason Owens was arrested, in an unrelated incident, for the disappearance and murder of Food Network Star contestant Cristie Schoen, her husband J.T. Codd, and their unborn child.
Owens admitted to killing the family by accidentally running over them and also pleaded guilty to two counts of dismembering human remains.
On April 27, 2017, as part of a plea deal Owens was sentenced to 60 – 75 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
In June 2015, detectives investigating Quinn’s disappearance announced they had unearthed “fabric, leather materials, and unknown hard fragments” under a layer of concrete on the Owens property. The search warrant was initially obtained March 31, 2015. According to the warrant, investigators also found an unknown white powder substance, as well as pieces of metal and concrete. On another part of the property, authorities found “numerous plastic bags containing possibly pulverized lime or powdered mortar mix.” Authorities did not comment on whether the fragments found were human bones or if they believe they had discovered Quinn’s remains.
On July 10, 2017, a Buncombe County grand jury returned an indictment charging Owens with first-degree murder for the death of Zebb Wayne Quinn. According to the Asheville Police Department, “this indictment is the result of years of investigative work and persistence by detectives of the Asheville Police Department, as well as ongoing partnerships with members of the Quinn family and the Buncombe County District Attorney’s Office.”
Jason Owens denied any part of Zebb Quinn’s disappearance. So, unless the authorities found Zebb’s remains, or Jason actually (finally) confesses, the question still remains: What really happened to Zebb Wayne Quinn?
As of 2020, Jason Owens still awaits trial for the murder of Zebb Quinn.
Source: en.wikipedia.org | wlos.com | grunge.com | jhmoncrieff.com
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