Was suspect in Tacoma killing at scene where girl vanished in 2005?

Neighbors of a Tillicum girl who was found slain last year have told police that the suspect in this month's killing of 12-year-old Zina Linnik of Tacoma was in their neighborhood when the Tillicum girl disappeared.

Since Terapon Adhahn's arrest last week, police in Lakewood, Pierce County, have canvassed 10-year-old Adre'Anna Jackson's former neighborhood with a photo of Adhahn. Adre'Anna's mother says her neighbors told police that Adhahn was in the area around the time that Adre'Anna was last seen alive in December 2005.

Her remains were found four months later in a vacant lot in Lakewood, but the medical examiner was not able to determine a cause of death.

Tacoma police and the FBI are investigating Adhahn, a 42-year-old sex offender, in connection with rapes, abductions and slayings of children across the country, in addition to Zina's and Adre'Anna's cases.

Pierce County prosecutors have not filed criminal charges against Adhahn, whose attorney reportedly told police where to find the body of Zina, who was abducted from her Tacoma neighborhood July 4. Adhahn is in federal custody on suspicion of an immigration violation.

Police haven't said how Zina was killed, only that the case is a homicide.

Tacoma police Detective Chris Taylor said authorities plan to get a sample of Adhahn's DNA to test in connection with Zina's death, as well as in other unsolved cases.

Adre'Anna's mother, Yvette Gervais, said Tuesday that she has talked to Lakewood police about Adhahn's possible connection with her daughter's case. She hopes he will confess to her daughter's slaying.

"That would be nice. We'd like some closure, but it's far too early to tell," Gervais said. "We're just going to sit back and wait."

On Monday, Tacoma police also identified Adhahn as the main suspect in the rape of an 11-year-old girl near Fort Lewis in 2000.

A DNA sample was taken from the girl, and in 2002 prosecutors filed charges against the donor of the DNA sample who was at that time unnamed and unidentified.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com