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captivating stories together. Hello

1:02

everyone and welcome to episode

1:05

359 of the True Crime All the

1:07

Time Unsolved podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with

1:09

me as always is my partner in true

1:11

crime, Mike Gibson. Gibby, how are you?

1:13

Hey, I'm doing good. How about you? I'm

1:15

doing great. You know, we talked about it

1:18

on Patreon, but this was kind of a big week. We had

1:20

the eclipse. I had a root canal

1:22

and there was a lot of stuff going on. You

1:24

had a lot going on. I did. Let's

1:26

go ahead and give our Patreon shout outs.

1:29

We had Danny Watt. Say what? Crystal

1:31

Schroeder. Hey Schroeder. Ray Dude. What's

1:34

going on Ray? Shauna

1:37

W. Hey Shauna. Dee Harris. Thanks

1:39

Dee. John McCurdy jumped out at

1:41

our highest level. You're awesome John.

1:44

Katherine April Rodriguez. Man, that's a

1:46

lot of name there. Riley

1:48

Fulton. Hey Riley. Riche

1:51

Smith. I hear you

1:53

Smith. Riche. I'm not sure which one it

1:55

is. Rachel Nicodemus. I

1:58

just like that Nicodemus. name. I

2:00

do. I like that, don't you?

2:02

Emmanuelle, Michelle, wanted to give a

2:04

shout out to Alandra Jordan, or

2:06

Alandra Jordan. You know,

2:09

Emmanuelle, I mean, growing up

2:11

hearing that name. You're talking

2:13

about the movie on Cinemax?

2:16

Oh, by the way,

2:18

I did

2:20

see that they actually go to remake that.

2:22

Are they? Yeah. They didn't need to

2:24

make the first one, or any of the other one. But

2:26

I didn't see they were going to remake that. Hi,

2:30

Emmanuelle, and Aladron.

2:32

Ala, Aladron. Why

2:34

can't I say this? Aladron.

2:36

No. Last but not least, Nicole D.

2:38

Nicole. And then if we go back

2:40

into the vault, this

2:43

week we selected Amanda Campbell. Hey,

2:46

Amanda. Yeah, I appreciate all the

2:48

the Patreon support. And we had

2:50

a great PayPal donation from Deborah

2:53

Densfry. Yeah, thanks, DD. Yep. So

2:55

thank you to everyone. Gibbs,

2:57

we have an episode out right now

3:00

on True Crime All the Time, where

3:02

we're talking about Adam Williams and Amanda

3:04

Novere. This is a married couple

3:07

who went on the run because

3:09

Adam was about to be

3:12

prosecuted for a number of

3:14

nasty felonies. They left

3:17

Utah. They wanted to make it to Mexico.

3:19

But to do that, they targeted

3:22

a couple along the way.

3:24

Yeah, he was really a bad

3:27

individual. He was. No doubt

3:29

about it. All right, buddy. Are you ready

3:31

to get into this episode of True Crime

3:33

All the Time Unsolved? I'm ready. We're talking

3:35

about Tara Smith. Tara Smith was a

3:38

16 year old girl living

3:40

in Reading, California on August

3:42

22nd, 1998. Tara told her sister she was going out for

3:47

a job and we'd be back

3:49

in about 20 minutes. Tara

3:51

went missing and has never been found.

3:54

Although he was never declared a

3:56

suspect, her family believes her former

3:58

Taekwondo instructor, Nose. something about

4:00

her disappearance. Tae Kwon

4:03

Do. Yep, so we'll get into all

4:05

of that. Yeah. Tara Lynn

4:07

Smith was born on January 6th, 1982. Tara's

4:10

family told Dateline that she always tried

4:12

to live her life to the fullest.

4:15

Her mother Marilyn said she

4:17

had many passions and interests,

4:19

including horse riding, basketball, and

4:21

being out in nature. She

4:24

loved poetry and writing in her

4:26

journal. Tara was described

4:28

as a deep spiritual side.

4:31

Do you think somebody would say about me that

4:33

he tried to live his life

4:35

to the bare minimum? No,

4:38

I think they would say you tried to

4:40

live your life to the fullest. Now,

4:43

not always legally. Oh, that's

4:45

true. Or ethically. Oh, threw that

4:47

in there. But to the fullest. Tara

4:49

was described as an outgoing person.

4:52

Her younger sister, Kira, recalled,

4:55

she was just always the star

4:57

of sports and everything like that.

5:00

Always surrounded by a group of friends.

5:02

She went out of her way, I

5:04

think, to make everyone feel included. Those

5:06

are special people. They are. It

5:09

does sound like she was a popular kid.

5:12

But to say that, right,

5:15

a lot of people are popular, quote

5:17

unquote popular. Yes. But

5:19

to say that a person goes out of

5:22

their way to make

5:24

everyone feel included, I

5:27

think that's really telling you something about

5:29

that person. Because I can

5:31

tell you right now, from my experience,

5:34

not everyone in

5:36

any category, whether

5:38

you call it the popular kids or

5:40

the techy kids, I

5:42

don't know what the categories are today.

5:44

But not everyone goes

5:46

out of their way to make other

5:49

people feel included. And so I

5:51

do think that's a

5:53

special trait. I

5:56

agree with you. Tara was a year and a

5:58

half older than Kira. a close

6:00

bond, but according to Kira, she

6:02

would torment me like any

6:05

big sister. Big sister's job. Like

6:07

a big brother. Yeah. I mean, we've

6:09

talked about it before, you know, siblings,

6:12

they fight. They mess with

6:14

each other. But at the end

6:16

of the day, I think in

6:19

most situations, who has your

6:21

back like your, your

6:24

brother or your sister? For sure. That's

6:27

the person who, you know, you can really

6:29

count on when the chips are down. But

6:32

it doesn't mean that they're not going

6:34

to give you a hard time. Oh,

6:36

man. I know you went through it

6:38

with, with your brother. They

6:40

have two younger siblings named

6:43

Trevor and Sierra. All

6:45

of the siblings were said to have

6:48

gotten along and looked up to Tara

6:50

because she was the oldest. The family

6:52

lived in Reading, California. Tara

6:54

was a rising junior at the

6:56

time of her disappearance. She

6:59

and her siblings worked at their

7:01

parents' business, the Oasis Fun Center

7:03

in Reading, which is now owned

7:05

by their son, Trevor. Now I

7:07

didn't see exactly what this place was, but

7:09

when I hear the word fun center, I'm

7:12

thinking, you know, arcade,

7:15

ski ball, maybe

7:17

even some go-karts. I mean, that's what kind of

7:19

comes to mind. You're all in, aren't you? I'm

7:21

in. Yeah. Because those were the places where, you

7:24

know, when I was a kid that I always

7:26

wanted to go, there was

7:28

that one place, uh, what was it called?

7:30

Malibu Grand Prix. Yeah. Where you got a

7:32

little license and you got to drive the

7:34

cars around the track, but they also had

7:36

an arcade inside and. It was a good

7:38

time. Yeah. It was a lot of fun.

7:41

Till you got kicked out. You're

7:43

leaving that out. I noticed you don't want

7:45

to tell that story, do you? No, not

7:47

one of my proudest moments. About

7:49

four months before she went

7:51

missing, Tara started taking lessons

7:54

at Muse, Taekwondo and Redding.

7:56

Her instructor was a 29 Year

7:59

old man named. cruising. Who. Was

8:01

married with a young child. When. You

8:03

gotta share the picture on the you.

8:06

Participated. Are trained in.

8:08

Taekwondo. I did. I

8:11

did. And. Enjoyed it

8:13

very much. Also.

8:15

Said. That my youngest daughter is

8:18

a black belt. In Taekwondo.

8:20

Is that like the highest? A black

8:22

belt as like that? Good? Yeah, okay.

8:24

this pretty good. I don't know. What?

8:27

You seen the know when she kicked your

8:29

ass out? Wonder if I don't think it

8:32

took a lot. It's known such as the

8:34

moves know yet if you know if is

8:36

a big accomplishment. I was very happy for.

8:39

It. Does give me a little piece

8:41

of mine. dad's in. maybe she

8:43

can take care of yourself. Yeah

8:45

you know, in in certain situations.

8:48

According to terrorists Father Terry Smith.

8:51

It was of interest to her because

8:53

of the connection to the Are. All.

8:55

That really appealed. And.

8:57

We just sat right. She had

8:59

this spiritual saw right. Dismiss.

9:02

Whole day line. that terror was

9:04

a normal teenager. she had some

9:06

problems but nothing so of string

9:08

she would want to run away

9:11

and I think that's important to

9:13

note me when teenager. Doesn't.

9:15

Experience problem. Is

9:17

that you had to. I had

9:20

it for Serbs and. I

9:22

we were also were both teenagers.

9:24

Yeah, many, many moons ago. There.

9:27

Are a multitude of problems that

9:30

crop up now. Some. Of

9:32

these are not really problems. But.

9:34

To the teenager brain. They

9:37

are. If. That makes us open.

9:40

Loud. And clear. But. I think

9:42

when you're talking about a person who's

9:44

who goes missing. It's important to

9:46

point this out. Your family

9:48

is saying there was nothing going

9:51

on in tears. One. That.

9:53

Was to the point where they

9:55

thought. It. Was she would run away. Terror.

9:58

was grounded in all 1998,

10:02

most likely because she snuck out of

10:04

the house, according to her mother, Marilyn.

10:06

And I was grounded a lot. I

10:08

can imagine. I can

10:11

picture you being a real handful.

10:13

Like literally in your

10:16

Husky jeans, laying down

10:18

in an aisle of Kmart, just

10:21

kicking and pounding your fists on the

10:24

floor. That's the way

10:26

I picture a young Gibby. At

10:28

16? And

10:31

I know you can't tell me that you never snuck out of

10:33

the house. Oh, I snuck out of

10:36

the house. Yeah, because most of us did

10:38

that. On August 22,

10:40

Marilyn and Tara went out to

10:43

run errands. Marilyn dropped

10:45

Tara off at home and went to

10:47

work at the fund center. Tara's

10:49

younger sister, Sierra, was at

10:51

home at the time. Tara was supposed

10:53

to work a shift at the fund center at

10:56

7 p.m., but she never showed up to work.

10:59

Marilyn called the house to check on her.

11:01

Sierra answered the phone and said, Tara went

11:03

out for a job. Now sources

11:05

didn't say the exact time

11:07

she'd left, but it was

11:09

somewhere between 5 and 7 p.m.

11:13

And you would have to think it would

11:15

have been maybe more towards

11:17

the 5 if she was supposed to work

11:19

at 7. You would think. Tara

11:22

told her sister that she would be back

11:24

in 20 minutes, but by

11:26

the time Marilyn called, she hadn't

11:28

come home yet. In 2022,

11:31

Sierra told the outlet KRCR,

11:34

our parents told us never to leave the

11:36

house at night on our own. I was

11:39

like, Tara, you're not allowed to go. She

11:41

told me that she would be back before

11:43

our parents ever got back home. I

11:46

remember watching her as she jogged out

11:48

of my line of sight. No,

11:50

I kind of find it a little bit

11:52

strange that she told her sister she

11:54

was just going to go on a 20-minute jog. I

11:57

don't know. I feel like that's not long enough for

11:59

a job. jog. Yeah. I feel like that's too

12:02

long. Well, you think

12:04

going up the steps is too long. I do. Yeah.

12:06

I don't know. So you're maybe

12:09

thinking potentially that the jog

12:11

was a cover for something

12:13

else. Yeah. I think it's

12:15

something to keep in mind for sure as we

12:17

go through the episode. But

12:20

I want to talk about Sierra, right? So

12:22

you see your sister, you know, jogging

12:25

away. Never thinking in

12:27

a million years that that's the

12:29

last time you're ever going to

12:31

see her. Yeah. I mean,

12:34

how devastating is that, right? And

12:36

that memory is going

12:39

to be burned or etched into your mind.

12:41

There's just, there's no way around it. Marilyn

12:43

left the fund center and started driving

12:46

around to look for Tara. She called

12:48

her daughter, Kira, and asked her to

12:50

go to the fund center because Tara

12:52

didn't show up. Kira remembered feeling

12:55

frustrated because she was at a

12:57

friend's birthday party, but also

12:59

worried because Tara always came to work

13:01

when she was supposed to. Isn't that

13:04

funny? Her sister's like frustrated, but

13:06

that's because she doesn't know, right? I mean, she's

13:08

assuming that, oh, she's late. No,

13:10

I've got to go do this because you

13:12

can't work your shift. And I

13:15

just wanted to have some time for me to do my own thing.

13:18

Well, she was at a friend's birthday

13:20

party. Yeah. But you can also see

13:22

what a family business this really was.

13:25

It sounds like everybody was expected to

13:27

work. Marilyn and Terry

13:29

became worried after more than an

13:32

hour passed without finding Tara. After

13:35

several hours passed, the

13:37

family became even more

13:39

worried. They called Tara's friends

13:41

and her ex-boyfriend, none

13:44

of them had heard from her. And

13:46

we've talked about this time and time again

13:48

on Unsolved. There is a point

13:53

in all of these episodes where

13:55

the family starts to become

13:58

worried and then... You

14:00

know that concern increases

14:02

until it hits

14:04

like a panic mode. Because

14:08

you know, at first it's kind

14:10

of natural, I think, not

14:12

to, you know, right away jump

14:15

out to something horrible. You're like,

14:17

ah, she lost track of time or whatever.

14:20

We've heard it many, many times

14:22

from family, parents, things like

14:24

that. The more time

14:26

that passes, the greater the

14:29

level of concern is going to be.

14:31

That's just natural. Later

14:33

that evening, one of Tara's friends called

14:35

them back and revealed something that shocked

14:38

the family. According to Dateline,

14:40

the friend said, I think

14:43

she was having an inappropriate

14:45

relationship with Troy Zink. All

14:48

right. You are already worried

14:50

because you don't know where your daughter is. And

14:53

then one of your daughter's

14:55

friends calls and kind of

14:58

drops this bombshell on you. That

15:00

would be some shocking news. I think it'd probably

15:02

be like the last thing you'd expect to hear.

15:05

And we mentioned it, right? Tara was 16 years

15:07

old. This Troy Zink guy was 29 years

15:10

old, married with children.

15:14

Terry and Marilyn Smith reported their daughter

15:16

missing at 9 47 PM. And

15:19

they drove to Troy Zink's house to speak

15:21

to him. His wife answered the door

15:24

and told them he wasn't home. Zink

15:27

called the family back around 11 30

15:29

PM and the police spoke to him at 11 45. Troy

15:33

claimed that around 6 30 PM, Tara

15:36

used her cell phone to call

15:38

him at his second workplace, collector's

15:40

corner in downtown Reading, which was

15:42

owned by his family. She asked

15:44

him to meet her near her home. She

15:46

was waiting at the end of her driveway when he

15:49

arrived. Tara asked him if

15:51

he would do anything for her. Zink

15:53

said yes. And Tara asked him for $2,000. He

15:57

told her he didn't have 2000, but. He

16:00

would give her some money if she told

16:02

him why she needed it. Tara was

16:04

angry at his refusal, but asked him

16:06

for a ride. He dropped

16:08

Tara off at the intersection of

16:10

old Oregon trail and

16:12

old Alturas road. He last

16:15

saw her jogging on old

16:17

Alturas road. So pretty detailed

16:20

account of what he said happened. And

16:22

I think it's a good point to make, you

16:24

know, this is what he is saying, but

16:27

is this what really happened? I

16:29

think the one thing it does is it raises a

16:32

lot of questions. Number one, why

16:34

does she need $2,000? And

16:37

then number two, when he says

16:39

he doesn't have that much, why

16:42

is she dropped off at this

16:44

intersection? He said that after he

16:46

dropped Tara off, he went to an

16:48

area called Hang glider Hill near

16:50

the Keswick dam. He stayed there

16:52

to pray until he returned home

16:55

around 11 30 PM. Now

16:58

to me, that seems suspicious.

17:00

That's a very long time to be

17:03

at a location. I mean, you want

17:06

to pray, you're praying, but that's a long time to

17:08

pray. Well, and the other thing is

17:11

who's going to be able to not

17:14

only corroborate that, but

17:16

who's going to be able to say you didn't

17:18

do it? Because if you

17:20

really wanted to pray, you could go home and pray.

17:23

I get it. Maybe you wanted to pray out in

17:25

nature. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but,

17:27

but if you're lacking a

17:29

solid alibi, then it

17:32

starts to look suspicious, right? Whether

17:34

it really is or not, just

17:36

because this girl is missing, you

17:39

can't probably prove that you

17:41

were there, but it may also

17:43

be harder for the police to disprove you

17:45

were there. Zinc denied having

17:47

an inappropriate relationship with her, but

17:49

he did admit that he received

17:52

the letter from her where she

17:54

said she was planning to leave

17:56

home according to the

17:58

Charlie project, Troy. Hank

18:00

refused to answer further questions

18:02

after his initial interview. So

18:05

we said right up front that

18:07

the family kind of thought,

18:09

and probably still does think, that this

18:12

guy had something to do or may

18:14

know more about Tare's disappearance

18:16

and what he has said. So

18:19

you know that they're going to view

18:21

all this as being suspicious. Oh,

18:24

absolutely. He called the police

18:26

on August 24th to report prowlers at

18:28

his home. He feared people

18:31

were targeting him. After the

18:33

papers reported Tare's disappearance, the police

18:35

found a bullet outside his

18:37

home. In the days after Tare

18:40

went missing, her parents went through her

18:42

belongings to see if they could find

18:44

anything of note. They found a letter

18:46

written to Troy Zeng, which Tare

18:48

had not yet sent. This

18:50

letter supported their belief that

18:52

Tare had an inappropriate relationship

18:55

with her instructor. Clearly,

18:57

it must have had something in there to lead them

18:59

to believe that. Yeah, we don't

19:01

know exactly what

19:03

it said, but it would

19:05

add to the suspicion of

19:08

this guy because if

19:10

he really was

19:12

having an inappropriate relationship with

19:15

her, then you can

19:17

start to talk about some

19:19

motives. This is a

19:21

married guy with kids, and we can

19:23

start to go down some of those

19:25

avenues. Investigators discovered

19:28

that Zeng had a prior

19:30

conviction for spousal rape. That's

19:33

scary. Very scary. The

19:35

Smiths learned that he

19:37

had this prior conviction for spousal rape in

19:39

1992 or 1993, depending

19:43

on the source. He served 300 days in

19:45

prison. During

19:47

the dayline, Zeng denied forcing

19:50

his ex-wife to have sex with

19:52

him at knife point. He claimed

19:54

that while they were having sex,

19:56

he told her he was going to

19:59

kill himself. And I understand that

20:01

people do have those thoughts. It

20:03

seems like a strange time to

20:05

express that thought. Yes,

20:08

I was thinking the same thing. In

20:10

the middle of coitus. Quies?

20:13

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's

20:15

definitely a strange time to verbalize

20:18

that thought to

20:20

your spouse, partner. The

20:23

Reading Record searchlight identified Zinc by

20:25

name in an August 29, 1998

20:27

article. Lieutenant

20:30

Harry Bishop from the Shasta County

20:33

Sheriff's Office said Zinc was not

20:35

a suspect. Well, I'm sure Zinc

20:37

felt good about that. Yeah. Nobody wants

20:39

to be called a suspect. True

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21:52

On September 3rd, a detective

21:54

flew to another location in

21:56

California to interview an individual

21:58

about tears disappearance. A

22:01

couple days later, it was reported

22:03

that the detective interviewed individuals who

22:05

were in Reading when Tara disappeared.

22:08

Lieutenant Harry Bishop said, per the record

22:10

searchlight, we didn't get a whole lot,

22:13

but we need to sit back and

22:15

evaluate that information based on

22:17

where we are in this investigation. So

22:20

they're working it, obviously. We're

22:22

not saying a whole lot. No.

22:25

And he's saying we didn't get a whole lot,

22:27

but we need to evaluate it. I'm

22:29

not sure what that means. Meanwhile,

22:32

Troy Zink was still refusing to

22:34

speak to detectives. Terry

22:36

Smith expressed his frustration. He

22:39

believed that Tara could be found within

22:41

a two-hour drive of Reading. He

22:43

told the record searchlight, this is

22:46

going nowhere because the guy who

22:48

has all the answers isn't cooperating.

22:51

And I think that tells you right there that

22:54

the Smith thought this

22:56

guy was involved. There's just no

22:58

two ways about it. And I

23:01

think there's reasons for it, right?

23:03

We mentioned they got a call

23:05

about Tara having an

23:07

inappropriate relationship. They found a

23:09

letter in her handwriting that

23:12

kind of led them to believe that

23:14

this relationship was going on. I

23:17

hate to use the word relationship, but that's

23:19

the way it was put. And

23:22

then you know they're going to look

23:24

at this guy deciding not to

23:27

talk to detectives as a

23:29

bad sign, whether it is or not.

23:31

That's how people are going to view it. Yeah.

23:35

I mean, we know that it's probably best

23:37

not to say anything, especially if you

23:39

don't have an attorney around you. But

23:41

maybe if you had an attorney around him,

23:43

the attorney's like, we're not going to say

23:45

anything because I don't want them

23:47

to use that against you, even if you

23:49

did nothing wrong. Well, because he

23:52

already did admit to being one of the

23:54

last people probably to see her. Yeah,

23:56

which is not good for him. No,

23:58

he actually put him... in

24:01

the crosshairs. The Smiths

24:03

viewed security footage of the

24:05

Greyhound bus station in Sacramento

24:07

because a young woman named

24:09

Tara Smith with different spelling

24:12

purchased a ticket from Reading to Sacramento

24:15

on August 23rd but they didn't

24:18

see their daughter in the footage. The

24:20

FBI helped locate the bus driver but

24:23

the driver and passengers were not able

24:25

to confirm if Tara was on the

24:27

bus. Disappointing. Disappointing

24:30

but I mean it shows

24:32

you the links they're going to to try

24:35

to track her down and you would

24:37

think that would that was a really good lead.

24:40

I think as a family member you would have been hopeful. Yeah

24:43

but isn't that what we see in these

24:45

unsolved cases? There's all these

24:47

different moments of hope. You know

24:50

there's a lead that comes in or a tip

24:52

or this or that and there's

24:54

hope that it's going to

24:56

lead them in the right direction. Yeah. But

24:58

then when it doesn't pan out it's

25:01

got to be devastating and I think

25:03

that's where you get into that roller coaster

25:05

of emotion. Authorities contacted all

25:07

the Tara Smiths they could find in

25:09

the Reading area who were a similar

25:12

age to Tara. Lieutenant Bishop

25:14

from the sheriff's office commented

25:16

on Zinc's refusal to talk

25:18

on September 4th saying they

25:20

spent time together in a

25:22

vehicle and a conversation

25:24

took place I'm sure. We'd

25:27

like to know what that conversation

25:29

consisted of. Any indication of

25:31

what her thoughts were or any

25:33

name she might have mentioned. The

25:36

bus ticket lead turned out to be

25:38

false. On September 6th investigators

25:41

learned the ticket was purchased by a

25:43

young woman who was not the

25:45

missing Tara Smith. Then all the

25:47

air goes out of the tire. Yeah

25:50

yeah and that has to be just

25:53

terrible for the family. On

25:55

September 9th 45 search and rescue volunteers.

26:00

for evidence near the Shasta Dam. This

26:03

area had already been searched. The

26:05

nearby Henglider Hill area, where Troy

26:07

Zink claimed he went to pray

26:10

on the evening of August 22nd, was also

26:13

searched. These areas were searched

26:15

based on information that Tara had

26:18

been there before. Zink

26:20

had reportedly taken his

26:22

entire Taekwondo class to

26:24

at least one of the areas. Well,

26:27

I mean, you're going to do what you have to do,

26:29

right? You're going to look at these areas, maybe go back

26:31

again, maybe go back even another time to

26:33

make sure that nothing's been missed. Yeah,

26:35

because at this point, I don't know

26:38

what other leads they have. Troy Zink's

26:40

not giving them anything. So, I mean,

26:43

they're just going to have to check,

26:45

recheck until something else pops up. Henglider

26:48

Hill is the site of Spread

26:50

Eaglemont, according to the record search

26:52

line. At the time, a locked

26:54

gate blocked the most accessible

26:56

road to the top of the hill.

26:58

It could take several hours to

27:01

reach the 3,500 foot summit

27:03

when taking other steep

27:06

inaccessible roads. On

27:08

September 11th, detectives searched Troy

27:10

Zink's home in Taekwondo studio.

27:12

It was the second one

27:14

served at his home and

27:16

studio. The first search took

27:19

place on August 25th. By

27:21

this point, he was no longer

27:23

teaching according to a student. Now,

27:26

I don't know why this guy decided

27:28

that he didn't want to talk to

27:30

investigators. Let's just say for

27:33

a moment, he had nothing to do

27:35

with Tara's disappearance. His

27:37

name's in the paper. They're searching

27:39

his home. They're searching his

27:42

Taekwondo studio. He's not able

27:44

to teach. It's not good for him.

27:47

No, I probably have an impact on

27:49

his finances. And

27:51

maybe his personal life. Yeah. Now,

27:54

could that have been avoided

27:57

if he would have talked to investigators?

28:00

Possibly could he have

28:03

implicated himself also

28:05

very possible very possible investigators

28:08

also seized zinc's 1976

28:11

dark blue Ford truck which they

28:13

believed terror rode in on August

28:16

22nd That's a

28:18

pretty serious thing to do the sees his truck.

28:20

Yeah, but I'm assuming it's based on The

28:23

thought that you know, she she was in

28:25

the truck on the 22nd Now

28:28

I do think this is a little

28:30

bit different than some cases right these

28:33

two individuals were not Strangers to

28:35

each other. So could it

28:37

be explained why she was in his truck?

28:40

Well, maybe a little more easily than it

28:42

could be if you had never met that

28:45

person if you were a

28:47

complete stranger to the victim According

28:49

to the Charlie project there

28:51

was an unconfirmed sighting that

28:53

evening a witness saw someone

28:56

matching tears description inside

28:58

a blue 1976

29:00

Ford with mag wheels and a

29:02

yellow tailgate the girl was with

29:04

an unknown white male It's not

29:06

been confirmed if this sighting

29:09

is related to tears disappearance, but

29:11

it is a very Unique

29:14

description of a truck right

29:16

a blue truck with a yellow tailgate Can't

29:19

imagine that there were too many 1976

29:23

blue trucks with mag wheels and

29:25

a yellow tailgate Running around

29:28

so it really narrows that truck down. Yeah,

29:30

absolutely Detectives discovered that

29:32

the truck had been cleaned and

29:35

the tires were placed Since

29:37

the investigation began authorities asked

29:40

for the public's help figuring out who

29:42

cleaned the truck and removed the tires

29:45

That's a little suspicious. I think it always

29:47

is right because it

29:49

does come up in a lot of cases I

29:52

get it people clean their vehicles, but

29:54

when you clean it Right

29:56

after something really bad happens or

29:59

a solid to have happened and

30:02

there's a thought that the

30:04

person was in your vehicle. There's

30:07

no way to look at it other

30:09

than it being suspicious. Officers

30:11

did not seize the truck during

30:13

the August 25th search but they

30:16

photographed it which is why they

30:18

noticed that it had different tires.

30:20

Now let's go through

30:22

that. Why would

30:24

someone replace the tires?

30:27

Assuming that these tires

30:29

weren't on their

30:31

last leg and needed to

30:33

be replaced. I think

30:36

there's two possible reasons. One, the

30:39

type of tire tread would show at

30:41

some location to put you in that

30:43

location and the other possibility is

30:45

that you ran that person over

30:48

with those tires and maybe there

30:50

was something left on those

30:52

tires that can be traced

30:54

back to her. Yeah, I

30:56

get both of those. I think

30:59

the first one may be more

31:01

likely than the second but I think they're

31:03

both plausible. But

31:06

I do think you know if you

31:08

changed out the tires and

31:10

they didn't need to be changed that's

31:12

very suspicious. Nobody spends money to

31:14

change tires they don't need to.

31:17

No, you're not gonna waste that money.

31:19

Most people don't want to spend the money to

31:21

change tires they need to change. Especially

31:24

if you might not be working

31:26

for a little bit. According to

31:28

the record searchlight Bishop did not

31:30

call Zinc a suspect but said

31:33

everyone we've spoken with with

31:35

the exception of him has been cooperative

31:38

and forthcoming. Right now we have an

31:40

individual that has declined to speak with

31:42

us and so we're going to use

31:45

what means are available to us to

31:47

try to verify what he said initially.

31:50

I don't know what else you can do. He's

31:52

not willing to give you anything else.

31:55

Authorities checked local tire shops and

31:57

car washes and considered the

31:59

possibility The zinc cleaned the

32:01

truck himself or went

32:04

outside of town. Lieutenant Harry Bishop

32:06

later said they didn't think zinc

32:08

did the work himself because

32:10

the truck was gone for a period of

32:13

time and he was seen in different vehicles.

32:16

Bishop emphasized that the truck

32:18

had been detailed which

32:20

is far more intensive than a

32:22

regular clean. And that's absolutely true.

32:25

I've had a couple of cars

32:27

detailed. They don't do it very often but

32:30

man when you get it back that thing's like

32:32

it's brand new. Yeah I know I

32:34

get my detail every month for certain reasons.

32:37

Forensic reasons? Yes. But

32:39

you know they do a much better job than

32:41

I would do if I was you know out

32:44

in my garage just cleaning the

32:46

inside of my truck. I'd do

32:49

an okay job. They do an excellent job. You're

32:51

not getting the q-tips out. No they do. On

32:54

September 15th an arrest warrant unrelated

32:56

to the Tara Smith case was

32:59

issued for Troy's Inc. He

33:01

was charged with being a felon

33:03

in possession of firearms. Four

33:05

rifles and three shotguns were found

33:07

in the attic of his Taekwondo

33:10

studio during the first search on

33:12

August 25th. Troy told the

33:14

police about the weapons when they arrived

33:16

at the studio and claimed they belonged

33:18

to his father. Officials didn't

33:20

explain why they waited three weeks

33:22

to arrest him. And you

33:24

know to be fair I thought that was a

33:27

little strange. Now did it

33:29

take three weeks to you know

33:31

get with the DA and talk

33:33

through everything? Maybe. Maybe.

33:35

But it almost could

33:37

be viewed as though hey this guy doesn't

33:39

want to talk to us. You know

33:42

what we're gonna charge him. Then

33:44

he'll talk to us. Possibly. Yeah.

33:47

Zinc's lawyer said his client felt

33:49

harassed by the police due to

33:51

the Tara Smith investigation. He sold

33:53

his studio because the

33:55

visits from investigators interfered with operation.

33:58

I bet it did. It. On.

34:00

Face it, I mean is there

34:02

are probably a lot of kids.

34:05

There. Were taking Taekwondo classes

34:07

as a parent. If.

34:09

You see this guy's name? Linked

34:12

to the investigation of have

34:14

a sixteen year olds who

34:16

disappeared. If. You get out of

34:19

a with that. There. Was

34:21

possibly an inappropriate relationship.

34:24

Are. You sending your kid back

34:26

to this Taekwondo studio? In layman.

34:29

I will take you know the police are

34:31

probably smart about and said a the school

34:33

show up at his studio when as pack

34:35

for parents and kids and waiver bad just

34:37

as around and let them here will bear

34:39

what we're saying dorman Ill maybe that's going

34:41

to encourage him to go ahead and talk

34:43

to us so we don't keep doing this.

34:45

Maybe. Maybe. Is that right?

34:47

Is that wrong Home senior

34:50

deputy Da A great goal

34:52

said. Zinc brought attention to

34:54

himself by refusing to talk.

34:57

In. Mid September a rumors circulated

34:59

that Tears Bought had been found

35:01

a D Cheswick. They're. Forcing.

35:04

Lieutenant Harry Bishops. Did.

35:06

Issue a statement said she had not been

35:08

sound. On October first, Nineteen Ninety

35:11

Eight. The. Smith family revealed

35:13

that they believe terror was

35:15

having a sexual relationship. With.

35:17

For resigned and was trying to

35:19

end it when she disappeared. They.

35:21

Said they were tired of holding

35:24

back details they thought could help

35:26

find terrorists. They. Hoped any

35:28

other girls with similar experiences involving

35:30

Zang would come for this. A

35:32

pretty big statement to make. Yeah.

35:35

I mean it is. Now. I

35:38

understand whether they're saying. It.

35:40

Sounds like they had been biding

35:42

their tone. Holding back.

35:45

Letting. The police do their thing and

35:47

then maybe. they got to the point

35:50

where they were frustrated that nothing was

35:52

happening so they were trying to force

35:54

the issue a little bit. Teary,

35:56

read excerpts from the letter written

35:58

by terrorists to true Zink,

36:00

they believe she wrote it after

36:02

she returned from a church youth

36:04

conference a few weeks before she

36:07

disappeared. The following excerpts were

36:09

published by the Reading Records Searchlight.

36:12

Tara wrote, I know that what I'm

36:14

doing with you is wrong. There is

36:16

no way to overlook that fact. It's

36:18

against God's will and we both know it. I

36:21

know I'm not doing what I should be. Troy,

36:23

stop and think. You're committing

36:25

adultery and I'm just as guilty.

36:28

This is from a 16 year old. And

36:30

it's really hard to read

36:32

that and not think that

36:35

some inappropriate sexual

36:38

relationship was happening. And

36:40

again, to me, if that's

36:42

the case, if that is true, that's

36:45

where the motives really start to

36:47

come in. Because you think

36:50

about a man who has a

36:52

wife, who has a child

36:55

or children. A 29

36:57

year old man having

37:00

sex with a 16 year old girl. You

37:03

can think of all kinds of scenarios

37:06

where that man

37:08

believes it's about to come

37:10

out. People are going to find

37:12

out and it can lead you down

37:14

a number of different paths. Oh,

37:16

absolutely. You know, I'm sure if he

37:19

knows that this is where her thoughts are,

37:22

it's not going to be good for him on

37:24

several levels, right? It's not going to be

37:26

good for him for his business. It's not going

37:28

to be good for him with his family.

37:31

Not going to be good for him legally. Now

37:34

it doesn't say in this letter

37:36

that she's threatening to expose

37:38

him or tell his wife or

37:40

anything like that, but we

37:43

don't know what was said in the

37:45

vehicle. Yes. And

37:47

again, these are only excerpts. So I don't know. We don't

37:50

know what else was in the letter. Terry

37:52

Smith told the record starlight that

37:54

Tara admired and respected Zing. He

37:57

said she was a vulnerable, innocent, and and

38:00

perhaps confused 16 year

38:02

old girl who I'm convinced was

38:04

manipulated and preyed upon by this

38:06

29 year old rapist. Well,

38:09

no doubt she was 16. So somebody

38:12

that's 29 is manipulating

38:15

and taking advantage of a kid.

38:18

Well, and you have to look at the

38:20

role he played teacher mentor,

38:23

right? Is she looking up to him because

38:25

you know, maybe he's this

38:27

bigger than life figure, he owns a

38:30

studio. Um, I

38:32

can see how that would happen and how

38:35

he could use that to his

38:37

advantage. Position of power. Yes.

38:40

And really, isn't that

38:42

what we've been talking about for a number

38:45

of years now? Sure. People

38:47

in power, using

38:49

that power over others in

38:52

a way that they shouldn't do. Terry

38:54

mentioned that one of Tara's friends

38:57

told them about her alleged inappropriate

38:59

relationship with her teacher. Tara

39:01

told the girl that zinc proposed

39:04

running off to Mexico together.

39:07

Why is everybody run to Mexico? I don't

39:09

know. We just had that in our

39:11

true crime all the time episode. No one's ever

39:13

run into Canada. We're just doing that

39:15

for our Canadian listeners. They're like, wait

39:17

a minute. People like to come to Canada. Hey,

39:20

how many Canadians really say, Hey, I. Most

39:24

Canadians say none of us. None of

39:26

us. Yeah. When Terry

39:28

and Marilyn confronted zinc after Tara

39:30

went missing, he told them nothing

39:33

inappropriate was going on. And

39:35

he and Tara had a strictly

39:38

student teacher relationship. Terry

39:41

told the record searchlight, it

39:43

is my opinion and firm belief that

39:45

zinc did in fact meet

39:48

my daughter that evening. She arranged

39:50

this meeting to let him know that

39:52

she had gotten smart and was ending

39:54

their little tryst. He saw

39:57

this as a severe threat. That's

39:59

kind of. one of the paths that we've been

40:01

going down. Oh yeah. Possibility.

40:04

I just think of him saying that there

40:06

was nothing inappropriate going on. It

40:09

certainly didn't sound that way when you

40:12

read those certain sections of

40:14

the letter. No, but when

40:16

this 29 year old man is

40:19

confronted by, you know, this 16

40:21

year old girl's father

40:23

and mother, what is he going

40:25

to say? Yes, I've been having, you

40:28

know, inappropriate sexual relations with your

40:30

16 year old daughter. Exactly. Not going to

40:32

say it. No, he's going to deny, deny,

40:35

deny. That's what people do. Shasta

40:37

County Lieutenant Harry Bishop told the

40:39

paper, there was not

40:42

an active investigation, valuations of

40:44

a sexual relationship between zinc

40:47

and terror. And I was

40:49

kind of confused by that. You

40:51

know, there was a number of people who

40:53

had said, Hey, this was going on. You

40:55

had the letter. I'm not

40:58

saying any of that proves that it

41:00

happened, but you would think

41:02

at the very least it would warrant an

41:04

investigation. Yeah. Why not look into it?

41:06

Yeah. I didn't get that zinc's

41:09

preliminary hearing for the weapons charges

41:11

took place on October 7th, 1998.

41:15

His attorney, Russell Schwartz told the court

41:17

that all the media attention

41:20

led the community to believe zinc

41:22

was guilty. And I do believe

41:24

that can happen. Now, did

41:26

he technically have weapons at his

41:28

studio? Yes. They

41:30

found them right. When they, they did the

41:33

search where they hit. I

41:35

don't know. He says they were his dad's. We know

41:37

that a felon, which he

41:39

was, right, is not

41:41

supposed to possess a firearm. Well,

41:44

what does possess me? Does it

41:46

mean you can't be in the same house

41:49

or the same location where there's a firearm?

41:51

You know, you're getting into a lot of

41:54

really, uh, big ol' minutia

41:56

there. Right. I'm sure the headlines

41:58

read something like, you know. past

42:01

convicted felon, weapons

42:03

found at his studio. And

42:07

it could have even been, you

42:09

know, alleged to have

42:11

had a tryst with Tara last

42:13

to have seen Tara. I mean,

42:15

it could have gone on. I

42:17

didn't see those. But, but, you

42:19

know, people read headlines, you

42:21

know, articles. Sometimes that's all they

42:24

read. They stop, you know, some people

42:26

read the whole article. Some people just like

42:28

glance over like, Oh, wow. Okay.

42:30

And they move on. And that's

42:32

what they're going to remember. And that's what they're going

42:34

to tell, you know, their friend. Oh, did you

42:36

hear about this? Did you hear about that? Yeah,

42:39

that's where I get into the

42:42

whole innocent until proven guilty. Yeah.

42:44

You know, you go in as

42:46

the defendant with this

42:48

presumption of innocence. And

42:51

it's like the state has to

42:53

overcome that and

42:55

prove that you're guilty. But,

42:57

you know, you can't tell me that some

42:59

jurors don't go in kind

43:02

of having this preconceived notion, either

43:05

because they read some stuff in

43:07

the paper, or I think

43:09

some jurors just think that they

43:12

wouldn't charge you unless they

43:14

had enough to charge you. Sure. Unfortunately,

43:17

we know that's not correct. We do.

43:19

But I think that's how the public looks at it

43:22

too. A lot of times, I think, well,

43:24

they charged you. I seen the

43:26

headlines. Clearly, you did. You

43:28

must be guilty. Yeah. Zinc was

43:31

ordered to stand trial the following day.

43:33

On the same day, officials

43:35

lowered the Keswick reservoir by

43:37

10 feet to help searchers.

43:40

The record search light noted that the

43:42

search was preplanned and was

43:44

not taking place because of new information.

43:47

And it was said that this Keswick

43:49

reservoir is near Hanglider Hill,

43:52

one of the main areas of interest in the

43:54

case. So you can understand why they would

43:56

want to search that body of water. Yeah,

43:59

makes sense. Four vehicles were found

44:01

in the river, but no evidence

44:03

was found related to Tara's disappearance.

44:06

And we hear that all the time. You

44:08

know, they're searching for someone in a body

44:10

of water, and they discover like

44:12

umpteen vehicles. Like,

44:14

what's going on with dumping vehicles? People

44:16

just dumping vehicles? While

44:19

out on bail awaiting trial, Troy

44:21

Zink was arrested. On March 12,

44:25

1999, he attempted to dump ten cats on

44:28

the road, and then bumped passerby

44:30

Jack Brown with his van. Brown

44:32

saw him dump the cats, and was

44:34

attempting to stop him. Zink hit

44:37

Brown two to three times with his van,

44:39

and tried to hit him with his arm when

44:41

he reached for his keys. Brown

44:43

managed to grab the keys and called 911

44:46

from a nearby home. He was

44:49

bruised, but didn't need medical attention. Zink

44:52

was arrested on suspicion of assault

44:54

with a deadly weapon. He

44:56

faced a potential animal abandonment

44:58

charge for all ten cats.

45:00

Zink pleaded not guilty to

45:03

the assault, battery, and abandonment

45:05

of domestic animals. So

45:07

I mean, we've got to talk about this. You

45:09

know, the first thing that kind of

45:11

jumped into my head was you talking

45:13

about changing tires. Because

45:16

possibly you hit

45:18

somebody. You ran over somebody,

45:21

and you wanted to make sure that

45:23

there was no evidence, you know,

45:25

on those tires. Now

45:27

this guy is trying to hit somebody

45:29

with his van. I'm

45:31

not saying it proves that theory, but maybe

45:34

it lends a little more credence. And

45:37

then, you know, the thing about just

45:39

dumping ten cats on the road?

45:41

Yeah. What

45:43

kind of person are we talking about here? It

45:45

doesn't sound like too great of a guy.

45:48

And the police are suspicious of

45:51

you. You're a felon. You've

45:54

got this gun possession charge as

45:56

a felon. Like I always say,

45:58

wouldn't you be on your best behavior.

46:01

But people aren't. This

46:03

guy's out dumping and

46:05

abandoning a bunch of cats and then

46:07

tries to run over a guy who's

46:10

trying to stop it. So they're not going to help you

46:12

in the public eye either. No, not at all. And

46:14

you're not helping yourself. I mean, that's

46:16

the thing. He was ordered

46:19

to stand trial on these charges on

46:21

June 15th, 1999. Jury

46:23

selection for Zinc's weapons trial started

46:26

on June 22nd of that year.

46:28

The sheriff's deputy testified that Zinc admitted

46:31

to having the guns on his property,

46:33

but said they were his father's. Zinc's

46:36

father arrived on the scene and agreed

46:38

that the guns were hit. Prosecutor

46:40

David Faux told the

46:43

jury that Zinc had the right to

46:45

control the weapons on his property and

46:47

alleged that Zinc's father was lying to

46:49

protect him. Investigators found no

46:51

fingerprints on the gun. The

46:54

only person with the motive to clean the

46:56

weapons would be Troy Zinc. His

46:58

father claimed that he dropped the guns off

47:00

two years earlier with no gloves on, but

47:03

his prints were no longer there.

47:05

The defense argued that Chuck Zinc,

47:07

Troy's father, was subletting part

47:09

of the attic. So Troy did not

47:11

legally have control of the gun. The

47:14

defense said that the attic door was

47:16

padlocked, but a deputy testified that

47:18

the door was closed with a nail.

47:20

Not a lot. On June 24th, Troy

47:23

Zinc was found guilty of being a

47:25

felon in possession of firearms.

47:28

He was sentenced to four years in prison. So

47:30

I said it earlier, but you know, I thought

47:32

there was a little bit of a gray area

47:34

there. Yeah. This lack of

47:37

fingerprints though, to me

47:39

is very strange. To

47:41

find no fingerprints on all these guns,

47:44

I just don't know how that happened.

47:46

Other than somebody

47:49

knew that someone was

47:51

coming and they intentionally wiped them

47:54

down. Zinc pleaded guilty

47:56

to assault in January 2000. And

47:59

on January 18,

48:01

2000, he was sentenced to one year to

48:03

be served concurrently with his four year sentence.

48:06

So really no impact. Now, not

48:08

much impact on that, but you

48:10

know, four years in prison,

48:13

that's not a joke for having

48:15

some guns that you're not supposed to

48:17

have. Zink filed an

48:20

appeal in 2001 arguing ineffective

48:22

counsel because his attorney did

48:24

not request a change of

48:26

venue. He also argued that

48:28

the jury was not impartial because

48:30

of negative press brought on

48:33

by the disappearance of Tara Smith. His

48:35

appeal was later denied. Zink

48:38

has still never been identified as

48:40

an official suspect in the disappearance of

48:42

Tara Smith in 2022. Terry

48:45

Smith told Dateline that they believe

48:48

the Shasta County Sheriff's Office took

48:50

the case seriously at first because

48:52

they brought in cadaver dogs and

48:54

searched a nearby Lake. Tara's

48:57

case went cold after six months to

48:59

a year. The family hoped

49:02

she would return for months. Marilyn

49:04

Smith told Dateline, I never felt

49:06

like we properly mourned or grieved

49:08

her in some ways because for

49:10

so many months we hoped she

49:12

would come back. It was

49:15

a very gradual process realizing

49:17

she was gone. However,

49:19

Terry said, I think Marilyn held on to

49:21

hope far longer than I did. I

49:24

was convinced that she was gone

49:26

from almost the get-go. You

49:28

know, either way, from no matter whose

49:31

perspective, it's got to be tough.

49:33

Right? Well, I think both

49:35

sides of that coin are tough.

49:38

You know, Terry saying, you know, he,

49:40

he pretty much from the

49:42

beginning thought she was gone.

49:45

Well, that's extremely tough. Marilyn

49:47

said she was holding out

49:49

hope and then it was a

49:52

gradual process. That kind of

49:54

enters your mind that well, most

49:56

likely she's never coming back. Terry's

49:59

case received. media attention in

50:01

2022 when 34-year-old Sherry

50:03

Papini was charged with faking

50:06

her own kidnapping. Sherry

50:08

and Tara were one year apart

50:10

and attended the same high school.

50:13

On November 2, 2016, Sherry Papini

50:15

was reported missing after she went

50:18

out jogging on the old Oregon

50:20

Trail in Reading where Tara went

50:22

missing. Her phone and earbuds were found

50:24

on the side of the road playing

50:27

her wedding song on repeat. The

50:30

Smith family gave the Papini's advice

50:32

and support after Sherry was reported

50:34

missing. Sherry was found on

50:37

Interstate 5 on Thanksgiving Day.

50:39

She was badly bruised, emaciated, had

50:42

been branded, and had a chain

50:44

around her waist. Sherry

50:46

told the police that while she was out

50:49

jogging, she saw an SUV with two Hispanic

50:51

women inside. When she got close to the

50:53

van, a woman pulled a gun

50:55

on her and ordered her to get into

50:57

the vehicle. She claimed she slept

50:59

for most of the drive but did

51:02

not say she was drugged. One

51:04

woman told her they were going to sell her to

51:06

a police officer. Sherry didn't

51:08

explain why she was released by

51:10

the abductors. Investigators

51:13

were immediately suspicious of her story. DNA

51:15

was found on her clothing that was

51:18

linked to an ex-boyfriend in Southern California.

51:20

The man said Sherry contacted him out

51:22

of the blue and told him

51:25

her husband beat and raped her and she

51:27

was trying to escape. He drove

51:29

to Reading on November 2, 2016 and picked Sherry up.

51:34

Sherry asked him to hit her

51:36

but he refused. He agreed

51:39

to hold a hockey stick so she

51:41

could run into it repeatedly. No,

51:45

so wild. It is. He

51:47

also threw hockey pucks at her

51:49

and branded her at her request.

51:52

He drove Sherry back to the Reading area

51:54

and dropped her off where she instructed him

51:56

to. Phone

51:59

records corroborated. his story. Sherry

52:01

Papini was charged with faking her

52:03

own kidnapping in March 2022. Tara's

52:07

sister, Sierra, said after

52:09

Sherry was arrested, per the

52:12

outlet, KRCR, I just have to

52:14

tell myself that she's sick, you

52:16

know, like she has to be

52:18

sick to come up with that story

52:21

and to hurt herself the way she did. She's

52:24

just not well. I don't

52:26

think she was well to do what she did

52:28

and put everybody through that, including

52:31

herself. And you'd have to say

52:33

there's a little bit of a like a gone girl

52:35

type vibe vibe to

52:38

what she did. On April 12, 2022,

52:42

Sherry Papini accepted a plea bargain

52:44

and acknowledged that she lied about

52:46

her kidnapping. She pleaded guilty of

52:48

lying to a federal officer and

52:50

mail fraud. You know, it also

52:53

takes away from the real kidnappings

52:55

that happen. Well, yeah, because you

52:57

know, they put resources

53:01

into investigating and trying

53:03

to find Sherry. And

53:05

then on top of that, it makes people say, Oh, is

53:08

this another one of those fake kidnappings

53:11

when somebody really is kidnapped

53:13

or, you know, disappears? Yeah,

53:16

I can have a lot of ramifications. Sherry

53:19

issued a statement. She said, I

53:21

am deeply ashamed of myself for my

53:23

behavior and so very sorry for the

53:25

pain I've caused my family, my friends,

53:28

all the good people who needlessly suffered

53:30

because of my story and those who

53:32

worked so hard to try to find

53:34

me so hard to try to help

53:37

me. I will work the rest

53:39

of my life to make amends for what I

53:41

have done. So if

53:43

true, okay, it's a good statement.

53:45

She may be absolutely

53:47

sorry for what she did. She

53:49

should be. She should be. But

53:51

again, I always wonder what else you're

53:53

going to say, though, how honest some of these

53:56

statements really are. She was

53:58

sentenced to 18 months in jail. prison in

54:00

September 2022. Sherry

54:04

was released to community confinement in

54:06

August, 2023, and was officially released on October 29. In

54:12

2023, KRCR reported

54:14

that Troy Zink is 54

54:17

years old now and goes

54:19

by Charles. The outlet reported that

54:22

he is living in surprise Arizona,

54:24

a suburb of Phoenix. Praise.

54:27

So what do you make of that? You know,

54:29

he's going by Charles. He

54:32

moved to the Phoenix

54:34

area. I think he's trying to get a

54:36

first start in life. Yeah, I

54:38

think that's true. The question is why? Is

54:42

it because he actually

54:44

did have something to do with

54:46

Tara's disappearance or that just

54:49

the implications tarnished

54:51

his reputation and image so

54:53

badly he just had to get out of it?

54:56

Or is it that and all the other

54:58

things that he did as well? The

55:01

spousal rape and the gun

55:03

charges. Yeah, because you know, all of that

55:05

came out. Sure. Lieutenant Chris

55:07

Edwards from the Shasta County Sheriff's

55:10

Office said they still

55:12

receive leads in Tara's case and

55:14

all of them are investigated. He

55:16

told KRCR, we're hoping that

55:18

at some point, somebody

55:20

out there, and I do feel that

55:22

somebody out there does have information on

55:24

this case. And we can get

55:26

that solved. And I don't know

55:28

what else you could hope for. You know,

55:31

somebody has to come forward with

55:33

new information to break this

55:35

case open. I mean,

55:37

the one thing I would say is that they've

55:40

never found her body and

55:42

possibly if that

55:44

discovery was made, maybe

55:46

that would lead to some evidence. Maybe,

55:49

you know, I just don't know. Tara's

55:52

family has acknowledged that her case may

55:54

never be solved, but they still have

55:56

hope. And I think as a

55:58

family, you know, you can't give up. that hope.

56:00

I understand at a certain point you

56:03

may start to believe that you're

56:06

never gonna have your loved one again as

56:09

time goes by the chance

56:12

of them being a lot is less

56:14

and less and and I'm sure that

56:16

realization comes to a lot of family

56:20

but how can you not

56:22

hope or give up hope that

56:25

somebody is going to be

56:27

held responsible for whatever happened

56:29

to her and maybe you're gonna get more information

56:32

maybe you're gonna get

56:34

her back to at least give her a

56:36

proper burial and and all

56:38

that. It's important to have hope. At

56:40

the time of her disappearance Tara Smith

56:42

was five foot seven 135 pounds

56:45

she is described as blonde

56:48

with hazel eyes and

56:50

a strong athletic bill. If

56:52

she is still alive Tara would be

56:54

42 years old. Wow. If

56:57

you have any information about the

56:59

disappearance of Tara Smith you can

57:01

call the Shasta County Sheriff's Office

57:03

at 530-245-6135. So Gibbs as we

57:05

wrap this one up I mean

57:07

really there was only one viable

57:14

person of interest to talk about

57:17

but that person is a really viable

57:20

person of interest. Oh for sure. You

57:22

would have to say Troy Zink and

57:24

when you go back and you look

57:27

at some of the things this

57:30

alleged inappropriate relationship and I

57:32

have to say alleged because

57:35

even though there seems to be quite a

57:37

bit of evidence that this

57:40

occurred he was never

57:42

charged or really even investigated. He

57:44

was not. As far as we

57:46

could tell for this sexual

57:49

relationship because it's all hearsay right

57:52

and that may be the reason. I mean there

57:54

may just not have been evidence

57:57

to charge him but they said

58:00

That he wasn't investigate and

58:02

that's the, I think the part that I have the issue

58:05

with. It's a flaw. Yeah.

58:07

I think you should at least have investigated

58:09

it. He admits to

58:12

being with Tara on

58:14

the night she disappeared. You

58:16

know, this story about her wanting

58:18

$2,000. And

58:20

I think you even said it's a very,

58:22

it was a very specific set

58:25

of details that he laid out in

58:27

the story, right? She wanted him to

58:29

give her $2,000. He

58:32

said he didn't have $2,000. She

58:36

got mad, but then

58:38

let him drive her and drop

58:40

her off somewhere where

58:42

according to him, she

58:45

started jogging. Right. Okay. Why

58:47

not just take off from jogging?

58:50

You know, and this happened at her house

58:53

at the end of her driveway. I don't

58:55

know, the whole thing to me was very

58:58

convoluted. And then the fact

59:00

that his truck was heavily

59:02

detailed, his tires

59:04

were changed. You know,

59:06

I mean, why? Well,

59:08

again, it all leads to people

59:11

being suspicious and how could they

59:13

not be suspicious? Now, the

59:15

one thing I do want to talk

59:17

about is, you know,

59:19

you decide to talk to police

59:21

initially, and then after that, he shut

59:24

it down. Why does he put

59:27

himself with Tara on

59:30

the night that she disappeared? Because

59:32

he voluntarily gave that information.

59:34

Maybe because he thought they

59:36

would have figured it out

59:39

eventually. Yeah, I don't know. Maybe

59:41

he thought he was seen

59:44

or would have been seen. And

59:46

so wanted to get ahead of

59:48

the police instead of them thinking

59:50

they were dropping something on top

59:52

of him. I keep thinking about

59:54

her letter that she wrote, where she's

59:56

talking about what they're doing is

59:58

wrong. It did. It did seem very

1:00:01

mature for a 16-year-old. It

1:00:03

did. Her writing. And

1:00:05

I'm just, you know, she would

1:00:07

have said this to him while

1:00:09

they're driving around. This

1:02:00

happened to me as well so at

1:02:02

the end of the day i think

1:02:04

people are very suspicious of

1:02:07

this guy and there

1:02:09

are reasons to be sure we detail

1:02:11

them out but i don't

1:02:13

know how the police would. Get

1:02:16

what they need to prove

1:02:18

that he did something

1:02:20

to. Here and

1:02:23

now especially at this point right so

1:02:25

many years on it just

1:02:27

becomes harder unless

1:02:29

unless there's something that technology

1:02:32

can do right. That's really

1:02:34

either somebody comes forward and offers

1:02:36

this you know amazing information

1:02:39

where there's something that technology can

1:02:41

do to crack it open but

1:02:43

you know barring that it's

1:02:45

gonna be a tough one there's no doubt

1:02:47

about for sure but that's it for our

1:02:49

episode on terris. What's the

1:02:51

voice mail gives you check those out here. I

1:02:54

might give me my name is

1:02:56

darren calling from Raleigh North Carolina

1:02:59

this voicemail find you spiritually mentally

1:03:01

physically and financially in a good

1:03:03

place was just listening to the

1:03:06

man that trail episode

1:03:08

and i found it fascinating that

1:03:11

rogers for that is first

1:03:13

name already was being charged

1:03:15

with criticizing the

1:03:17

church department. You

1:03:19

guys know we all know that

1:03:22

we criticize our public officials all

1:03:24

the time everybody gets criticized at

1:03:26

one time or another but for

1:03:28

them to try to charge him

1:03:30

with that as a crime is

1:03:32

i've never heard of that you know

1:03:34

listening to your podcast as well

1:03:36

as other podcasts regarding crime or

1:03:38

even watching something on TV never heard

1:03:41

of a case where someone got

1:03:43

charged for criticizing. Public

1:03:45

officials so anyway just wanted to mention that

1:03:47

is very fascinating case been

1:03:50

listening to you guys for quite

1:03:52

some time I enjoy the

1:03:54

banter between you and gibi so i'm

1:03:56

team T cat as well as on

1:03:58

the top so. Thanks guys. Have a

1:04:01

great day. Oh great voicemail

1:04:03

appreciate it. I too did

1:04:05

not understand that I did not either.

1:04:08

I mean it makes sense

1:04:10

that it fell apart Sure, because it seems

1:04:12

so outlandish but I mean I've

1:04:14

seen a lot of cases or you know

1:04:16

watch Documentaries where

1:04:19

it's come out that the police did a lot

1:04:21

of questionable things We find that we do in

1:04:23

a lot of cases But to

1:04:25

actually charge someone solely based

1:04:28

on their criticism. I

1:04:30

haven't really seen that before Hey

1:04:33

Mike and Gibby, it is Rachel Banius

1:04:36

I have not called in in quite

1:04:38

a while, but I'm still listening and

1:04:41

I'm a patreon member So I'm

1:04:43

going to be excited once I get all caught

1:04:45

back up with true crime all

1:04:47

the time So I can pop over to

1:04:49

patreon and listen to those I'm

1:04:52

actually in the hospital right now so

1:04:56

I have a lot of time to listen

1:04:58

to you guys and I wanted

1:05:01

to give a case suggestion. You

1:05:03

probably already know about it. It's

1:05:05

a very recent case So if

1:05:08

you don't already have it plotted

1:05:10

for maybe in a year or so,

1:05:12

I would highly suggest covering

1:05:15

the Sebastian Rogers disappearance

1:05:18

in Hendersonville,

1:05:20

Tennessee He's

1:05:22

a 15 year old boy with autism And

1:05:25

he disappeared in the middle

1:05:27

of the night from his

1:05:29

mother and stepfather's house and

1:05:31

his Biological

1:05:33

dad just lives like

1:05:36

45 minutes away, but He

1:05:39

is nowhere to be found not

1:05:41

a trace of what could have happened to him

1:05:43

yet So there

1:05:46

may be some development soon And

1:05:49

I hope that you guys will plot

1:05:51

it later to cover this case because

1:05:53

it has gotten national Recognition.

1:05:57

Alright guys, well stay safe and keep your

1:05:59

own touch Yeah,

1:06:01

so thank you for the

1:06:04

voicemail, the suggestion. We will definitely look

1:06:06

into that. For sure. Thank you. And

1:06:09

I hope you feel better. Yeah, absolutely. One

1:06:11

thing I will say is that, you know, when you're

1:06:13

in the hospital, you just land

1:06:16

there, man, there's not a lot to

1:06:18

do. There really isn't. So you can,

1:06:20

you can blow through some, uh, podcast.

1:06:22

You can watch a lot of TV,

1:06:24

but there's not a lot to do in that hospital

1:06:26

bed. Sometimes you can sit there and dance.

1:06:29

Like on the bed, just move your hands around. Is

1:06:32

that what you did? Yeah. Last time you were in. Do

1:06:35

a little hand dance. Next

1:06:37

time make a video of that. We'll put it up

1:06:39

on Patreon. People would enjoy that. All

1:06:42

right, buddy. That is it for another episode

1:06:44

of True Crime All the Time. So for

1:06:46

Mike and Gibby, stay safe and keep your

1:06:48

own time ticking. asked

1:06:59

you to sing it. Pluto TV

1:07:01

has over 300 channels

1:07:03

and thousands

1:07:10

of TV shows

1:07:12

and movies. For

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