Still Missing NC - Zebb Quinn, 18, Asheville, 2 Jan 2000 *Arrest in 2017*

[BennyHill2012]

This is such a perplexing case... and to think that he aunt might have had something to do with it.

Something caught my eye on the DOE page that I hadn't seen mentioned before--

"Quinn's car was discovered abandoned on January 16th with a live black Labrador puppy inside, as well as a plastic hotel key, several empty drink bottles, hairs, and a jacket. The puppy and jacket were not Quinn's."

BBM. Jacket?? Can't believe there's not enough DNA on there or that it wasn't much use.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/4536dmnc.html

Good catch on the jacket. It really seems crazy that they determined it was Zebb's, but could not pull anything from it to determine whose it may be. Do we know if in the early part of the investigation if the jacket was shown thru media as a means to identify the owner?

 

[1.21_gigawatts]

I wonder what the supposed "business" was between the aunt and Misty's mom. Haven't seen that yet.

 

[Omegaxis]

Does anyone know Zebb's father's name, or even better the name of Zebb's Aunt?

 

[Omegaxis]

The Aunt's name is Ina Ustich.
She works at Smoky Mountain Getaways.
A rental and vacation home real-estate company.

Apparently Ina Ustich owned a restaurant (Still looking for the name) with Misty Taylor's parents at the time.

 

[CircuitGuy]

I am thinking the car (parked near the mother's and sister's workplace) was a "taunt" to Zebb's family, which makes me think even more that young people (i.e., Misty and her boyfriend) were likely responsible.

Yes. It doesn't seem logical for the perp to leave this clue. It doesn't point directly to someone else and it's just a chance to get caught. I don't see any logical reason to want the car found. Maybe you can't hide it, but why not just park it any old place? Parking it with the lights on and a dog in the car, gives the police info about the time the car was put there. It seems like something a young and/or foolish perp would do.

 

[CircuitGuy]

It is very doubtful this was very well investigated by LE. Asheville PD is far too involved in politics to bother with investigating crimes.

What kind of politics were involved?

 

[CircuitGuy]

I thought about the family's claims on the ID show that the car was placed there with the dog to draw attention to it and the claims on the board that dog plus the lips were put there to indicate "puppy love". This seems like a lot of work for no benefit. The car would be found eventually just parked on the side of the road. Making it easy to find just makes it easier to work out the perp's movements. I reject the idea that the perp went and found a puppy to signify puppy love. They could have just left a note that said puppy love.

A Misty-Did-It Scenario

Everyone told Zebb he needed to find someone without kids, but Zebb's aunt rejected this. As in a Shakespearean comedy, she intended to use her relationship with Misty's mother to help them get together. Misty wasn't married, and she thought Zebb was better for her than her other b/f. When Zebb got the text from his aunt, he became excited thinking she could get Misty back for him.

Zebb got the puppy b/c he thought Misty liked puppies. Misty had accepted rides with him before. They road around together, stayed in a hotel together, and considered running off together. Misty drew the lips on a romantic whim. Owens knew he was so into Misty he wasn't even going to work, so he called in sick for him in a well-meaning gesture so Zebb would still have a job if his plans to run off with Misty fell through. Misty's boyfriend caught them and killed Zebb. Originally Misty had liked Zebb's simpleminded purity, but it quickly grew annoying. When her b/f killed Zebb in a fight, she agreed to help cover up the crime. They abandoned the car quickly with no time to get rid of evidence such as the dog or the lipstick.​

My whole reason for suggesting this is that it's hard to believe the perp would have planted such bizarre evidence that increases the chance of the perp getting caught.

Zeb-Did-It Scenario

One thought I had was Owen was romantically interested in Zebb, and Zebb was confused by this homosexual attraction and accidentally led Owen on. Owen might have killed Zebb in a fight or rape attempt after Zebb got the page from his aunt who was maybe trying to get him together with Misty. That would explain the injuries Owen sustained in the supposed car accident. Maybe he foolishly called Zebb's boss so the police wouldn't come looking for him until he could dispose of the body. Then he drew the lips and left the puppy to give it a feminine touch, attempting to point to Misty. This makes sense b/c Owen was treated for injuries the same night he was with Zebb and Zebb disappeared. It's hard to believe he'd make a fake call to Zebb's boss, though. He was stupid enough to fire a gun at a cop when supposedly all he had done wrong was drunk driving, so anything's possible.​

The scenario of Misty and Zebb considering running off together makes the most sense from the standpoint of the perp not doing stupid. I find it hard to believe the perp a) drew the lips, b) left the puppy as part of a plan, and c) left the car in a conspicuous place. A smart perp would just be focused on not getting caught. He wouldn't leave intentional clues.

 

[Medea2]

I don' think this was posted before: http://dogservant.blogspot.ca/2012/05/missing-tuesday-zebb-quinn.html

Missing Tuesday - Zebb Quinn

Sometimes when someone disappears, the police have plenty of clues, but the clues don’t make sense or they point in different directions. Such is the case in the very strange disappearance of Zebb Quinn.

Zebb Wayne Quinn disappeared on January 2, 2000, from Asheville, NC. He was employed at the Walmart store on Hendersonville Road and was at work on January 2. He left work at 9 p.m. and met his friend Robert Jason Owens. The two young men were going to look at a Mitsubishi Eclipse that Zebb was interested in buying. On their way, they stopped for sodas at a Citgo gas station on Hendersonville Road not far from the Walmart, and video footage from the store shows the pair entering the store around 9:15 p.m. The same footage show their cars pulling away from the station’s parking area a few minutes later, heading toward Long Shoals Road.

<Mod Snip>

If you have any information about Zebb’s disappearance, please contact the Asheville Police Department at 828/252-1110.

 

[Archangel85]

This is my first post. My name is Gabriel and I'm from Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico theres a lot of strange missing people under strange circumstances and there are a couple of prominent cases which I hope I can share with you guys.

Anyways, This was one of the cases that I saw on "disappeared" that I'm still looking information for. I recall reading an article a short time later after the show aired that declared this case an homicide but I never understood why. Has the police found any new evidence between 2006 and 2014? How long had the car being parked there? Any video footage on the parking lot? witnesses? What was the health condition of the dog? did he looked hungry, tired, or scared? that may tell us how long he had been sitting there.

I read all the posts on this thread and I agree that Misty's boyfriend and Zebb's friend had something to do with this.

14 years.

 

[Archangel85]

I don' think this was posted before: http://dogservant.blogspot.ca/2012/05/missing-tuesday-zebb-quinn.html

Missing Tuesday - Zebb Quinn

Sometimes when someone disappears, the police have plenty of clues, but the clues don’t make sense or they point in different directions. Such is the case in the very strange disappearance of Zebb Quinn.

Zebb Wayne Quinn disappeared on January 2, 2000, from Asheville, NC. He was employed at the Walmart store on Hendersonville Road and was at work on January 2. He left work at 9 p.m. and met his friend Robert Jason Owens. The two young men were going to look at a Mitsubishi Eclipse that Zebb was interested in buying. On their way, they stopped for sodas at a Citgo gas station on Hendersonville Road not far from the Walmart, and video footage from the store shows the pair entering the store around 9:15 p.m. The same footage show their cars pulling away from the station’s parking area a few minutes later, heading toward Long Shoals Road.

<Mod Snip>

If you have any information about Zebb’s disappearance, please contact the Asheville Police Department at 828/252-1110.

Police checked with local pet stores, dog breeders, and animal shelters but were unable to locate the source of the puppy.

I guess this answers a question done by one of the posters. Probably bought out of state or underground market?

 

[justagirl247]

this case is so strange and so sad i wish they would find something... but i have no doubt that misty at very least knows what happend ...isnt she a mother? how can she as a parent not feel for his family and parents not knowing where their son is ? its terrible that there are people out there like this

 

[TroyinTX]

What a strange case. What is frustrated about it is that it is blatant who was involved.

And the LIVE puppy and lips drawn in lip stick??? Yikes. I do like the theory that it was meant to symbolize "puppy love," but even if that was not its exact intended meaning, I do think it was some sort of taunting message?

Seriously...the puppy thing is puzzling as heck! Where did it come from? How long had it been in the car? Has anyone established a black lab puppy as being significant to Zebb? Maybe he had one as a kid or always wanted one? It seems like such a random and odd thing that there HAS to be a meaning behind it.

 

[Archangel85]

What a strange case. What is frustrated about it is that it is blatant who was involved.

And the LIVE puppy and lips drawn in lip stick??? Yikes. I do like the theory that it was meant to symbolize "puppy love," but even if that was not its exact intended meaning, I do think it was some sort of taunting message?

Seriously...the puppy thing is puzzling as heck! Where did it come from? How long had it been in the car? Has anyone established a black lab puppy as being significant to Zebb? Maybe he had one as a kid or always wanted one? It seems like such a random and odd thing that there HAS to be a meaning behind it.

They tried to trace the puppy but police checked and could not find where did it come from.

 

[Dixie811]

What gets me, is who would actually go to the trouble of getting the dog (somewhere the police couldn't trace back to) and set up this scenario of portraying "puppy love"? (if that is what it was supposed to mean)

In my mind, those are the actions of someone who is truly enjoying their crime and is thoughtfully planning out how the crime will be presented once the car is found.

A sicko, basically.

I would almost be shocked if the perp hasn't committed other crimes since. We aren't aware of any major crimes by Misty in the past 14 years, are we?

 

[TroyinTX]

I just watched the "Disappeared" episode on Netflix.

I am sorry, but if LE had really, really pressured that Aunt and that Misty, this case would be solved.

The aunt denying that the call was made from her home when it clearly WAS and then making up some story about someone breaking into her house to make the call (only to deny she ever said it??) The sketch looking almost identical to Misty??

I think the aunt and Misty and her bf lured Zebb to his death. It is unbelievable that they have gotten away with it for so long.

 

[Archangel85]

So, where's Misty now? has she shown any concern at all?

I also recall a while ago the case was treated as a homicide after a few leads came, but nothing never came of that.

 

[Balor51]

Could Zebb have bought the puppy for Misty? Inthink if LE would start putting pressure on Misty , the aunt and Zebbs friend, one of them will break.

Zebb deserves justice and his family needs to know what happened and be able to lay him to rest.

 

[Dixie811]

Re-watched Zebb's Disappeared episode last night.

I had forgotten just how guilty Jason looked. He was the last one seen with Zebb. He had a cracked rib and a (minor) head injury the next day. He called into Wal-Mart impersonating Zebb. His story about wrecking his car in front of Waffle House on January 3 could never be corroborated because there was no accident report and no significant vehicle damage-- seems like a cover story to explain the injuries on his body.

I feel that maybe Jason lured Zebb somewhere. There was no connection ever found between Misty's boyfriend and Jason, but I still wonder if there was one and Zebb was set up.

 

[Archangel85]

Re-watched Zebb's Disappeared episode last night.

I had forgotten just how guilty Jason looked. He was the last one seen with Zebb. He had a cracked rib and a (minor) head injury the next day. He called into Wal-Mart impersonating Zebb. His story about wrecking his car in front of Waffle House on January 3 could never be corroborated because there was no accident report and no significant vehicle damage-- seems like a cover story to explain the injuries on his body.

I feel that maybe Jason lured Zebb somewhere. There was no connection ever found between Misty's boyfriend and Jason, but I still wonder if there was one and Zebb was set up.

But why would Jason kill Zebb? What would be the motive? Misty's boyfriend has the biggest motive.

 

[TroyinTX]

But why would Jason kill Zebb? What would be the motive? Misty's boyfriend has the biggest motive.

He might not have actually killed him, but I believe he more than likely knows he did and was involved somehow. Him calling Zebb into work is a huge red flag, as are his injuries from an accident that nobody seems to know about except him.