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August 28, 1998
Tips sought on missing girl
By Anne Hart
Record Searchlight staff reporter
A grass-roots campaign of friends and an official investigation by authorities continue to try to solve the case of a missing teen-ager.
Anything could have happened to Tera Smith.
That's how investigators look at the case of the 16-year-old girl who disappeared Saturday. They explore each possibility.
The Central Valley High School junior may have run away. She is possibly being held against her will. Detectives hope the case of the missing homecoming princess doesn't become a homicide investigation.
Those working to find Tera said they can't help but become personally involved. They want to see Tera back with her parents, Marilyn and Terry Smith, and her three siblings at their home just north of Redding.
"My main focus in life right now is to get this girl back safely," said Shasta County sheriff's Lt. Harry Bishop.
Sheriff's deputies, Redding police and FBI agents are checking out every tip.
Secret Witness of Shasta County increased a reward for Tera's safe return to $20,000 Thursday.
Terry Smith sent his daughter's vital data to various missing persons Web sites.
Information on Tera was also sent to the National Crime Information Center, which feeds the data to other law enforcement agencies.
Friends of the family spent hours at Redding-area shopping centers giving out fliers with Tera's photographs and the description of the 5-foot 7-inch girl with blond hair and blue eyes.
The fliers are also plastered at rest areas along Interstate 5, Highway 97 and even Weaverville, Marilyn Smith said.
"Tera is very well loved," said her mother.
Authorities had Tera's acquaintances take voice stress analyzer tests this week, Bishop said. He said the tests are used as an investigative tool to help eliminate possibilities.
Tera's 29-year-old Redding male acquaintance, who was the last known person to see Tera, has not been asked to take a polygraph or voice stress analyzer test, Bishop said.
Tera called the man Saturday evening at his Redding business and asked him to meet her on a road near her Tarcy Way home off Old Oregon Trail, Bishop said.
The man told detectives he drove Tera to the intersection of Old Alturas Road and Old Oregon Trail and dropped her off at her request about 6:30 p.m.
Tera's parents reported their eldest daughter missing a few hours after she failed to show up at 7 p.m. Saturday to her job at their business, the Oasis Fun Center.
Investigating agencies are devoting numerous staff members and resources to the case because Tera is not a typical missing teen-ager, authorities said.
Tera took none of her belongings with her other than the jogging clothes she wore. She doesn't use drugs, her friends and family say.
Tera spent her time competing in cross country, playing basketball, teaching horse riding lessons and doing activities with her family's Mormon church in Shasta Lake.
Authorities urged anyone with information on the case to call the Sheriff's Department at 245-6025.
"Redding is growing by leaps and bounds, but it becomes a very small community when there's a teen-ager missing like this," Bishop said.
©1998 - 2007 Record Searchlight -Redding.com, The E.W. Scripps Co.
August 28, 1998
Tips sought on missing girl
By Anne Hart
Record Searchlight staff reporter
A grass-roots campaign of friends and an official investigation by authorities continue to try to solve the case of a missing teen-ager.
Anything could have happened to Tera Smith.
That's how investigators look at the case of the 16-year-old girl who disappeared Saturday. They explore each possibility.
The Central Valley High School junior may have run away. She is possibly being held against her will. Detectives hope the case of the missing homecoming princess doesn't become a homicide investigation.
Those working to find Tera said they can't help but become personally involved. They want to see Tera back with her parents, Marilyn and Terry Smith, and her three siblings at their home just north of Redding.
"My main focus in life right now is to get this girl back safely," said Shasta County sheriff's Lt. Harry Bishop.
Sheriff's deputies, Redding police and FBI agents are checking out every tip.
Secret Witness of Shasta County increased a reward for Tera's safe return to $20,000 Thursday.
Terry Smith sent his daughter's vital data to various missing persons Web sites.
Information on Tera was also sent to the National Crime Information Center, which feeds the data to other law enforcement agencies.
Friends of the family spent hours at Redding-area shopping centers giving out fliers with Tera's photographs and the description of the 5-foot 7-inch girl with blond hair and blue eyes.
The fliers are also plastered at rest areas along Interstate 5, Highway 97 and even Weaverville, Marilyn Smith said.
"Tera is very well loved," said her mother.
Authorities had Tera's acquaintances take voice stress analyzer tests this week, Bishop said. He said the tests are used as an investigative tool to help eliminate possibilities.
Tera's 29-year-old Redding male acquaintance, who was the last known person to see Tera, has not been asked to take a polygraph or voice stress analyzer test, Bishop said.
Tera called the man Saturday evening at his Redding business and asked him to meet her on a road near her Tarcy Way home off Old Oregon Trail, Bishop said.
The man told detectives he drove Tera to the intersection of Old Alturas Road and Old Oregon Trail and dropped her off at her request about 6:30 p.m.
Tera's parents reported their eldest daughter missing a few hours after she failed to show up at 7 p.m. Saturday to her job at their business, the Oasis Fun Center.
Investigating agencies are devoting numerous staff members and resources to the case because Tera is not a typical missing teen-ager, authorities said.
Tera took none of her belongings with her other than the jogging clothes she wore. She doesn't use drugs, her friends and family say.
Tera spent her time competing in cross country, playing basketball, teaching horse riding lessons and doing activities with her family's Mormon church in Shasta Lake.
Authorities urged anyone with information on the case to call the Sheriff's Department at 245-6025.
"Redding is growing by leaps and bounds, but it becomes a very small community when there's a teen-ager missing like this," Bishop said.
©1998 - 2007 Record Searchlight -Redding.com, The E.W. Scripps Co.