Just after New Year’s bells rang in the new millennium, a young man disappeared in Asheville, North Carolina, shaking the community to its core. On January 2nd, 2000, 18-year-old Walmart employee Zebb Quinn disappeared shortly after his shift ended on that frigid January night.
But even over a quarter of a century after Quinn’s disappearance, his case poses more questions than answers. Investigators suspect foul play, but have yet to construct a concrete conclusion in the case, due to a lack of evidence.
However, in recent years, cracks have appeared in this case, one that seemed sealed tight for years.
Did a friend and former co-worker murder Quinn? Did a love triangle turn deadly? Or was Quinn just stuck in the middle of a terrible situation somewhere deep in the wild of North Carolina?
The public may never know for sure, and that uncertainty will forever shake everyone who knew Quinn, as well as the citizens of Asheville, North Carolina.
A Look at Zebb Quinn’s Background
He Was An Upstanding Citizen
18-year-old Zebb Quinn was a promising young man in every regard. Quinn’s mother described him as “hard-working, easygoing, and trusting.” Aside from this glowing character assessment, Quinn also worked at Walmart to save up money for a new car.
Additionally, Quinn was a member of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), an organization that trains young Americans to become military officers while earning a degree.
The young man had a bright future and a strong work ethic. So, why would he become the target of a crime, especially one as serious as a disappearance and potential murder?
Enter Quinn’s co-worker at Walmart, Robert Jason Owens. On the night of January 2nd, Quinn and Owens had plans to travel to the nearby town of Leicester to buy Quinn a new car.
Shortly after Quinn’s shift ended that night, he met Owens in the Walmart parking lot. Quinn and Owens then took separate cars to Leicester to check out the vehicle Quinn intended to buy.
Surveillance footage from a convenience store along the way captured both Quinn and Owens buying sodas.
Zebb Quinn’s Initial Disappearance, Explained
January 2nd Was The Tip of The Iceberg
As Owens has claimed, after leaving the convenience store, Quinn flashed his headlights, signaling for Owens to pull over. Quinn told Owens that he received an urgent message on his pager.
After using a nearby payphone, Quinn was showcasing what Owens described as a “frantic” state. In a huff, Quinn canceled their plans and recklessly drove off in his car, rear-ending Owen’s truck.
The vehicle crash left Owens with fractured ribs and a head injury, for which he was treated at a local hospital that night. Owens filed no report with the local police.
After Owens’ injury, more characters enter the story, but Quinn remains out of sight. But he is not out of mind; the next afternoon, Quinn’s mother, Denise Vlahakis, promptly filed a missing persons report.
The day after, a man claiming to be Quinn called in to Walmart, where he worked, and called out sick. The man who answered the phone knew the man on the other side didn’t sound like Quinn.
The call was eventually traced back to Owens, who admitted to making the call. Owens claimed he was doing Quinn a favor. From here, the case gets much murkier.
Zebb Quinn’s Disappearance Investigation
But His Car Turns Up
Phone records show that the page Quinn received the night he disappeared was from his paternal aunt, Ina Ustich. Quinn and Ustich were not close before his disappearance.
Ustich has since denied making the call. But she filed a police report saying her home was broken into that night. Only some picture frames had been moved around in her home, but nothing was stolen.
Four days after Quinn’s disappearance, on January 6th, his car, a Mazda Protege, was discovered in the parking lot of Little Pigs Barbecue. The restaurant was near the hospital where Vlahakis worked. The car’s headlights were on.
Outside the car, crude drawings of a mouth and an exclamation point were smeared in pink lipstick on the back window. Inside the car, officers found a live black Labrador gasping for air. Thankfully, one of the officers investigating Quinn’s case adopted the dog.
Also inside the car, authorities found drink bottles and a jacket that was not Quinn’s. Despite collecting forensic evidence from the car, police still found no leads.
Shortly after Quinn’s car was found, a local couple phoned authorities to report seeing someone driving it in downtown Asheville.
Using the couple’s description, police created a composite image of the driver. Police noted that the image bore an uncanny resemblance to a young woman named Misty Taylor.
Zebb Quinn and Misty Taylor
There Was No Fairy-Tale Romance
While investigating the case, authorities interviewed Taylor. According to her testimony, Quinn had romantic feelings for her, and those feelings eventually became mutual. The two had developed a relationship in the weeks leading up to Quinn’s disappearance.
But theirs was far from a fairy-tale romance. Before he disappeared, Quinn made it clear to his friends and family that he had been threatened by Taylor’s abusive boyfriend, Wesley Smith. Authorities have not confirmed any ties between Owens, Taylor, or Smith.
A Break in the Zebb Quinn Case, 15 Years Later
The Break Is Big But Tragic
Owens was under the hot breath of Johnny Law for years following Quinn’s disappearance. In March 2015, 15 years after Quinn’s disappearance, Owens was arrested for an unrelated incident.
Owens was arrested for the disappearance of Food Network Star contestant Cristie Schoen, her husband J.T. Codd, and, tragically, their unborn child. He later admitted to accidentally killing the family by running them over.
Also, Owens pleaded guilty to dismembering the family’s remains. As part of a plea deal, he was sentenced to 60 to 75 years in prison for the crime with no possibility of parole.
The Cristie Schoen incident leads back to Owens’ role in Quinn’s disappearance. After executing a search warrant, investigators announced they had discovered “fabric, leather materials, and unknown hard fragments” beneath a layer of concrete at Owen’s property.
Investigators went on to find “numerous plastic bags containing possibly pulverized lime or powdered mortar mix” on another part of Owen’s property. Because the investigation was ongoing, authorities couldn’t confirm if the remains were human bones or if they belonged to Quinn.
In 2017, it seemed justice might finally have been served in the case of Zebb Quinn. A Buncombe County grand jury charged Owens with the death of Zebb Quinn, but that’s not where the story ends.
Where Zebb Quinn’s Case Is Today
So Many Questions Linger
In 2022, new facets emerged in the Zebb Quinn case, which at the time seemed wrapped up in a neat little package. Authorities announced that back in 2018, Robert Owens accused his uncle, Walter “Gene” Owens, who died in 2017, of murdering Zebb Quinn.
According to Robert Owens, Gene Owens dismembered Quinn’s body and burned the remains, which could be found in the Bent Creek Experimental Forest.
In July 2022, Robert Owens claimed that Quinn had been part of a love triangle involving Taylor, Smith, and Quinn himself. Allegedly, Smith had hired Walter Owens to kill Quinn. Gene Owens then lured Robert Owens and Quinn into the Pisgah National Forest.
Per Robert Owens’ account, Gene Owens murdered Quinn by shooting him with a .22 rifle. Gene then dismembered Quinn’s body and burned his corpse. Robert admitted to helping his uncle cover up the murder.
While the prosecution met Robert Owens’ account of the incident with skepticism, the court accepted a plea deal. Robert Owens pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of accessory to after-the-fact murder, which, yes, is a real crime.
Robert Owens was subsequently sentenced to up to 15 years and three-quarters years in prison, to be served concurrently with his up to 75-year sentence for the two unrelated killings.
Exactly what happened on the night of January 2nd, 2000, in Asheville will likely remain a mystery for the ages. All that is known for sure is that Zebb Quinn’s disappearance is still, and likely always will be, up for debate.
