Disappearance of Zebb Quinn

Zebb Quinn is an American man who went missing on January 2, 2000 in Asheville, North Carolina. Quinn was 18 years old and working at a Walmart in Asheville when he disappeared. His case remains unsolved. Last known activities: Quinn ended his shift at Walmart around 9pm on January 2, 2000. He met a friend named Robert Jason Owens in the Walmart parking lot before driving separately to look at a vehicle Quinn was considering buying. The two men were seen on surveillance footage at a gas station down the road at approximately 9:15pm. Owens later told police that sometime between leaving the gas station and 9:30pm, 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 that he needed to cancel their plans to look at the vehicle and as he drove off, he rear ended Owens' vehicle. Hours later, 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 accident report was filed with police. Quinn's mother Denise Vlahakis filed a missing person's report the next afternoon. Two days after Quinn was last seen, a phone call was placed to the Walmart where Quinn was employed from 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 Owens worked. Owens admitted making the phone call, claiming that he was doing his friend a favor after Quinn called him and asked him to call in sick for him. He denies any involvement in Quinn's disappearance, but is considered a person of interest in the case. Investigation: During the investigation, police interviewed a woman whom Quinn was interested in romantically. Quinn had developed a relationship with a woman named Misty in the weeks preceding his disappearance. Quinn had told his friends and family that Misty's boyfriend, Wesley, was abusive and had threatened Quinn after he discovered that they had been speaking. Misty and her boyfriend deny any involvement in the disappearance. A review of the phone records in the case indicate that the page he received that evening was dialed from the home of his paternal aunt, a woman named Ina Ustich. He had had very little contact with Ustich prior to this disappearance and she denied making the call. Ustich told police she was having dinner at the home of her friend Tamra, who is Misty's mother. Misty and her boyfriend, Wesley, were also present. Ustich later filed a police report stating that her house was broken into that evening during that time frame. Although nothing was stolen, she reported that a few picture frames were moved around. 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. The puppy ended up being adopted by one of the investigators. Investigators believe more than one person was involved in his disappearance, but no arrests have been made in the case. No link between Robert Jason Owens and Misty or Wesley has been found. "We all feel very certain that he was killed that night" Quinn's mother, Denise Vlahakis commented, noting that he had no extra clothes, money or contact lenses solution with him when he disappeared. 2015 developments: On March 17, 2015, fifteen years after Quinn's disappearance, Owens was arrested in an unrelated incident for the disappearance and murder of Food Network Star television contestant Cristie Schoen, her husband J.T. Codd, and their unborn child. 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 Owen's property. The search warrant was initially obtained March 31. According to the warrant, in addition to the fabric, leather and hard fragments, investigators found unknown white powder substance as well as pieces of metal and concrete after digging up the concreted fish pond area. 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 discovered Quinn's remains, citing an ongoing investigation. Media coverage: The case remains unsolved, but received increased visibility in 2012 when the show Disappeared covered the case. In July 2015 the case was discussed in the podcast Thinking Sideways.