Theyve been alerted by authorities in Tacoma, but Texas police are downplaying a possible connection between Terapon Dang Adhahn and 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, whose 1996 abduction and death fueled the creation of the Amber Alert system.
It would not be accurate to characterize this man from Washington as a suspect, said Christy Gilfour, spokeswoman for the Arlington Police Department. Obviously this is being brought to our attention, but we have no information that he had family in Texas or family here at the time Amber was killed.
Searches of public records show Adhahns mother lives in Fort Worth, in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro area, sometimes called the Metroplex. The records do not make it clear when she first moved there. Additional records show one of Adhahns relatives a brother also lives in the same area. Early research suggests the brother has lived in the area since 1994.
Adhahn, 42, has been charged with multiple counts of rape in Pierce County Superior Court, and remains a suspect in the abduction and death of 12-year-old Zina Linnik, whose body police discovered with Adhahns assistance.
Prosecutors have said they expect to charge Adhahn with Linniks death, but they have not set a date. The current charges name two victims an 11-year-old Tacoma girl who was raped in 2000 and another young woman who lived with Adhahn between the ages of 12 and 16. She told police Adhahn raped her at least 150 times in that span.
Hagerman, 9, was last seen riding her bicycle on Jan. 17, 1996, in Arlington. A witness saw a man in a dark pickup force the child into the vehicle and drive away. Hagermans body was discovered four days later. Her slaying remains unsolved 10 years later.
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