Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell joined agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for a press conference July 13 to provide additional information about the case concerning 12-year-old Zina Linnik.

The man who led police to the girl’s body has been officially named as a suspect in her death.

The search for Linnik, who was abducted from an alley behind her Hilltop home July 4, came to a tragic end July 12 when police found her body at an undisclosed rural area of Eatonville. An autopsy is being performed to determine the cause of death. When asked by reporters if she had been sexually assaulted, Ramsdell said it “cannot be determined at this time.”

At the press conference Ramsdell explained he expects charges to be brought against 42-year-old Terapon Adhahn for Linnik’s abduction and murder. Police arrested Adhahn, a Thai immigrant, earlier this week on an immigration complaint, then identified him as a person of interest in the Linnik case when unknown girls’ undergarments were found in his home. Adhahn is a Level One sex offender convicted in 1990 for raping a 16-year-old relative. He is being held at a local federal detention facility.

Ramsdell said investigators have identified the man as a suspect in other local and national crimes that involve missing children as well, including the kidnapping and murder of Adre’anna Jackson in Pierce County in 2005.

“The way she was abducted matches others nationwide,” said FBI assistant special agent David Gomez.

The police chief said while Adhahn has given no full and complete statement about Linnik, he has been “cooperative” and provided police with information that ultimately led to Linnik’s body. Pending further investigation, Ramsdell noted, “we don’t know if he acted alone.”

He added it was “good old fashioned police work” that led them to Linnik.

The girl’s family members, Ukrainian immigrants, are “in great anguish” and are maintaining their privacy, declining public comment. “The Linnik family is in our thoughts and prayers,” Ramsdell said.

Linnik’s disappearance galvanized the local community. Jeanie Peterson, director of community initiatives for Hilltop Action Coalition and a citizen volunteer at the Tacoma Police Sector Substation on Martin Luther King Jr. Way, said response from area residents has been “amazing.”