Adre’anna Jackson (Unexplained Death)

10 year old Adre’anna Jackson disappeared on a snowy morning in December 2006. She had left her family apartment in Lakewood, Washington State early to see if classes were still on for the day. The fourth grader never made it to the school. A desperate search began but it was as if Adre’anna had vanished off the face of the earth. Four months later two 9 year old boys discovered human remains on an undeveloped plot of land not far from where Adre’anna lived. An investigation began which saw local police and the FBI scrabbling for leads as they sought justice for the young girl.

*This episode deals with a crime committed against a child. Please exercise self-care when choosing to listen.

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Adre'anna Jackson

This episode deals with a crime committed against a child. Please exercise self-care when choosing to listen.

On the morning of Friday December 2nd 2005 Adre'anna Jackson woke up to see a blanket of snow covering her neighbourhood of Tillicum in Lakewood, Washington State. The 10 year old jumped out of bed and went to find her mother, Yvette Gervais and father, Jon Federici to see whether they knew if school had been cancelled due to the inclement weather. It was common for this information to be relayed by local TV and radio stations, so Yvette switched on the television to take a look. After watching for a few minutes and not seeing Tillicum Elementary listed among the names scrolling across the bottom of the screen, Adre’anna decided she would walk to the school to find out for herself. It was only three blocks away from the family’s apartment on Wadsworth street, so it was no hassle. Yvette gave her daughter a hug and Jon accompanied Adre'anna to the front door. After stepping outside and realising how cold it was she returned inside to get a warmer hat and coat. Now wearing more appropriate clothing for the icy conditions, the 4th grader left the house for the second time. Jon watched his daughter head south-east and reach the corner of Wadsworth Street and Portland Avenue before closing the door. Yvette then turned off the television set and started listening to music. 

When Adre’anna did not return home both Yvette and Jon assumed that classes were on and their daughter was safe at school with the other children. What they didn't know was that very early that morning the local Clover Park school district had made the decision to cancel all lessons that day. The message was sent to local media outlets through the Emergency Communication System sometime between 4.30-4.45am. Tillicum Elementary began to be listed as closed on local TV and radio from about 5.00am. Yvette, Jon and Adre’anna had all managed to miss this information.

The school also had an automatic call system in place that contacted parents informing them of any such decisions. Unfortunately Adre’anna's parents did not have a landline or mobile phone. The emergency contact number listed with the school belonged to a neighbour. This number was called on the morning of December 2nd 2005 but the phone was not answered. 

It wasn’t until 2.30pm that Yvette realised that school had been cancelled, when Adre'anna failed to arrive home at the usual time. Yvette went walking around the neighbourhood looking for her daughter and called at the homes of friends. No one had seen her all day. Yvette then went to a neighbour’s house and asked to use the phone. At 4.19pm she called the Lakewood police and reported her daughter missing. During the call to the dispatcher Yvette said she'd made a mistake because she had not realised the schools were shut. She was very upset and struggled to compose herself in order to relay details about her daughter's appearance and clothing. The 911 dispatcher assured Yvette that assistance was on its way.

Within 14 minutes Lakewood police officers were out searching for Adre'anna. Jeff Alwine was Shift Sergeant that day and immediately sent five patrol officers in response. They started at the family home which was searched thoroughly twice, just in case Adre'anna was hiding there. When this proved negative, help was sought from Pierce County Sheriff's Department search and rescue team. No Amber Alert was issued as there was no confirmation that Adre'anna had been abducted. 

A description of Adre’anna was circulated. The 10 year old was native American, had a light  complexion and brown hair with reddish highlights (she is sometimes described as being strawberry blonde). She stood at 4ft7 or 140cm, weighing 78 lbs, 35kg. Adre'anna was last seen wearing blue jeans and white tennis shoes. It was thought she could have been wearing a blue shirt and black puffer type jacket. She carried with her a black and pink backpack.

It was quickly established that Adre'anna never made it to the school building that morning. Members of staff were at the school and none of them saw Adre'anna on site. Adre'anna often played out in the streets on her own and was confident walking around the neighbourhood. Yvette suggested that there was a possibility Adre'anna went to visit a friend in Woodbrook, a community located on the other side of Interstate 5.This was only a half hour walk from Adre’anna’s home. The friend, however, had not seen Adre'anna.

There were some in the community who blamed Yvette for not knowing the school had been closed and not realising her daughter was missing earlier. Friends attempted to reassure her that it was not her fault. In a 2018 interview Yvette explained that her daughter was becoming more independent and wanted greater freedom. This was the reason why she allowed Adre'anna to go alone that morning. A decision many parents make every day as their children get older, without any negative consequences.

The neighbourhood of Tillicum is described in contemporary reports as being a close knit and working class area. Adre'anna was known to many as a bright and likeable child so there were plenty of people ready to volunteer to help find her. The community did have its fair share of problems, including a high crime rate. Drug dealers worked the local streets and there were a large number of registered sex offenders living in the vicinity. This fact added a greater degree of urgency to the search, as did the overnight weather forecast. Temperatures were predicted to  dip as low as -1 Celsius overnight, around 30F. That evening 120 people, including family members, knocked on doors handing out fliers and scoured local parks but as the night went on no trace of Adre'anna could be found.

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Adre'anna Anita Jackson was born on September 25th 1995 at Tacoma General Hospital in Washington State. Despite arriving a week early she came out weighing a sizeable 11 lbs, nearly 5kg! Her mother Yvette Gervais, 48 at the time Adre'anna went missing, was a Penobscot Indigenous person from Maine and was brought up in a military family. When Adre'anna was born Yvette was already a mother of three. Her two eldest children were by now adults and lived in Oregon. Her third child, who was only two years older than Adre'anna, lived in Colorado with her father. 

 Adre'anna’s father Jon Federici, 52 when she went missing, was formerly a private in the U.S army. Jon had chosen Adre'anna’s unique name. Spelt A-D-R-E apostrophe A-N-N-A. The surname Jackson was decided upon by Yvette as it was her maiden name. The family moved into a single storey apartment on  Wadsworth Street Southwest in Tallicum when Adre'anna was still a baby. The family was not well-off. Jon earned a wage doing odd jobs here and there. Yvette was riddled with arthritis and received disability support. Adre'anna was inspired by her mother’s character and wrote a piece of work at school about how she was her hero in life.

Adre'anna is described as having a fiery personality and as fiercely independent. She was well known in the community and other children enjoyed playing with her. She played out in the streets and would often be seen cycling on the free bike she received from the “Bicycles from Heaven” community project. Adre'anna attended a couple of local baptist churches and would go along to Sunday school and other fun activities. Along with other children she spent time at a local boathouse helping the youth pastor repair and care for the boats. Adults from the church who worked with Adre'anna said she was generally a happy child but when she was sad she could be really sad. 

Adrianna loved to read, spending hours at her local library. She was very creative and enjoyed story writing and art. Since she was a little girl Adre'anna had owned and looked after guinea pigs. Not long before she vanished, Adre'anna had taken her white guinea pig “Misty” into school to give a talk to younger pupils about the responsibilities of caring for a pet. She also loved helping her mum with the garden and brightened up their flower bed with decorative shells.

During the summers Adre'anna would attend a free summer camp put on by the Lakewood parks and recreation department. Every day she would be one of the first to arrive and last to leave. Counselors at the camp needed to express patience with Arde’anna depending on her moods. Life was sometimes tough for Adre'anna. 

On September 11th 2002 the police were called to the family apartment following reports of a girl's scream from neighbours. Officers arrived to find 6 year old Adre'anna with a bruise on her face. The News Tribune reported on May 21st 2006 that court documents say that Adre'anna told them that her father punched her in the stomach and arm. He had also hit and scratched her face. Adre'anna was taken to hospital and Jon was charged with third-degree assault of a child. 

In October 2002 Jon was sent to jail after pleading guilty to the lesser charge of fourth degree domestic violence assault. This was settled on as prosecutors believed it would be difficult to prove the more serious charge, it seems that Adre'anna was against the prosecution. Jail time was replaced by a suspected sentence. Jon was ordered to undergo counselling for alcohol and anger management. After breaking his parole conditions he briefly returned to jail in 2004.

It seems Jon tried to make amends for his behaviour. There are stories of Adre'anna and Jon bonding over games of baseball and soccer in the neighbourhood. The pair also attended father daughter dances put on by the Lakewood parks and recreation department at Clover Park High School. It appears the small family were able to move on with life and there are no reports of any other violent incidents at the home.

The morning after Adre'anna went missing, the search of the neighbourhood and surrounding area continued. Police took dogs around the north perimeter of the 7500 block of 146th St Southwest in the neighbouring area of Woodbrook which lies to the east of Interstate 5.  Detectives questioned two residents in a nearby apartment who were said to be acting strangely. This lead went nowhere and the individuals were not believed to be connected with Adre’anna's disappearance. 

At midday on Saturday December 3rd, just a little over 24 hours since Adre'anna was last seen, the search was stopped. No witnesses were found who remembered seeing Adre'anna on her way to school. or at any point during Friday. Police had spent over $50,000 in overtime in a day and felt they had exhausted all possibilities within the residential locale. Attention was then switched to nearby American Lake. 

With an area of almost 5 square KM and a maximum depth of 27m this is the largest lake in Pierce County. It was also just a stone's throw from Adre'anna’s family apartment. It was a place the little girl knew well and her family visited frequently. Over the next three days police divers searched the lake but found no sign of Adre'anna. Harry Todd Park, which lay on the shore of the lake and within a few minutes walk of Adre'anna’s home was thoroughly gone over with  bloodhounds and Alsatian tracker dogs but they found nothing.

Investigators did seize a boat and a large rubbish dumpster from American Lake North County Park. This location was on the other side of American Lake and not within walking distance of Adre'anna’s home. A local resident phoned the tip in as the boat had been moored to a dock for a few days and looked out of place. The boat was 4m in length, and was painted white and blue with a purple top. The boat had no name, numbers or identifiable features. No one locally recognised the boat or knew who it belonged to. As far as I can tell, the owner of the boat was never traced and it is unclear whether it had anything to do with Adre'anna’s disappearance. The wheeled rubbish dumpster was found close to the boat and again it is unclear if this item was significant in the case.

On December fourth search teams returned to the neighbourhood of Woodbrook following several tips. This is just 2 miles or a little over 3 km from Adre'anna’s home. One piece of information came in when two girls aged between 11 and 13 who were friends with Adre'anna  said they believed they had seen her on the grounds of Woodbrook Middle School on the evening she disappeared. The grounds of the school and fields to the south were searched but nothing was discovered. A disused culvert in the vicinity, along with some unfinished building foundations in the area known locally as “the tunnels'' were also explored, as well as a wooded area at Clover Park vocational school. Ultimately the alleged sighting by the two girls was never confirmed, as the clothing they described did not match the clothes Adre’anna was said to have been wearing when she left the house that morning. As we will see, future developments potentially give this incident more credence.

Focus was placed on tracking down 51 registered sex offenders who lived in the area. They all had to be spoken with and provide their whereabouts for Friday. Eventually they all were traced and their alibis were checked out and verified. Investigators could not find a suspect from this group but police were convinced that Adre'anna had not simply run away. In The News Tribune on December 14th 2005 Sgt Chris Lawler of the Lakewood PD said he doubted that Adre'anna had disappeared on her own and they were looking at everyone. This included Adre'anna’s parents.

Yvette Gervais told The News Tribune on December 23rd that she was upset with the police as they were spending too much time looking into her and Jon. The paper went on to report that Yvette was frustrated that both herself and her husband remained suspects. Both parents were talked to extensively over the first month of the investigation and completed separate polygraph examinations. As reported in the News Tribune on May 21st 2006, Yvette was said to have passed her test, whereas Jon’s was inconclusive. 

A CBS News article from December 16 2005 states that Jon was asked by a reporter about whether he felt he was being unfairly looked at by investigators. He responded that the police look at all family members in cases like this and he was not going to worry about it. He said his concern was finding his daughter. Just to note, Lakewood police themselves did not mention either parent as a person of interest, let alone a suspect. 

As is standard practice in a missing child case, investigators did search the family apartment the morning following Adre'anna disappearance. Police obtained a warrant in order to take away some items,  notably clothing and diaries, into evidence. Due to the scrutiny he was under, Jon generally stayed away from the media in the first weeks of the investigation and he has continued with this approach.  He seldom speaks publicly about his daughter. 

Early on the police seemed to be working on the assumption that someone known to Adre'anna may know what had happened to her. Local TV reported on the 22nd December that a friend of Adre'anna’s parents had their house searched, with clothing and other articles taken into evidence. These, along with items taken from the family home, were sent to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab. The man whose house had been searched told TV reporters that the police had accused him of molesting Adre'anna. He vehemently denied this had happened. No charges were ever filed against the unknown man.

The case was beginning to get nationwide coverage when the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the TV show “America’s Most Wanted'' featured Adre'anna’s story. A picture of Adre'anna appeared at the end of an episode of the TV drama “Without a Trace'' asking for the public's help in finding her. By the new year Lakewood police had received hundreds of tips and conducted dozens of interviews, with the case notes consisting of five full A4 notebooks.

However, police had little to show for all this, as they still had no suspects or any indication of what had happened to Adre'anna. Yvette continued to make appeals through the media for people to come forward with information and she spent hours handing out fliers at local fuel stations and community halls. By now though, most people, even Yvette, were resigned to the fact that Adre'anna had likely come to harm. 

On the afternoon of Tuesday April 4th 2006, four months after Adre'anna was last seen, two 9 year old boys were playing on an undeveloped lot in the neighbourhood of Woodbrook. Woodbrook lies on the other side of Highway 5 to Tillicum and is just a half hour’s walk from Adre'anna’s home. 

The two boys, named Manny and Dominique, were hunting for snakes in the overgrown bushland situated at 7500 block at 146th Street Southwest and 76th Avenue Southwest. From my research I believe that the lot comprised three adjoining parcels of land all owned by one person. They had bought it in 2001 for $150,000 as an investment. Many locals detested the practice of rich landlords buying up vacant plots and leaving them unattended as it led to all manner of anti-social problems. The area was known to be more than a little sketchy, with 65 crimes being reported close by in the first two months of 2006. Ten registered sex offenders were living within a ½ mile, just under 1km, radius of the small patch of land.

The News Tribune stated on May 21st 2006 that the specific part of land the boys were exploring was 14705 Spring St Southwest. While walking along a small track used regularly by children as a shortcut to school, the boys ventured to explore a patch of blackberry bushes. It was here they came across a human skull and spine.

The boys immediately went for help. They stopped a passing postal worker  but he would not assist the boys. Undeterred, Manny and Dominique searched two nearby apartment blocks before eventually finding an apartment manager who listened incredulously to their story. The apartment manager followed them back to the lot and saw the remains with his own eyes. The boys had been telling the truth. 

The police arrived at the scene quickly and immediately considered the possibility that the remains belonged to Adre'anna Jackson. The skull retained many teeth and within a day dental records were able to prove without doubt that it was the missing 10 year old. Yvette was informed over the phone, as she was currently staying in Colorado looking after her sick mother. She had been there since early March. 

Adre’anna’s father Jon was still in Tillicum and was notified in person. The police went to the family home and picked him up. Lakewood Police Lieutenant Bret Farrar made it clear in the press that Jon had not been arrested. They were attempting to keep him away from the media onslaught they predicted would come his way. A neighbour of the family named David Jacobson, who had been a friend of Jon’s for 4 years, told the News Tribune that Jon had been on pins and needles since hearing of the discovery of the remains. He added he thought this news would kill Jon as he loved his daughter so much.

Lakewood Police gave the grim news to the public a day or so later and vowed that justice would now be sought. A memorial shrine was set up near where the remains were found consisting of a wooden cross, with a feather and bell attached. A teddy bear with golden wings sat at its base bearing the message “God Bless you Adre'anna. 

Dominique and Manny, the two boys who found the remains, were praised for having turned the case around. They were hailed as heroes and awarded a Citizens commendation award from the Lakewood police and a certificate from the FBI. They even received their own FBI caps and police badges. 

Adri’anna’s remains had been found when local schools were on their spring break. When her classmates returned to school on Monday April 10th, special help was arranged for them. Grief counsellors were on hand to provide support for any child that wanted it. Although Adre'anna had been missing for months, the confirmation that she was dead affected the school community immensely. It turned the sickening worry they had all been feeling into heartache and grief. Adre'anna had attended Tillicum Elementary since kindergarten and was well known and liked by all. Principal Jim Pfeiffer spoke of Adre'anna’s special smile and cheerful attitude. He said she would be forever missed by staff and children alike.

The remains were obviously at an advanced stage of decomposition. A pathology examination by Pierce County Medical Examiner Dr John Howard could not determine the manner and cause of death. Help was sought from a forensic pathologist but further tests failed to shed any light on the matter. Despite lacking this key piece of information the Lakewood police at the time and in the years since have treated the case as a homicide. Dr John Howard admitted that the inability to determine the manner and cause of Adre'anna’s death could be a barrier to any successful prosecution.

The Lakewood police set about trying to obtain as much evidence as possible from the scene where the remains were found. They received assistance from the FBI green river homicide task force as well as Washington State patrol. Over one hundred officers combed over the entire 2 acre vacant plot. While there was no formal structure on the land it was common for homeless people to camp there. Evidence of one such camp was found just 1.5m from the remains. The remnants of a meth lab were also unearthed on the site.  It was thought that the remains had been disturbed over the last week or so as construction workers had begun doing some groundwork at the site. This work had unearthed the remains and made them more visible to passersby.

More bones were found but it was unclear whether they were human or animal. Other than the skull and spine I have not read confirmation of what other remains were discovered on the lot. The forensic team spent a week on the site and took away 200 pieces of evidence. Results from any tests administered on the evidence taken from the lot have never been divulged.

The vacant lot had received a cursory search shortly after Adre'anna went missing and cadaver dogs had been taken there. If you remember this was the area where less than 24 hours after Adre'anna was reported missing, two residents were questioned after acting strangely. This prompted some criticism by locals, who asked why it had taken so long for Adre'anna’s remains to be discovered. Lakewood Police argued that when the area was searched the scent dogs did not indicate the location needed further inspection. There had been no reason at the time to look more thoroughly. The Lakewood Chief of police, Larry Sanders, admitted to the press that he wished they had thoroughly searched the land back in early December. 

The vacant lot was only a couple of blocks away from Woodbrook Middle school where two friends of Adre'anna said they had seen her on the day she vanished. Had their story been disregarded too hastily by the initial investigators?  

The News Tribune instigated their own inquiry into police efforts during the initial search for  Adre'anna. They concluded that while some questions remained, Lakewood police had followed best practice protocols and had adhered to NCMEC guidelines. The fact the cadaver dogs didn't indicate the area at the time suggested the possibility that Adre'anna’s body had not been there initially. It may have been placed there after the commotion surrounding the initial search had died down.

Within a week of the remains being found Lakewood police put out a statement saying they were looking for a potential witness. The man was known to frequent the lot but had disappeared shortly after Adre’anna’s remains had been found. An APB was put out for 44 year old Spencer Douglas Grant. He was described as 5ft 10 or 178cm, 165 lbs or 74kg, with black hair and brown eyes. While Grant did have a criminal record, police were keen to stress that this man was not a suspect. He had a rock-solid alibi. He had been in Pierce County jail at the time Adre'anna went missing serving an almost 12 month sentence for criminal trespass.

Grant’s girlfriend, Julie W, informed police that he had found the remains around a month earlier on March 10th/11th. He had told her about the discovery and according to Julie he suspected that it might be Adre'anna. Julie said neither of them went to the police because they had not had time. On March 13th Grant had ended up in jail for an unrelated offence and Julie was in hospital giving birth. She had not seen Grant since April 1st. 

After various sightings of Grant around the Tacoma area he was picked up by police following a tip off from a member of the public. Grant told investigating officers that he would go to the lot to smoke meth. He could not believe the remains had not been found earlier as they were in plain sight next to a well worn trail. He claimed he originally thought the remains belonged to a dog and only saw the skull and spine after using a stick to lift some foliage. Contrary to what his girlfriend Julie had earlier said he insisted he did not think it was Adre'anna and believed it was the body of an older man. He came to this conclusion because several of the teeth were capped. 

According to Grant approximately 15-20 people came across the remains but none had informed police. He gave the names of twelve people who regularly spent time at the lot. Grant also told the News Tribune that he had taken police to bloody children's clothing that he had found in another spot on the piece of land. Police countered this and said Grant had directed them to children's clothes but they had not been blood stained. They also confirmed other clothes had been found much closer to the remains. Cryptically, Grant said he thought he knew who had killed Adre'anna but that he couldn’t go public with this knowledge. 

Years later in 2010 Grant changed his story saying he had seen people dump the body. He claimed he did not recognise the people and did not come forward earlier because he feared he would be blamed. When pushed by police Grant was vague on specifics and ultimately never provided investigators with a lead.

A memorial for Adre'anna was held at Tillicum Elementary School at 4pm on Friday April 14th. The service was led by the local baptist minister with over 400 people in attendance to hear friends and family share memories of the fun loving and curious young girl. A table was set up in the hall with some items that belonged to Adre'anna. They included teddy bears, a barbie doll, a pogo stick and an empty diary. Thirty of Adre'anna classmates sang a moving rendition of  “Jesus Loves Me”. Towards the end of the service people were encouraged to share jokes, as it was one of Adre'anna’s favourite things to do; she loved to laugh. Adre’anna was buried at Mountain View Memorial Park in a private funeral at the beginning of May.

Around a month into the investigation Lakewood police announced they were looking at six people in connection with Adre'anna’s death. One man who was an acquaintance of the family was currently in Pierce county jail. He had been arrested over unrelated outstanding domestic violence offences and for failing to register as a sex offender. This man had been spoken to early in the investigation. I'm only speculating here but it may well have been the man whose house was raided and who told the media that police had accused him of molesting Adre'anna.  These leads did not materialise into arrests and the investigation was scrabbling for a clear direction. By the end of 2006 over a quarter of a million dollars had been spent on the investigation, but there were still no suspects and the cause of death remained a mystery. 

In the spring of 2007 a billboard campaign was launched, funded by the Tacoma-Pierce county crime stoppers, the Lakewood police and the Clear Channel Outdoor Company. Giant posters were displayed along the busy Union Avenue in Tacoma urging people to come forward with information. It was hoped a reward fund that had been established very early on in the investigation which now stood at $60,000 might be the incentive needed to break the case.  This bore no fruit, and it was the tragic murder of another young girl that brought a potential suspect to the attention of the police.

At 10 o'clock on the evening of Thursday July 4th 2007, 12 year old Zina Linnink was asked by her father, Mikhail, to go out and look for her younger siblings. They had gone to watch the holiday fireworks  but it was now getting late and it was time for them to come in for the night. Moments later, from the alleyway behind their house in Hilltop Tacoma, Mikhail heard a scream. He rushed out to see a grey van driving off down the road and his daughter nowhere to be seen. All that remained was one of her flip flop sandals, left abandoned in the street. 

Mikhail was able to remember a partial number plate and immediately phoned the police. A few  days later investigators were able to trace the van to 42 year old Thai immigrant Terapon Adhahn. Terapon was promptly arrested on a count of an immigration violation and brought in for questioning. Adhahn was a convicted sex offender and at first refused to cooperate with police. After four days of questioning he finally told police where to find Zina. Police raced to the location in the hope Zina may still be alive but instead discovered her body in woodland near Eatonville in southern Pierce county. Zina had died from blunt force trauma to the head. She had likely been killed elsewhere and her body transported to that location.

Immediately Adhahn became a potential suspect in other unsolved missing children cases in the South Sound region. Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell specifically mentioned Adre'anna Jackson's name as one of the cases they would be quizzing him about. 

After liaising with their Tacoma counterparts, it wasn’t long before Lakewood police officially said Adhahn was a person of interest in Adre'anna’s death. Their inquiries led them to believe Adhahn was working in Lakewood for the McChord Towing company in December 2005 when she disappeared. Records showed the snowy weather had meant that the company did not operate that day so Adhahn’s time could not be accounted for during the time Adre'anna went missing.

Terapon Adhahn, known by work colleagues as “T” had been in the US since 1977 when his mother had married a US Soldier. The family had moved around the country a lot before Adhahn joined the army as a young man in 1983. He then married in 1986 and had two children. After leaving the military he got work as a handyman and worked as a tow truck driver. In 1990 Adhahn separated from his wife and that year he was convicted of the rape of his 16 year old half sister. He served just 60 days in prison before being released. He was then required to undergo treatment as a level 1 sex offender. Level 1 is deemed a low risk offender. 

Two years later in 1992 Adhan again came to the attention of the police when he was convicted of intimidation with a dangerous weapon. At this time he could have been deported, as this was his second conviction, but his previous sentence for rape went unnoticed by prosecutors and he  was allowed to remain in the country. 

As part of his sex offender treatment Adhahan participated in counselling for several years. He claimed that as a small child he had himself been abused by an older brother. He had also had an abusive alcoholic father. According to the edition of the Columbia Newspaper on July 14th 2007 psychologists claimed that during his counselling sessions it was clear that Adhan took no responsibility for his behaviour.  By 1997 it was believed Adhahn had made some progress. He was now in a relationship with another woman and the couple had a child together. On the surface things looked fine, but this was a facade, as Adahan continued to prey on young girls.

In April 2008 Adhahn pleaded guilty to the murder of Zina Linnick and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. The death penalty had been taken off the table in the first few days of the investigation after county prosecutor Gerry Horne bargained with Adhahn to give up the location of Zina. Horne did this with the outside chance that Zina was still alive. He later said he had no regrets over making this decision. Adhahn later denied he had given up the body to save his life. He claimed he had done it because it was the right thing to do for the family of Zina. Adhahn told the FBI in 2008 that he wanted to die for his crimes and had told this to investigators when he was arrested. His lawyer says he remembers no such utterances from his client.

Adhan also pleaded guilty to fifteen other charges including the rapes of two girls aged 11 and 12. One girl he assaulted in 2000 and the second he assaulted repeatedly over a four year period. His conviction ushered in new laws regarding the monitoring of sex offenders. After raping his half sister in 1990, 43.05 Adhahn’s DNA was not taken and added to law enforcement databases. If this had happened he may have been caught sooner. Following the law change, DNA samples can now be taken from a wider array of offenders within Washington State and the names of registered sex offenders are displayed on a public website. 

Police searched a rental property that Adhahn had lived in looking for evidence in relation to Adre'anna’s case. The residence on East 88th Street in Tacoma was searched in July 2007. Carpet fibres were taken and sent to the FBI for analyses. The results from these tests have never been released. Adhahn has never been charged in relation to Adre'anna’s death so one can presume no forensic link was found. Though as we shall see, that does not mean Adhahn can be ruled out. More of that in a moment. First there is another person who came up in relation with Adre'annas case in the autumn of 2007.

In an article in the Signal on October 25th 2007 a prominent attorney from Santa Clarita California, Anthony Zinnanti, mentioned the name of a self confessed paedophile in reference to Adre'anna’s death. The article names the person but I will refer to him by the initial M. 

M ran a blog on a website where he was very open about his sexual attraction towards young girls. He claimed never to have engaged in illegal activity. While he did photograph children and display them on the website they were of children he passed in the street. They were fully clothed and in a public place so under the first amendment he was not breaking any laws. Anthony Zinnanti pursued M and attempted to close down his website and put in place restraining orders to keep him away from children. From what I have read the website was taken down. The restraining orders were sometimes granted but often not for very long as technically prosecutors could never prove M had broken the law.

At one point Zinnanti and a client who was also working against M had to cease their own investigation into M due to threats their families and children were receiving. Zinannti accused M and his associates of stalking his daughter.  

In the aforementioned article Zinnanti says that M shared references to the death of Adre'anna on his website and the attorney would very much like to ask him what he knows about her death.  M lived in Washington State at the time of Adre’anna’s disappearance but left for California in the spring of 2007. 

I cannot find many references to M after 2007 and police have never mentioned him as a suspect. For this reason I decided not to share his name, as I'm not sure how much credence to give this theory.

Lieutenant Christ Lawler is a Lakewood police spokesperson. Back in 2006 he was a Sergeant who worked on the case from the very beginning. He laments the fact that they never had any good leads in the case. He mentions a person from California who repeatedly put forward the name of a sex offender living in the Lakewood area as a suspect. The tip was thoroughly investigated but to no avail. (This may be a reference to M but I cannot be sure). Another name was given to police of a man who lived in a trailer park near to where Adre'anna’s remains were found. Unfortunately by the time the Lakwood police received this information the man had died just a month before. His trailer had been destroyed for scrap so there was no way of checking for any forensic evidence. 

Lieutenant Lawler does not believe the case will be solved by a forensic breakthrough. He believes the most likely way for the case to be resolved will be via a confession. Lawler’s theory is that Adre'anna was likely abducted by a stranger, who held her captive for a time before killing her and transporting the body to the vacant lot. 

Stranger abduction and murder are incredibly rare events. The fact that a person from within the locality has been convicted of such an offence certainly means they need to be considered. For this reason Lawler thinks Adhahn remains a suspect.

Adhahn has always denied involvement and over the years has refused to speak to Lieutenant Lawler or his colleagues from Lakewood police. He did however grant an interview to the FBI in September 2008. Adhahn specifically said he would only do the interview if they did not ask him about other cases.  Nevertheless the topic did come up in the course of the conversation. Adhahn stated he had nothing to do with Adre'anna’s death. Lawler says maybe he is telling the truth, but maybe he isn’t.

In a 2018 article in the News Tribune Yvette tells of an unnerving event that happened to her shortly after her daughter disappeared. She was walking down a street near to her home when a man driving a van pulled up slowly next to her. He turned and stared directly at her with a crazed look on his face. As she has reflected on the incident she has wondered if it was the man who took Adre'anna. Whether he had returned to gloat at the scene of the crime. She says from memory the man had similar features to Adhahn but she could never be sure enough to positively identify him.

Lakewood police chief Mike Zaro said in 2018 that they continue to take every tip seriously. The $60,000 Reward is still in existence. $10,000 of it, which is provided by Crimestoppers and individual donations, can be paid out following an arrest and charges being made. The remaining $50,000 provided by the FBI will be paid out on condition of a conviction. 

If you have any information about the death of Adre'anna Jackson you can call Crimestoppers Tacoma/ Pierce County on 253 591 5959.

Sources Adre’anna Jackson