Episode 766: The Mysterious Disappearance of Zebb Quinn | Forensic Files

Hey weirdos. I'm Ash. >> And I'm Elena. And this is Morbid. This is morbid. And man, there's a lot
going on the last couple days. >> Do you know why? Because it's stupid daylight savings time.
>> I [ __ ] hate daylight. I [ __ ] hate it. >> Is this a polarizing opinion? I don't
think so. >> So, I don't I don't think it's polarizing to not like it because of the
whole like you lose an hour thing, but people love the longer days with more sunlight.
>> I That's polarizing. >> That's I just polarized the [ __ ] out of this. I hate it.
>> Yeah. I much prefer darkness. >> I want a longer night. Yeah. >> Give me a longer night. When the sun
sets at 4, I'm so happy. Well, and I just I get used to one way and then it flips the other way and it's pissing me
off. I I was in such a good like routine of getting up super early and getting up
way before the kids get up and now my body doesn't know what time it is so it keeps waking up later and then I don't
get my time in the morning before everyone wakes up. It's really [ __ ] me up. >> I actually weirdly like am the opposite.
I've been waking up better with daylight savings but I'm like confused when I wake up cuz I'm like is it 5:30? Is it
6:30? Where am I? >> I don't like it. And I want to abolish it. >> Yeah, I want to abolish it, too. I also,
every time that it happens the last couple years, I'm like, didn't we get rid of this?
>> I feel like we've been trying to for decades. >> I swear courts across the nation have
voted millions of times and we've all said, "Nah, >> I think we've all said we don't want
this anymore, but then the government was like, I literally don't give a fuck." >> I thought the government actually cared
about this one, but >> Yeah, I was going to say you thought the government actually cared about
>> this one. About this one, I said. >> No, they don't care about anything. >> Yeah. No, they don't. But here we are
dealing with daylight savings time still. >> It's [ __ ] brutal. [ __ ] a. Anything
else you got? You should tell people to buy your book. >> Yeah, buy buy my pre-order my book, The
Butcher Legacy. It's the third in the Dr. Ren Mueller series. >> And there's signed editions available.
>> There is. I don't know if they're still available. Um >> I just said there's signed editions
available and you said there is. I don't know if they're available. >> There was. I should say. Uh maybe
there'll be more. I don't know though. Not right. Not at this moment. If they're sold out right now. Okay. Well,
you can still buy an unsigned edition. >> You can buy so many editions that you want. There's special edition.
>> I was going to say special. >> There's regular editions that are still special in my heart.
>> Yeah. >> You can pre-order them all. You can do it at butcherleacy.com. Anywhere you
want to get it. Anywhere you feel connected to that you want to purchase this book, purchase it.
>> I support it. That's really nice of you. >> Yeah, I support you. >> The interaction where you were like, I
said they're available and then you were like, they are, but they're not. just reminded me of something before we
actually get into this. You'll love this. I was watching Watch What Happens Live the other night and Andy said to
Tom Sandival, uh, he like Tom Sandival was talking about how he met Kristen and like her baby. This is Vanderpump Rules
in case you're interested. >> Yeah. >> And in case you're interested in what I'm talking about,
>> in case you're interested in what I have to say. And so Andy was like, "That must
have been so strange." And or like, "Oh my god, like that was crazy." And Tom was like, "Yeah, it was so strange." And
then he kind of trailed off and Andy was like, "Yeah, that must have been strange." And then Tom goes, "It wasn't
strange though." And it was just like, "What the [ __ ] are you guys talking about?"
>> Like, "Are both of you?" >> He was like, "Yeah, it was so strange." And it must have been strange, but it
wasn't even strange. >> What we've determined is that it was strange, but it wasn't.
>> It was crazy. >> So, there was that. >> It was something. >> Yeah. So, you know what? They're
available, but they're not. >> That's just the way it I think that's what I've heard recently is that they
might be out of the signed ones. >> Look at you selling [ __ ] out. >> But you know what? If you have demand,
let me know because one thing I will do is make my life harder and continue signing things till the end of time.
>> One of your favorite pastimes on this planet, Capricorn. Yeah, >> I'm speaking to all the Capricorns
worldwide is to make your [ __ ] lives harder. I've got a whole stack of uh tippins right next to me that I'm
signing to make sure you guys have them. >> I'm not trying to like toot your horn
like excessively, but I don't know how you do it. >> Thank you. >> I don't want to do a lot of things.
Yeah, I bet. I'm tired and I don't even do much. So, I like I said to Drew this morning, I was like, I got to stop
saying I don't feel like it. I say I don't feel like it >> so frequently and I'm like, you've never
noticed. >> I don't know if I have clocked that. Well, now you won't because I'm not
saying it anymore. I'm switching it with I get to. >> I get to. >> I get to. >> Like, oh, I don't feel like going to
work today. I get to go to work today. I'm gainfully employed. >> Oh, I feel like it.
>> There's a nice way to bring some some goodness into your life. >> Oh, I don't feel like driving home
today. I have a car >> and I get to drive to my home. >> And I get a home to drive to.
>> A shelter over my head. >> I don't feel like taking the dog out. I have a [ __ ] dog.
>> And I can go walk. >> I can walk. >> Yeah. >> You know, you get to I like that. Yeah,
>> actually I really like that. >> I'm trying. It's I'm At first you feel a little silly. You feel a little zany.
>> It's okay. There needs to be more silliness. >> But I I have to stop saying I don't feel
like it because I'm I'm creating a bad world. >> Yeah. Well, you can just you make
yourself feel like >> Yeah, exactly. all the time. >> But yeah, that I mean the the moral of
the story is if you really want more signed copies, keep yelling at me about it cuz it'll work.
>> Yeah. And she won't say I don't feel like it. She'll say I get to sign these copies.
>> Cuz that's essentially what I say. like I will sign a million copies for you guys. So,
>> if you want copies, >> I'll do it. I have I have always wanted to sign copies of a book I wrote, so you
can do that forever. >> I also just read something pretty cool that she's working on.
>> I'm really excited. >> I can't say anything else, but it's really cool. >> Hang tight, everybody.
>> All right, so let's get into the case today. This one Dave found Dave our researcher David
>> and I hadn't heard of this before which makes sense because it was like in the
'9s but it carries on into a time when I was alive >> or and like you know conscious
>> conscious and you were saying you weren't sure if you had heard of this case.
>> Yeah. I wonder if when I I have I don't know what it's about. I've only seen the
title of this. Um so maybe when you're talking about it might ring a bell. >> I wonder if it will ring your bell. We
were just >> uh but it's it's crazy. Like I'm excited to get into this one and thankfully I
will tell you it is solved, but there is still a lot of mystery surrounding the case. It's it's strange.
>> Interesting. >> So, in the late fall of 1999, 18-year-old Zeb Quinn was in the market
for a new car. For 2 years, he was working at the local Walmart after school, and on weekends, he was always
working, and he managed to save a solid amount of money. So on January 2nd, 2000, one of his former co-workers,
Jason Owens, visited Zeb at Walmart and said, "Hey, I know this guy who's selling a car. I think you might like
the car. Do you want to check it out? We can go tonight after you get off work."
>> Yeah. >> So Zeb was like, "Hell yeah. I've been looking for a car. Let's go." So a short
time later, they were seen walking out of the store together. Out in the parking lot, they both got into their
respective cars, and Jason led the way to the home of a person who was selling the car with Zeb close behind him. Now,
along the way, they stopped at a convenience store and then they got back on the road. But not long after leaving
the store's parking lot, Zeb apparently got an urgent message on his pager. >> Yeah. Know, crazy. And he started
flashing his headlights indicating to Jason like, "Pull over." So Jason said on the side of the road, Zeb ran over
and explained he got a message and he needed to he returned that call immediately. So like the plan was off.
Now, Zeb apparently seemed uncharacteristically panicked about this call. And he asked if he could use
Jason's cell phone, but Jason didn't have a cell phone >> because it's 1999. >> Cuz it's the '9s. And he was like,
"Maybe you can go back to the convenience store to use that phone." And apparently Zeb did.
>> Okay. >> So, about 10 minutes later, around 9:30 at night, Zeb returned to where Jason
was waiting on the side of the road just chilling. >> When he pulled up behind the other car,
he was actually so frantic that he accidentally rearended Jason's car when he came to a stop. something big was
going on. >> Yeah. >> He immediately apologized and said he would pay for everything, but he was
like, "I'm sorry. We have to work out the details later cuz I actually have to go like right now."
>> What the [ __ ] >> Yeah. So Jason was like, "Do you still want to go see the car?" But Zeb said it
would have to wait. And he got back in his car and sped off without giving any indication as to who called him and what
was so urgent. >> Wow. And that's hard because you want to be like, "What's going on? Like what's
happening?" But you don't want to like pry if he's not offering the information.
>> That's the thing. I don't think they were like super close. They were just like
>> He probably felt like old co-workers, you know? >> Yeah. So, he's not going to be like,
"What's going on in your personal life?" >> Right. Exactly. Now, that was the last
time that anybody saw Zeb Quinn. >> What? Yeah. So, a little later that night around 10 p.m., Zeb's mother,
Denise, called her son's pager and left a message, hoping and expecting that, you know, he would call her back at any
minute. He was always super super close with his mom. Like, they were each other's best friend. So when he didn't
return her call as quickly as he usually did, she thought it was strange, but she
was like, "Okay, maybe he went out to play pool with like somebody after work and she was like, I'm not going to think
too much of this right now." >> So as the evening wore on though, Denise started to get more and more nervous.
More time is going by. He's not answering. And she starts to get seriously worried. She later said, "He
never returned any of his pages. I kept waking up and paging him. I must have paged him four times." Oh,
>> not only was it out of character for him to ignore his mother's phone calls, it
was also really out of character for Zeb to stay out all night, especially without telling his mom or his sister
where he would be. >> His sister Brandy said later, "Pretty quickly, I was worried. He wasn't a
normal teenage boy. He wasn't rebellious. It was just really out of character." >> Oh, that must have been horrifying.
>> Also, if you look him up, he is as cute as a button. Like, >> oh, he is. I just looked him up.
>> He just seems like a sweetheart. She's got that kind of face that you're just
like, "Oh." >> Yeah. And I just love her being like, "No, like he's not a rebellious
teenager." Like he's he literally seemed he gave off like teddy bear energy, you
know? >> Yeah. >> So the next morning when Zeb still hadn't come home, his mother and sister
at this point started to panic. It wasn't just worry anymore. >> Denise called Walmart where the
supervisor informed her that Zeb had clocked out a little past 9 the night before and a few of his co-workers saw
him leave the store with Jason Owens, but nobody had seen him since. So Denise made a few more calls to some of Zeb's
friends, some more co-workers, but nobody had seen him. That afternoon, when she still hadn't heard from her
son, she had no choice but to go to the police department and she filed a missing person's report.
>> So his failure to return his mom's calls and his sister's calls and the fact that
he didn't return home that night wasn't just unusual because of how close he was
with his mom and how close he was with his sister. But it was also unusual because there were very few other places
that he would have gone except for home. >> Like he usually hung out at home. He'd
always been a stereotypical good kid who was wellliked by teachers and other people in the community. But
unfortunately, making friends was never easy for him. He kind of struggled at that.
>> Oh, that breaks my heart. >> It's really sad. >> People are so mean. >> People are so [ __ ] mean.
>> Like just be cool with with people, man. Be be gentle with people. >> That's the thing. Like you don't know
what's going on in people's lives. And >> were you all [ __ ] doing this for the
first time? Like Jesus Christ, >> it's rough in this. >> I haven't been in a skin suit before
this. I don't think that I remember. >> I think I have. >> If I have, I don't remember it. So I
don't remember doing it for the first time consciously. >> This time? Yeah. This time and place is
the first time. >> So when he was younger, his mom said he was a lot smaller and clumsier than the
other kids his age. And he also had a learning disorder which made him really self-conscious. and he was occasionally
targeted by [ __ ] at school, bullies. He struggled to fit in. That said, he did have people that he met through
sports and cub scouts, but they were kind of more acquaintances than friends. Like they didn't hang out on the
regular. >> He wasn't like those weren't like deepening relationships. >> Yeah. Not where he would like go hang
out after work or anything like that. And even at work, like I was just talking about where he was adored by his
co-workers, he was actually closer with a lot of the older women at the store than he was with anyone his own age. Oh
my god, he sounds adorable. >> No, he does. And also, you have to think he's being raised by women. Like, he's
growing up in a house with his sister. His mom was like his primary parent for a long time. His grandmother was also
very involved in his life. So, like he's got a strong lad of ladies behind him. >> Oh, so he's that's that's a that's a guy
right there. That's a guy you want around right there. >> Exactly. Now, if he did have a best
friend at all, it was said to be his sister Brandy. >> Oh my god. >> Which I love.
>> I love this a lot. So in his mid- teens, Zeb got involved with the Junior Reserve
Officers Training Corps, which is ROC. This was the first thing that he had ever expressed any strong in interest in
as far as his mom could remember. And once he joined the program, he really started to come out of his shell there.
>> Oh. >> Now, all of that said, Zeb Quinn was the last person anybody would expect to
disappear without telling anybody. And no one in his life could think of anywhere that he could have gone or
anyone he would have run off with. Yeah, >> they were at a loss. He kept a small
circle. Nobody could think why he would be so upset that he just, you know, took
off, anything like that. >> To those who knew him best, he was a laid-back person. He really didn't get
rattled by anything. So, the fact that he had been so upset by the page he received on the night he went missing,
>> that's shocking. >> That was as unusual as the disappearance itself. >> Yeah. Cuz you're like, "What the [ __ ]
was that?" >> Right. Now, days passed and there was still no word from Zeb. Then on the
Sunday after he disappeared, his boss at Walmart, Patty King, got a really weird
call. She said, "The person on the other end said, "This is Zeb Quinn. I will not
be into work today." And I'm thinking, "Okay, this is not Zeb." >> So Patty had been his boss for the last
2 years, and she knew him fair like fairly well enough to know his voice. >> Yeah.
>> So she actually, this was really smart of her, she played dumb, and she tried
to get more information asking what uh asking the caller what department he worked in and what shift he was supposed
to work. But the other the person on the other end of the phone said they didn't
know and just hung up. >> Oh, that's spooky as hell. >> It's spooky. >> That's really ominous.
>> Now, our girl Patty is not done yet. Thinking fast, Patty dialed star 69. >> Oh, which was
>> You remember those days? I remember that even from when we were like prank calling when we were younger.
>> So, and for anybody that doesn't know, that's when you dial star 69, it connects you with the last person who
called you. So, she discovered that the person who had just called, pretending to be Zeb, had called from Volvo
Construction. >> Oh. >> But the person on the other end explained that there were a lot of
phones at that company and they didn't know who contacted from that number. >> But it's like, how many phones are 700?
>> Because you should go check because this person is missing. >> Not only is this person missing,
somebody is literally impersonating them. >> Yeah, this person is missing and now
somebody is calling out of work for them, >> right? >> Ding, ding, ding. Go look at every
[ __ ] phone in that place. >> Also, I don't know how all that works, but wouldn't you think they would all
have like slightly different numbers? >> Yeah, you would think. >> I don't know.
>> Unless it's like one dispatch that sends out to other phones. >> Oh, that's a good point.
>> So, like you start 6ix9ine and it goes right back to so they can't >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good call. Well,
nonetheless, Patty reported the strange call to the police and they followed up immediately. In discussions with some of
Zeb's co-workers, investigators learned that while he himself had no connection to Volvo Construction, some people
recalled that it was where his former coworker Jason Owens worked. >> Oh. >> Aka the last person he was seen with.
>> So, detectives spoke with Owens, who admitted to making the call to Walmart, but he said he had only done so after he
got a call from Zeb, who asked if he could call in sick for him. >> No. Which like if Zeb is calling you,
>> why wouldn't he just call Walmart himself and say like, "I can't come in today."
>> Exactly. >> Why wouldn't you just say to the person, "Hey, like Zeb is unable to call, but he
wanted me to call in for him instead of pretending to be him." >> Exactly. >> No.
>> Yeah. Well, >> I don't like that. >> It's [ __ ] weird. Jason told the police he didn't know why Zeb couldn't
call in sick for himself. and that other than the call he hadn't seen or heard from Zeb since he left him on the side
of the road a few nights earlier after abandoning their plans to go look at the car.
>> Huh. >> Now, to us and investigators, Jason Owen's story was highly suspicious.
>> Yeah. >> Especially because as far as anybody knew, they weren't that close. I think I
said it earlier, they were just co-workers really. And when police dug into Jason's whereabouts in the days
immediately after Zeb's disappearance, they learned from his boss at Volvo that Jason had called in the day after to say
he'd be late to work that day because he'd been in a minor car accident. >> Huh.
>> According to Jason, he had been on his way to work that morning and got in a car accident where he got a cracked rib
and a minor head injury. Considering that Jason also said that Zeb had rear ended his truck the night he went
missing, investigators were like, "Yeah, it's highly unlikely that you would get
into two car accidents in less than 24 hours. Like, you're really that unlucky."
>> Yeah, exactly. >> And in fact, while Jason did appear to have some minor injuries, when they
checked his truck, there was very minimal damage, which definitely indicated that he probably hadn't been
involved in a second car accident. >> So, what the [ __ ] are you talking about?
And are you maybe trying to explain away some injuries because he went to the hospital and had those injuries treated
by the way >> the day after Zeb went missing. >> Yeah. >> Now, Jason Owen's strange behavior and
questionable explanation for his involvement in the case obviously made him a person of interest. But the main
problem was that investigators couldn't find anything to say he was directly involved and he passed a polygraph,
>> which is so it's so interesting to me that polygraphs aren't admissible in court evidence,
>> but they are still something that we do and like and we'll like dismiss people
if they pass one. >> It almost feels like Yeah, it feels like it's doing way more harm than good.
Yeah, >> cuz it's just like tainting real evidence because it's like, well, they passed a polygraph and it's like,
okay. >> Yeah. Like you can if you're >> But it's like if I don't if I have this
piece of actual tangible proof that's somehow putting in someone's head that it could not be tangible,
>> right? Exactly. >> And the other way around, like if they don't pass it, then it's like they're
obviously guilty. And it's >> Exactly. It works way. >> I think just the fact that it's not
admissible in court is like maybe we should take it out of practice. I don't I don't know. It's just weird to It
doesn't feel like it should be used anymore. >> Yeah, it does. It seems day now.
>> Now, even though it was strange and out of character for Zeb to have suddenly
gone missing, within a few days of that disappearance or of his disappearance, detectives still had yet to find any
evidence that an actual crime had occurred. That was the problem. >> Yeah. >> So, frustrated and feeling like they
were headed for a dead end, they went back to the missing person's report filed by Denise. going over the names of
his friends and potential contacts, they came across Misty Taylor, a girl whose name had actually come up a few times in
the investigation, but to whom they hadn't spoken to in any detail. Now, according to Denise Quinn, Misty was one
of Zeb's newer friends, who he had become infatuated with a month or so before he disappeared. They spent hours
talking on the phone, and it was very clear to Denise and like anybody close to to Zeb that he had developed feelings
for her. >> Okay. His sister Brandy said, "I got the feeling that he probably grew to love
her." >> Yeah. Now, a few weeks after a few weeks of getting to know each other, Zeb
unfortunately learned that not only was Misty already in a relationship, but she
also had a small child. >> Oh, wow. >> Yeah. Upon learning this, his family and friends assumed, you know, maybe that's
going to be the end of the relationship here. But Zeb wasn't ready to let it go.
They kept talking on the phone regularly, but from that point on, Zeb made sure to block his number so that
Misty's boyfriend, Wesley Smith, wouldn't know who was calling. >> Messy. >> Okay. Yeah, that is messy.
>> Now, listen to this. One evening, the day before Zeb disappeared, he forgot to
block his number when he called. And Misty's boyfriend, Wesley, answered the phone. And when that happened, Zeb
panicked and hung up. But seconds later, the phone rang. And when Zeb answered it, it was Wesley on the other end. And
he threatened Zeb, telling him to stay away from Misty and then just hung up. >> Now, despite the repeated warnings from
those close to him that he was being unrealistic and pursuing this girl, Zeb was convinced that things would just
work themselves out. >> When you're 18, you think everything's going to work itself out.
>> You don't think it's going to get bad. >> And also like this seems like one of the
first girls that he was like really interested in and who seemed interested back in him. So, it's exciting.
>> Yeah, of course. Now, when detectives questioned Misty Taylor about her relationship with Zeb, she had a
different take on the friendship entirely. As far as Misty was concerned, she said her and Zeb were just friends.
I never intended for it to be anything more. Investigators still felt like there was something Misty wasn't telling
them, though, but they couldn't put their finger on what it was. >> Now, Wesley Smith, her boyfriend, was
similarly evasive when he was interviewed about Zeb's relationship with Misty. He said that on the night
Zeb disappeared, he and Misty were at his mom's house watching TV and that alibi was confirmed.
So things got even murkier a few days later when investigators got the call logs from Zeb's pager. According to the
logs, the urgent phone call Zeb received the night that he disappeared came from
the home of Ida Stitch. I hope I said that correctly. That was Zeb's aunt on his father's side.
>> Okay. So Denise Quinn had divorced her husband when Zeb and his sister were still very little. And for most of their
lives, their father, Jerry Quinn's relationship with them was inconsistent at best. When Zeb turned 16 and he got
his driver's license though, he started visiting his dad at his bar more often, which was the Builtmore Tavern. And they
spent hours there just shooting pool, catching up, kind of bonding. >> Yeah. When Zeb reconnected with his dad,
his mom was concerned about how Jerry's quote rough country ways would rub off on her son. She said, "I always saw Zeb
as a backward geek kind of guy." >> Oh, >> I know. Jerry, on the other hand, was
like what somebody would call a man's man. >> A man's man. >> He was a hard drinking, tough, walking,
workingass guy. >> Oh, man. >> And he struggled to understand Zeb's more sensitive nature.
>> Still, Denise wasn't going to stop her son from getting to know his father, though, or his father's side of the
family. So, Zeb started to get to know them, including his aunt, who was the one who paged him,
>> which was very good of her. >> I know. Denise sounds like she was a [ __ ] rockstar mom. Is a rockstar mom.
>> Now, in yet another strange twist, when investigators spoke to Ida, the aunt,
about the pager records, she denied having made the call. >> Huh. >> And she said that she was actually at
Misty Taylor's house. >> Oh. >> Apparently, it ended up that Ida was close friends with Misty's mom and they
were actually planning on going into business together. >> Oh, wow. >> As for who placed the call though from
Ida's house, she said she had no idea, but the evidence was clear. phone records from her landline showed the
outgoing call to Zeb's pager. >> Interesting. >> Now, strangely enough, not long after
that, the denial of the phone call. She reported to the police that on that evening that Zeb went missing and like
her landline allegedly called him or did call him. She said while she was at Misty's mom's house, somebody broke into
her home. >> Oh. >> She said nothing was taken. Only a few picture frames were moved around, but
she said it must have been the intruder who placed the call. Did she call the police?
>> No. >> Okay. >> So, I guess I wonder if she just >> I wonder like if she was like, "Are the
did these pictures move or did they not?" Like, and also like I mean like I would probably call the police.
>> I would call the police, >> but also like you have to think of it as like you're sitting there being like,
"Okay, a couple picture frames are moved. Are they going to do anything?" >> If you don't if you don't know for sure,
I guess, but like I mean >> feel free to overreact. >> Overreact. It's always better. So
investigators had a very hard time believing that somebody had broken into her house just to place a phone call and
move a few pictures around. >> That would be weird. >> It'd be super weird. Probably the first
time. >> Whatever. >> But they didn't have any way of disproving the claims. So they couldn't
make any accusations. Later, after the story made its way to the National News Circuit, Ida actually denied reporting
any break-in to the police. She was like, "I never told them that." What the [ __ ] Yeah, when I told you this. Also,
this is not as weird as it gets, everybody. Like this case is weird. >> All right. It already is.
>> And there's answers, but there's kind of like not answers at the same time, which
is really unfortunate for anybody close to Zeb. >> So, two weeks into their investigation,
Asheville detectives had a number of suspicious people on their hands, obviously. Some with very interesting
connections to each other, but they still had no evidence of a crime, and the case was in danger of going cold at
this point. Then in mid January, they got a break in the case when Zeb's car was discovered abandoned in a parking
lot. And inside they found some of the strangest evidence that we'll probably ever talk about.
>> Oh no. >> So on the evening of January 16th, 2 weeks after Zeb went missing, Denise had
just got home from a nursing shift at the hospital when her phone rang. The person on the other end was calling from
the medical records department at the hospital. she was a co-orker or they were a co-orker that Denise knew by
sight, but like didn't really know personally too much. But the woman said she had just arrived for her shift at
the hospital and as she was driving into work, she thought that she saw Zeb's car
in the parking lot of a nearby shopping plaza. This parking this shopping plaza was like right near the hospital. Like
couldn't have missed it. >> So Denise jumped in her car and raced to the plaza where she was stunned to find
her son's car parked at the edge of the lot. Imagine this too as a mother. >> Well, the car was parked like diagonally
too. Like we'll get into it. >> Like halfhazard. >> Yeah. Yeah, definitely. So, the
headlights were on and the windows were cracked, but l like smart and luckily before touching anything, Denise called
the discovery into the investigators who got there a few minutes later to process
everything. Now, to Sergeant Chuck Sams who arrived at the scene the scene, it seemed that whoever left the car there,
like I was just saying, positioned it in a way that would almost certainly be be
discovered quickly. Yeah, not only were the headlights on, but the way that it was parked was strange. It was like
diagonal, like I said. And the location of the car was as conspicuous as it could have been without genuinely being
parked in like the middle of the street, like the middle of the road. >> And not only did Denise work at this
hospital where the car was like found right near, her daughter did and her mother did.
>> So Zeb's mom, Zeb's sister, and Zeb's grandmother all work at this hospital. >> They should. So, like clearly they knew
that they would all see it. >> Yeah. Now, it turned out though that that was just the first of many strange
aspects of this particular scene. Sam's said on the back windshield of the car, there were a set of lips drawn in what
appeared to be a lipstick type material. >> What? >> And then there was two exclamation
marks. There were a number of things that were unusual about it, he said. One of which was that there was a live puppy
inside of the car. What? So, this car is parked right near where his family works, basically
diagonal, headlights on, windows cracked, puppy inside the car. Also, inside the car was a jacket that didn't
belong to Zeb. But let's let's sit with the puppy for a second. >> I was just going to say, we can't just
go away from the puppy. Why is there a puppy in the car? >> We never find out, Elena.
>> Oh my god. We never and listeners, weirdos, >> watcher, >> we never find out.
>> Holy [ __ ] Why the [ __ ] is there a puppy in the car? >> I have gone down every [ __ ] deep dark
hole to try to figure out why the [ __ ] there is a puppy in the car. And I don't
know. >> And the puppy's okay. >> Puppy's totally fine. Okay. >> So, to everybody's astonishment, sitting
on the passenger seat of the car, happy as a [ __ ] like happier than ever, just wagging her tail and excited to see
new people, was a little black lab. no more than a month or two old. Oh my god, I would literally scream. Now, desperate
for answers, and this will break your heart. She later realizes that this is not the case, but desperate for answers,
Denise, Zeb's mother, interpreted the discovery of the car and the weird clues, bizarre clues, as messages from
her son. >> Brandy later told a reporter, "My mom automatically thought that the drawing
on the windows means he's sending kisses and the live puppy means he's alive and
well." >> I mean, that's his mom. >> Like, of course, you're going to grass straws.
>> Yeah. >> Investigators on the other hand believed that the puppy was just left in the car
to attract attention, ensuring that it would be found quickly. >> Yeah, that actually makes a lot of
sense. >> But like what? You could also just park it weird and it'll be found quickly.
>> The windows were cracked, too. So, they were not they wanted that puppy to be
alive and barking. >> Now, luckily, the dog appeared healthy. It didn't seem she didn't seem agitated
at all. So, it was unlikely that the the puppy had even been in the car very long. Um, but they also found a hotel
key card in the car as well. >> What the [ __ ] >> In a statement to the press, Captain Ted
Lambert cautioned anybody about interpreting the discovery as the car is a positive or a negative. He said,
"There's no indication so far of foul play. No indication that he's run away. We're still receiving information and
leads daily and we're following up on that information and will continue to do so."
>> What a way to hedge your bets. >> Truly, >> there's no indication of foul play.
There's no indication that he left willingly. What does that leave? >> Nothing. >> He's like, "There's no indication."
>> He said, "Period. There's no >> That could have been a quick press conference.
>> No indication >> and no comment." DM like, cuz that's essentially what he just said is like,
>> "We don't know." >> Yeah. >> No idea. >> Got nothing for you. >> Which is true.
>> Yeah. >> I mean, what the [ __ ] This is bizarre. >> What do you say? >> Yeah. Now, in the days after the
discovery of Zeb's car, officers fanned out across Asheville and the surrounding
area, visiting every hotel and motel to find the establishment that had issued the key card. But after days of
searching, they came up with nothing. >> What? >> So, they literally can't even figure out
where this key card like what hotel it belongs to. >> And without having access to the scanner
that created it, there was no way of learning what data was on the card, like possibly who had the room or anything.
I wonder if we have like the potential to do that now. >> I know. Well, >> cuz I almost said I was like in the year
2026 we can't do that and then I was like this isn't 2020. >> You were like this is 199.
>> I was like do we though? >> I mean >> like would you be able to get the data off of a key card? I wonder.
>> I think you'd need the scanner that created the card. >> But I wonder maybe not now. Maybe
figured out a way to do it. >> But I I mean realistically like the data on the card is like who has the room.
>> Yeah. So, I feel like that would only really be with the hotel database. >> Well, you would think that, but who
knows? Come up with like further reaching databases now. >> Or maybe even just to get to the hotel,
cuz they don't even know what hotel. So, I see what you're saying. >> So, unfortunately, they came to a
similar dead end with their search to determine where the [ __ ] this sweet little puppy had come from. After
visiting every shelter and breeder in the region, they were still no closer to knowing of the dog's origin or what, if
anything, she had to do with the case. >> Yeah. >> Now, in a 2012 interview, Sam said,
>> "It's always been such a great mystery where this dog came from, but from the
moment that she was discovered in the car, Chuck Sams was taken with this little lab, and he ended up adopting her
from the shelter that she was placed in, and he named her Katie." >> Oh, I love that so much. Katie the pup.
I love that. >> Yeah. So, you know, at least you know the dog's safe. >> Hell yeah.
>> But where did she come from? >> That's the thing. Where did she >> What does she mean?
>> What does she mean? >> I don't You could There's so many holes you can go down.
>> So, the discovery of Zeb's car and the evidence contained within it were an exciting development in the case after
like nothing for a couple weeks. But as strange as it all was, it also suggested
that something bad could have happened to Zeb. Even Denise, who desperately wanted her son to be alive, started to
accept that it was probably somebody other than Zeb who had left the car in the parking lot.
>> Yeah. >> Later in 2012, she said somebody knew that his sister and I worked at the
hospital. I mean, we just felt that it was parked there to be found. >> Yeah, it absolutely was.
>> It was. After the car was discovered, investigators released a statement to the press urging anybody who had seen
that car in the previous two weeks to come forward, regardless of whether they thought they could help at all. like
just if you saw the car, tell us. >> Mhm. >> Within a week, a local couple contacted
Asheville police to say, "Hey, we saw somebody driving that car downtown a few days before it was discovered." They had
been following the case in the papers, and they had read the description of the car several times over. So, when they
saw that it seemed to be a matching vehicle a short time later, they wrote down the plate number, and they called
the police. >> What badasses. Good job. >> Good job, local couple. >> Good job being observant.
>> Hell yeah. >> You saw something and you said something. >> That's what you do. The plate number
turned out to be a close match for Zeb's car, indicating that the couple had in fact seen the car after Zeb went
missing. But when they were asked if they could describe who was driving at the time, they reported it was not a
teenage boy who was driving. It was a young woman. >> Oh. When they sat down with a sketch
artist to com to create a composite sketch of the person they saw driving, the result was an image that looked a
lot like Misty Taylor. Oh, which is weird. What the [ __ ] Investigators took the sketch and the information to Misty,
who strongly and repeatedly denied having driven Zeb's car or to have known anything about the disappearance, and
they had no cause to keep her or charge her with any kind of crime. So, they had
to let her go. >> Damn. >> Now, by the end, what >> is going on? >> It's wild. So, by the end of January,
the case had gone from baffling to outright [ __ ] bizarre. Yeah. >> Like, what what indeed? But
investigators were no closer to finding Zeb Quinn or learning what happened than
they were on January 3rd when his mom reported him missing. >> I want to know what happened.
>> They had all these weird >> things, but nothing was really evidence aside from like what was found in the
car. >> Yeah. >> Now, with the case going cold and the story now fading from the headlines
because unfortunately awful things continue to happen. >> Yep. >> It seemed like the mystery of Zeb's
disappearance was bound to go unsolved. But in yet another bizarre turn of events, a series of unrelated crimes
finally led new to new leads and a familiar suspect emerged. >> A year passed and there was still no
sign of Zeb. While the family started to lose hope, investigators kept searching
for answers. Investigator Ted Lambert told reporters, "We take each and every lead seriously and run it into the
ground. At times, it's frustrating that there isn't closure for Zeb and his family."
>> Yeah. A month later, Asheville police managed to get a warrant to collect hair, saliva, and blood samples from
Jason Owens based on the fact that DNA evidence was found inside both vehicles. >> Oh.
>> And they wanted to determine whether Zeb had been in Jason's car before or after
he had disappeared. Unfortunately, like so many other leads in this case, the DNA samples led them
nowhere. >> But it did seem though, no matter where the case seemed to lead them, Jason
Owens was always there. Yeah. Then in October of 2002, Jason Owen showed up in the news again. This time for reasons
unrelated to Zebuin and that whole case. In the early morning hours of October 30th, an Asheville police officer was
driving on Interstate 240 when she spotted a car that was driving somewhat erratically. Suspecting that the driver
was probably impaired, the officer attempted to pull the car over, but rather than pull off to the side of the
road like you're supposed to, the driver, who turned out to be Jason Owens, attempted to flee. Ah, while
driving at high speeds on the interstate and then on residential roads as well, Owen stuck a [ __ ] handgun out the
driver's side window and fired four or five shots at the pursuing officer >> while going down residential roads as
well. >> But luckily, none hit their intended target. >> Jesus. The chase finally ended when he
struck a mailbox and flipped his car. And he suffered serious injuries in the process. Obviously,
>> Owen spent a little over a week in the hospital before he was stable enough to
be arrested on nine charges. >> Holy [ __ ] >> Including uh eluding arrest, assault on
a law enforcement officer with a firearm, and a myriad of others. He eventually was found guilty of the
charges. And he only spent two years in prison. Are you kidding me? I always I'm
always just like, what? What the [ __ ] Like, he shot five times at an officer. What if that person died? What the [ __ ]
Like, hello. Was he white? >> Yes. >> Okay. Period. >> That sounds about white. >> It does. So, when he was released, he
kind of just faded back into private life for like a minute. But in the years that followed, he became a familiar face
to the Asheville police. Not just because of his link to the Zeb Quinn case, but also because of his tendency
to get arrested for various petty crimes. Like, >> what? >> I mean, I wouldn't call drunk driving
petty, but he got uh pulled over many more times and he also was a thief. So years passed and the case grew colder
and colder and colder and in the hope of eliciting some new leads, police released the surveillance camera footage
from the convenience store where Zeb stopped just before he went missing. So Captain Tom um Arda, hopefully I said
that right, said, "We have put a lot of hours into this case and we have no further leads on it, but we will not
close this case until we bring it to a conclusion." >> I hope so. >> I know. When the tape failed to get a
response from the public, investigators released a second tape the next year where they recreated the circumstances
leading up to the disappearance and that concluded with the discovery of Zeb's car in the parking lot. Investigator
Daryl Fischer said, "Somebody knows where Zeb is. We just need for that person or persons who know what happened
to come forward and tell us what they know." >> Yeah, we do. >> But sadly, the video failed to produce
any useful clues and the case was shelved as detectives shifted their attention back to active cases.
So Zeb's case sat on the shelf for another decade as his family and friends had to come to terms that he was most
likely no longer alive. >> Holy [ __ ] >> It was also looking like they might never have answers for all their
questions. >> That's the worst part. >> Yeah. For all that time to go by and you
probably wake up every single day with a new question about where your brother is, where your son is being answered
>> and and you have we say it all the time like your mind fills in the holes. >> Oh yeah. Makes it much worse. So, but
all of a sudden, a seemingly unrelated case brought Zeb's disappearance back to the front pages all over North Carolina,
not just in Asheville. On March 15th, 2015, Christy Cod's father became worried when he hadn't heard from his
daughter and couldn't get a hold of her husband, JT, either. He called Christiey's neighbor, Cecilia Owens, who
he knew had a key to their house, and he said, "Can you just check on Christy? She's 5 months pregnant. I want to make
sure she's okay." Cecilia said, "As soon as I walked in, I knew something was wrong. Just the look of the place and
she had left the dogs. She would never leave the dogs. Those were her babies." >> Now concerned that something happened to
Christy and to JT, Cecilia called the police and reported them both missing. >> Now, 3 years before Christy and JT's
disappearance, Christy actually appeared as a contestant on the Food Network um for Food Network Star.
>> Oh my god. >> Which mom and I used to watch all the time. >> We used to watch that constantly.
>> Yeah. So, I'm sure we saw her season. >> Now, obviously, that gave her a certain
amount of notoriety around this area, >> and that led to her disappearance gaining maybe more attention than it
otherwise might have. >> A day after the story appeared in papers, police got an anonymous call
where it was reported that somebody had been setting fires around the house next
to the Cod's home. >> What the [ __ ] >> And that they'd left a lot of suspicious
debris in a dumpster. >> What? Now, when police arrived at the address provided by the caller, do you
want to guess who the homeowner was? >> Oh, no. It was Jason Owens. Are you kidding me? And the suspicious debris
left in the dumpster were items known to have belonged to Christy Cod. What the [ __ ] Among other things, Owens was in
possession of Christiey's jewelry, the couple's laptop, and a handgun registered to JT Cod. What is going on
right now? So based on the evidence, investigators were able to get an arrest warrant and Owens was taken into custody
and considered the primary suspect in the Cod's disappearance. Now, a week after Christy and JT Cod were reported
missing, Jason Owens now confessed. And he said he stored and destroyed the bodies of the couple at his house. What?
Just simple as that. He said he stored and destroyed them. What the [ __ ] is this dude? He's a lot of things.
Investigators got a search warrant for his home now that he confessed. And they did in fact find human remains inside a
large wood stove on the property. It seemed that he had killed them and dismembered their bodies and then tried
to destroy the remains to hide any evidence. >> Wow. This man is diabolical. In an interview with his wife,
detectives learned that he confessed the murders to her, but was apparently vague
about the details. >> Yeah, no comment. According to his wife, Jason had agreed to do some work for the
CODs and he was driving. Let me before I get into this, let me just tell you this
explanation in this like quote unquote confession makes no [ __ ] sense. There are many pieces of this puzzle also
missing. >> Jason said that he was doing some work for the family and he was driving JT's
truck when he just struck and killed JT with the vehicle. >> You know, as so often happens when
you're driving, you just strike somebody. Once JT was incapacitated, he said Jason decided to rob Christy at
knife point and he killed her in the process. >> So, okay. So, is he saying he accidentally
hit JT or he did it on purpose? >> He just said that he hit him. >> He just hit him
>> as he was driving. He hit him. >> Motivations, none. >> Yeah. >> But while while I was doing it, I
decided why not try to rob his wife. >> Yeah. Apparently, >> this what? Obviously, he had a plan
obviously this entire time and he intentionally hit JT and then robbed his wife. But the way he made it sound and
the way his wife said his confession was was >> what the [ __ ] >> bizarre. >> So Owen's wife, she said, "I don't know
what much beyond those basic details." And Jason wouldn't say much more. So the motive for the crime now really still
remains mostly a mystery. >> What? I think he just wanted to rob them. >> That's so [ __ ] up. By the way, don't
forget Christy was five months pregnant. Oh, I forgot about that. Yeah. >> Oh [ __ ] So, a few days after his
confession to dismembering the bodies and attempting to destroy the remains, Jason was indicted on three counts of
first-degree murder. >> Good. >> For the deaths of Christy, JT, and their unborn baby.
>> I'm glad he got three. >> Three. >> Yeah. Uh, facing the death penalty, he accepted a plea deal in 2017 and was
sentenced to a minimum of 60 years in prison. Now, the plea obviously brought the COD case to a close, but for Zeb's
family and the investigators who worked the case over the previous 15 years, it sparked a renewed hope that with his
arrest for this latest horrible crime, they actually might finally get some answers to their questions about where
Zeb was and what had happened to him. The renewed interest in the case prompted some new leads from the public,
including an unnamed relative of Jason Owens, who told investigators that quote, "Before and after January 2000,
Owens dug a pit on his uh Owens Cove Road property to burn items. And sometime after January 2000, he poured
concrete over the area and said he was going to make a fish pond." >> Oh, yeah. >> Interesting.
>> That's [ __ ] weird, everybody. Right. >> Yep. Now, investigators searched the
area and they found what they described as unknown hard fragments buried underneath the area that Owens had dug
out for the pond, but they have never revealed whether or not those fragments are related to the Zeb Quinn case.
>> Guys, come on. >> I don't know if they can't say for certain what they I have no idea.
>> Can we get under that pond? Can we do like ground penetrating radar or something?
>> Well, I mean, they found fragments. Like, can you just figure out what they are?
So whether or not the fragments had anything to do with Zeb's disappearance though, District Attorney Todd Williams
felt that there was enough evidence to take to a grand jury at this point. >> Yeah. And on July 10th, 2017, Jason
Owens was indicted on one count of first-degree murder in the death of Zeb Quinn. 6 months later, court records
filed by his own attorneys, Jason's indicated that in interviews with investigators, Jason Owens, quote, said
a family member killed Zeb Quinn and then dismembered him and burned the remains.
>> Oh my god. He went on to provide a quote detailed account of Quinn's death which
included that evidence of the murder might be found in the Bent Creek ex uh experimental forest.
>> Bent Creek Experimental Forest? What the [ __ ] is that? >> Like what's an experimental forest?
>> Wait a minute. That's a thing. It was established in 1927 to study rehabilitation of cut over degraded
forests. I've never heard of an experimental forest. Never heard of that in my I need
to go down such a [ __ ] rabbit hole. >> Please guys, tell us if you have heard of experimental forest before cuz for a
second I was like, did I read that wrong? >> What did I do something wrong here?
>> It's an experimental forest. >> And he's saying that evidence of Quinn's of Zeb Quinn's death would be could be
found there. >> Yeah, evidence of his murder. >> Interesting. >> So, despite the bombshell admission,
years passed without any involvement in the case. >> What the [ __ ] Then in 2022,
more details of Jason Owens interview with detectives were made public. So according to Jason, his uncle Walter,
better known as Jean Owens, shot and killed Zeb the night that he went missing. And then he dismembered the
body and burned the remains. >> Why? >> Uncle Jean. >> Now, by that time, Gene Owens had died.
So he wasn't there to refute those claims or offer any kind of counternarrative. And actually,
according to Owen's attorneys, the person who called in the anonymous tip about Jason's fish pond, which literally
got him like, you know, involved in the Zeb Quinn case in the first place or, you know, more involved, like brought
him back, was Jean Owens. >> Oh. >> Who had called, but Jason's attorney said that that was in an attempt to
misdirect detectives. >> I mean, sure, you're the lawyer, so you're gonna say that. But
yeah, like I don't know. Or and this is just me like you know speculating speculation here is like it could be
that >> y >> or the other possibility is that he really was calling to report that Jason
knows that so now he's like well he's dead now so I'm going to put this on him because he was about to out me.
>> Yeah that's the widely held belief feels like that's the widely held like it's
more like okay well now it's going to get put on you because you can't do anything about it.
>> Exactly. >> Yeah. Who knows? >> And again that's just me speculating. That's pure speculation, but that's
speculation you share with many, and I do too. Yeah. >> Now, Jason's accusations left everybody
familiar with the case somewhat conflicted. Like, we're talking you, you actually led me right into this.
>> On one hand, people were eager to finally resolve the case after more than two decades of mystery and unanswered
questions and bizarre happenings. >> But on the other hand, it all seemed a little too convenient. Jason had
recently been convicted of another crime where the details matched exactly what he was now claiming his uncle had done
to Zeb Quinn. >> Yeah, >> cuz that's the thing. He's literally sitting there saying like, "Oh, my uncle
did that to Jason and I just so happened to also just do that to this couple." >> Yeah,
>> that doesn't make any sense. >> Like, what? How does that make sense? >> Cuz that that's like a trait you guys
share. So, a lot of people felt that Jason couldn't be trusted to tell the truth in any situation. Amy Carson, a
former friend and neighbors neighbor said, "In a letter me and my husband received, he's basically blaming his
uncle. I really have a hard time believing that. He's blaming someone who's dead who can't defend himself,
which is what you were just saying." >> Exactly. >> Jason's story had put the district
attorney's office in a pretty tough position. They lacked the evidence to prosecute Jason for a murder, but at the
same time, it also felt like the one chance they could finally get some justice for Zeb and his family. So on
July 25th, 2022, Jason Owens accepted a plea deal where he pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder and he was
given a sentence to 13 to 16 years in addition to the life sentence that he was already serving.
>> Oh. Now, according to the defense, Jason's defense, Gene Owens had quote duped his nephew into luring Zeb Quinn
to the Pisca National Forest to meet a woman with whom Quinn was smitten, who we can assume is Misty Taylor.
>> Yeah. However, when Zeb arrived, Misty was nowhere to be seen, and it was Gene
Owens, who had allegedly been hired by Misty's boyfriend to kill Zeb, who was there waiting to meet him.
>> Wow. Jean then shot and killed Zeb and enlisted Jason's help to get rid of the
body. That's the defense's argument. >> Okay, >> that's very hard to follow, I understand. So basically, yeah, they're
saying >> Jason lured Zeb out into the woods because Misty's boyfriend, who Zeb was
involved with Misty, remember? >> Okay. >> Misty's boyfriend had hired Jean, >> Jason's uncle, to kill Zeb.
>> Okay, >> that's simply put. >> Sort of. There's so many that I can follow that now. So, the defense went
out of their way to insist that this was not a compromised plea, but an accurate
reflection of the facts and a sentence that fit the crime committed by Jason. But the assistant district attorney,
Jeremy Engel, on the other hand, remained skeptical that Jason wasn't just the real killer. Yeah. Engel said
based on the evidence available, the lack of evidence of a motive, cause of death, spoilation of evidence based on
the decadesl long pause and critical leads in the case, a conviction of first-degree murder at trial, though
never a certainty would present a steep challenge considering all these factors.
>> Yeah. >> So, in this case, they agreed to the plea rather than let the case continue
to go unsolved. >> That makes sense. >> They publicly said, "We don't really agree that that's what happened here.
Like, that's not the truth in our opinion, >> but at least he'll serve some time."
>> Yeah. like we can't let him just walk out of here something else, you know? >> And I I really like that they went
through with it because he was already serving a life sentence, so they definitely didn't have to, especially
where they didn't agree with the facts. >> I didn't think about that. >> But they were like, "No, you need to be
held responsible in some capacity. >> Justice needs to be served in some >> the family deserves that at the very
least." >> No, I I do like that, >> you know. So after the judge accepted the plea, friends and family were given
the opportunity to speak and share their victim impact statements, which is >> another needed that like they they
should always be afforded that. >> While everybody had wonderful things to say about Zeb, obviously it was his
mother's statement that will hopefully remain with Jason Owens forever. >> Denise said, and I actually have
goosebumps already. She said, "I'd grown up learning to trust people and believe
in their goodness until they showed you otherwise. I passed that on to Zeb who took it to heart. When I was not really
happy with a couple of his friends in high school and told him he would be judged by the company he kept, he looked
back at me and said, "They have done nothing wrong to me and have done nothing wrong around me, and I will
continue to be their friend." This is the young man that was taken from his family, friends, community, and the
world. This is a young man that never would have seen his end coming. This is a young man who trusted his friend
Jason. Oh, that's gut-wrenching. >> Yeah. Like truly gut-wrenching. >> It really is. Oh,
>> it's just this was a trusting person and you prayed on that >> and he's a much better person than you
ever [ __ ] were. >> That's so sad. >> It is. Now Jason Owens is currently serving a sentence of 59 to 74 years to
life uh without parole in North Carolina. >> Good. >> Yeah. It's always confusing when it's
like this year to this year to life. >> I know. It's like to life. >> I'm like what?
>> You're like huh? >> Wow. What a I've I don't think we've really come across many cases like that.
>> No, that I don't know even what I'm so I like >> there's so many unanswered questions.
>> Yeah, like the idea of the puppy makes sense for like their theory of like they
wanted the car to be found. So I guess a puppy >> but why barking makes sense. >> The lips on the back.
>> But why did you want the car to be found, right? >> Because why? Just make it disappear if you want
to make it disappear, >> right? >> Why the lips? >> The lips. >> Where's the hotel key card from?
>> The Whose jacket is that? >> Whose jacket is that? >> Like like what is going on? And you can
look it up. You can see the picture of the lips drawn. >> It's bizarre. >> It's bizarre.
>> It's big, too. Like it's big. It's like the whole back window and like the exclamation points. I'm like, what does
all this mean? >> I don't know if you just do that. >> It's like does it all mean nothing? and
you guys are just it's like to [ __ ] with people. >> Maybe it's just to like make people go
down all these different roads and like distract from what was actually happening.
>> I'm like, did people involved just think that they were like masterminds? >> And is that lipstick? And if so, whose
lipstick is that? >> Right. It seemed like lipstick. That's >> it looks like lipstick. Like I don't
know. This is just weird. >> It's so And where did the dog come from? >> That's the thing. Where did the dog come
from? Like where did you just travel to another [ __ ] like >> where did that key card come from that
it didn't match anywhere? >> Right. >> It's all very bizarre. >> So weird. >> It's sad. It's really really sad.
>> And the fact that they don't know where Zeb is. >> Exactly. >> Like I want them to have Zeb.
>> I know. And they absolutely should. >> And I'm like where is he? Tell someone.
>> I I wonder and again this is speculation where Jason apparently had a whole thing
for burning people's remains. Yeah, >> maybe that's what the hard fragments are buried underneath that fish.
>> I want to know what's under that fish. >> But wouldn't you at least say like I
don't know if I don't know what happens here, but it's like wouldn't you say hard fragments that we believe to be
human? >> That's the thing. It's like >> isn't there cuz it doesn't say human. It
just says hard fragments. Isn't there a way to try to get some kind of warrant to like
>> drain that pond and be able to crack through the bottom and like see what's under there?
>> I don't even know if he even even built the fish pond. He was just planning to.
>> I don't even know if the fish pond ever came to fruition. >> Okay. >> I think that's why they were able to
kind of like figure out that they were >> I'm like, did you dig up hard fragments
or did you use ground penetrating radar and see something? >> And also, why are we not figuring out
what that is? Like I are they just too but and and that's the thing like we've covered cases before where charred
remains are found. Yeah. And they're never I mean I don't want to say never but like they're very rarely too charred
to determine if they're animal at least or human. >> That's the thing, >> you know.
>> I'm just really curious about that part. >> Yeah. It's very strange. >> Yeah.
>> Very very strange and very sad. >> I feel so bad for his family. >> I do too because because obviously they
loved each other a lot. >> They did. And it's like even though there was a conviction, it's there's
still like we're just sitting here asking so many questions >> or so many questions because the answer
is not given. >> Exactly. >> Oh, damn. It's a strange one. >> It is. I need to look up a a fun fact.
>> Yeah, got us a fun fact. >> And please look up Zeb Quinn cuz man, what an adorable.
>> I know. I'm telling you like teddy bear energy. >> Yeah, >> this is fun. Tell me. Uh, it also is
kind of horrifying. Oh, there's a statue of Jason Vorhees chained on the bottom of a Minnesota
lake. >> Oh, I did. I knew that actually. >> Did you? >> Yeah. Isn't that really That's really
fun, isn't it? >> That's horrifying. >> That's such a fun. Imagine you're just like
>> I would never be >> swimming around and you bump into Jason [ __ ] Borhees. >> Yeah. I would never be swimming in a
lake so I don't have to worry about it. But I I would watch you bump into it. >> Yeah. I I would swim in a lake for sure.
>> You love a lake. I love sitting by a lake. You do. You're looking at it. Alena's never been caught dead in a
lake. >> She's crazy, [ __ ] You're such an earth sign. You're like, I'm not in the water.
>> I'm on the ground. You're crazy. I'll look at water though. >> Yeah, water is so serene.
>> Love to look at it. I would not like to look at water where Jason Vorhees is.
>> Damn. What Minnesota lake is he in? >> I think also like whoever did that just
like did it for the joke of it all. >> Just did it for the walls. >> I saw that recently for the plot.
>> It's so funny because for a second when you said Jason Vorhees, I was like Jason
Vorhees, Jason Vorhees. Is that a political figure? And then I was like, oh no, Jason Vorhees. Oh, okay. So, so
weed at the bottom of Louise Mine Pit, often referred to as Crystal Lake >> in Crosby, Minnesota.
>> There it is. >> Uh, it happened in 2013 by diver Doug Klene. >> It's a surprise.
>> 120 foot deep. Damn. >> Damn. That's really, really scary. >> Oh, and there's pictures of it
underwater. >> Do you see that, guys? It's very realistic, >> guys. Look that up and it will ruin your
life. He's literally looking up. >> Talk about shark week. >> He's looking up. That is shark week
right there. >> Oh my god. Imagine you're just diving and you have no idea. And then you just
That could give somebody a heart attack. My god. >> I have to say that is literally genius.
But one of the most horrifying things I have ever seen in my life. >> I'd cry for sure.
>> I don't like things submerged in water. That really either me. >> That's a specific fear.
>> Yeah. That takes me to a place in a place of panic. >> Submerged in water phobia is called.
>> Oh, that's hard. Submechanophobia. Yeah, you have that. You're also afraid of
really big things. >> Yeah, especially big things that are submerged in water. >> Oh, man.
>> Yeah. >> I wonder if that's another one. We got to We got to end it somewhere.
>> Yeah. A lot of things give me anxiety. >> Yeah, that's spooky. That's fair enough.
The world is insane. >> It's insane. Insane. Insane. >> All right. Well, we hope that you keep
listening and we hope you keep it weird. Maybe keep it so weird that you submerge
like a horror figure in a random lake somewhere. Yeah, cuz that is fun. It is a little bit fun and I won't have to see
it. >> Just make sure it's like environmentally friendly. I think I think that one is.
>> As long as that's cool. >> Okay. And be nice to sharks. >> Yeah. Bye.

On January 2, 2000, eighteen-year-old Zebb Quinn finished his shift at Walmart in Ashville, North Carolina and set off to look at a used car with his co-worker, Jason Owens. Halfway to their destination, Zebb told Jason he received an important call on his pager and needed to return the call immediately and they would have to postpone their plans to look at the car. That was the last time anyone saw Zebb Quinn.

For weeks, Zebb’s family and the Ashville police searched for the teenager, but it was as though he had disappeared into thin air. Then, to everyone’s surprise, Zebb’s car was found in a parking lot not far from the hospital where his mother and sister worked, as though someone had left it in a conspicuous place where it would be found. But more surprising than the discovery of the car itself was the incredibly strange and unexpected evidence found inside the vehicle, including several markings on the windows in red lipstick and a live black labrador puppy.

References Alexander, Phil. 2000. "Police, family puzzled by Arden teen's disappearance." Asheville Citizen-Times, January 21: 11.

Bever, Lindsey. 2015. "N.C. man charged in murder of Food Network star, her." Washington Post, March 18.

Brevorka, Jennifer. 2004. "Police release tape in case of teen's disappearance four years ago." Asheville Citizen-Times, January 1: 15.

Burgess, Joel. 2022. "Judge accepts plea deal in cold case." Asheville Citizen-Times, July 27: 1.

—. 2022. "Zebb Quinn's killer dead, says Owens." Asheville Citizen-Times, July 22: 1.

DeGrave, Sam. 2018. "Lawyers clash in Zebb Quinn case." Asheville Citizen-Times, March 16: 1.

Forrest, Brett. 2001. "The vanishing." Spin, February 1: 90.

Kepley-Steward, Kristy. 2020. "20 years after the disappearance of Zebb Quinn, still very few answers." WLOS News, January 3.

King, Kimberley. 2022. "Former friend shares about 'pathological liar' Owens ahead of plea deal in Zebb Quinn case." WPDE News, July 22.

Maxwell, Tonya. 2001. "Questions abound in Quinn case." Asheville Citizen-Times, January 2: 9.

Morrison, Clarke. 2005. "Detectives hope re-enactment will jog memories." Asheville Citizen-Times, January 14: 1.

2012. Disappeared. Produced by Peacock Productions. Performed by Peacock Productions.

Tomlin, Robyn. 2000. "A mother pleads: Where is my son?" Ashville Citizen-Times, August 6: 1.

Warren, Sabian. 2012. "Dog a living link to Quinn cold case." Asheville Citizen-Times, April 20: 1.

—. 2015. "Suspect destroyed bodies." Asheville Citizen-Times, March 21: 1.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022) Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023) Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Listener Tale Theme Music licensed from https://www.purple-planet.com Main Theme: Matti Paalanen — Trick or Treat — Provided by Jamendo Ad Music: Title: Artist: BlueJay Studio — Spooky Waltz — Provided by Jamendo

Brief Summary

Hosts discuss daylight savings and the mysterious disappearance of Zeb Quinn in 2000, exploring various suspects and bizarre evidence.

Key points

Daylight Savings Time Debate. Ash and Elena discuss their polarizing opinions on daylight savings time.
Zeb Quinn's Mysterious Disappearance. Zeb Quinn goes missing after a frantic call, leaving his family worried.
Strange Call from Missing Person. Zeb's boss receives a suspicious call from someone impersonating him.
Zeb's Car Discovery. Two weeks after Zeb's disappearance, his car is found abandoned with strange clues inside.
The Mysterious Puppy. Inside Zeb's abandoned car, a live puppy is discovered, raising questions about its presence.
Local Couple's Key Tip. A couple reported seeing Zeb's car, leading to a significant lead in the case.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I get to drive to my home.

Elena discussing a positive mindset shift.

4:53WatchMar 17, 2026

Tension

70/ 100High tension

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