Case overview
Tera Lynn Smith was 16 years old when she disappeared from Redding, California, on August 22, 1998. She was a student at Central Valley High School and worked at the Oasis Fun Center, a business owned by her family in nearby Shasta Lake.
Tera was last seen by her family leaving their home on Tarcy Way in running clothes. She was expected at the Oasis Fun Center later that evening but never arrived. What initially looked like a teenager who had failed to come home quickly became more concerning when her family learned that she had met with an older acquaintance shortly before she vanished.
That man told investigators he had driven Tera to an intersection and left her there alive. Authorities were never able to establish what happened to her afterward.
What happened on August 22
Tera spent part of that Saturday running errands with her mother, Marilyn Smith. Marilyn later dropped her off at the family home before going to work. Tera was grounded at the time and did not have permission to leave.
Her younger sister was home when Tera changed into running clothes and headed outside. Tera said she was going jogging and would return before their parents got home.
She was also scheduled to work at the family’s business that evening. When she failed to arrive, her family began trying to determine where she had gone. Tera’s disappearance was reported to authorities that night.
The investigation soon established that her jog was not the only relevant event during that window. Tera’s former martial arts instructor, Troy Zink, told authorities that she had contacted him and that the two met that evening.
The account investigators were given
Zink was 29 at the time of Tera’s disappearance. According to the account he gave investigators, Tera called him while he was at work and asked him to meet her near her home.
Zink said Tera asked him for $2,000 after he picked her up. He claimed that when he would not provide the money without knowing what she needed it for, she became angry and asked for a ride. He said he eventually dropped her near Old Oregon Trail and Old Alturas Road.
That account created a crucial gap in the timeline. If Zink’s statement was accurate, Tera was alive when she left his vehicle. Investigators, however, had no independently confirmed account of where she went next.
Zink also told authorities that he went to the area of Hang Glider Hill near Shasta Dam afterward to pray before returning home later that night.
Tera never appeared for work and never contacted her family.
Why investigators focused on Zink
The circumstances surrounding Zink attracted immediate attention. He acknowledged being with Tera during the period in which she disappeared, and investigators learned that he had a prior rape conviction.
Tera’s family also discovered material in her belongings after she vanished that changed their understanding of her connection to him. Her parents said letters and journal entries led them to believe Tera and Zink had been involved in an inappropriate relationship. Her father came to believe that Tera intended to end that relationship when she met Zink on August 22.
Zink denied having a sexual relationship with Tera and denied responsibility for her disappearance.
Despite the scrutiny surrounding him, authorities did not charge Zink in Tera’s case. Local reporting later noted that law enforcement had described him as someone investigators were interested in rather than formally naming him a suspect.
What the investigation could prove
The distinction between what investigators suspected and what they could establish became central to the case.
Authorities knew Tera had left home that evening. They knew she had not arrived for work. They also had Zink’s acknowledgment that he had met her and transported her in his vehicle.
What they did not have was evidence establishing what happened after the point at which Zink said he let her out.
No remains were recovered. No publicly confirmed crime scene was identified. There was no known forensic evidence establishing that Tera had been killed or connecting another person to her disappearance.
That left investigators with a troubling sequence of events but no criminal case they could take to court.
The search and the leads
The disappearance triggered searches around Redding and the surrounding area. Sheriff’s deputies, Redding police and FBI agents participated in the investigation, while bloodhounds were used in an effort to trace Tera’s movements. Her school community also became involved, with teachers and students seeking information about where she might have gone.
The investigation generated a large volume of tips. Ten years after Tera vanished, a Shasta County Sheriff’s Office sergeant told the Redding Record Searchlight that authorities had investigated hundreds of them.
Some appeared promising enough to warrant searches. In 2008, investigators examined an area near Shingletown after information surfaced about what appeared to have been a grave discovered by construction workers. The site did not contain Tera. Investigators found a buried canvas tent and trash.
Other tips similarly failed to establish where she was.
The problem with the timeline
The unresolved portion of Tera’s case is relatively small in terms of time, but enormous in terms of evidence.
Her family could account for her activities earlier on August 22. Zink provided investigators with an account of meeting her later that day. Tera was then expected at work, where she never appeared.
If she was dropped off where Zink said she was, investigators have never publicly established what happened between that moment and her disappearance. There is no confirmed sighting that resolves the gap.
If his account was inaccurate, investigators have never disclosed sufficient evidence to prove a different sequence of events.
That uncertainty has remained largely unchanged since 1998.
The status of the case
Tera is still officially classified as a missing person. The California Department of Justice lists August 22, 1998, as the date she was last seen and identifies the Shasta County Sheriff’s Department as the agency handling her case.
The state’s missing-person record describes Tera as 5 feet 7 inches tall and approximately 120 pounds at the time she disappeared. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and was wearing a white sports bra, multicolored running shorts and white-and-navy Nike running shoes.
Dental X-rays are available for identification purposes. An age-progressed image produced by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has also been released to show how Tera might have appeared as she grew older.
A reward has been offered for information leading to her location, and her case has continued to receive attention in Northern California and nationally.
What remains unknown
There has never been a publicly confirmed explanation for why Tera disappeared.
Her family’s position has hardened over the years. Terry and Marilyn Smith have said they believe their daughter is dead, and Terry has publicly expressed his belief about who was responsible. Their suspicions have never resulted in criminal charges.
Zink has denied involvement. No court has determined that he caused Tera’s disappearance, and the available public evidence does not establish that conclusion.
Even Tera’s death has not been legally established through the recovery of her remains. That is why official records continue to describe her as missing rather than as a homicide victim.
The unanswered questions are the same ones investigators have faced for decades. Did Tera reach the location where Zink said he left her? Did anyone see her afterward? If she was killed, where are her remains? And is there evidence still waiting to be found that could establish what happened during the missing portion of the timeline?
Until one of those questions produces new evidence, the case remains open.
Where to look next
- Official record: California Department of Justice Missing Persons database, Tera Lynn Smith
- Local reporting: Redding Record Searchlight, “10 Years Without Tera”
- Television: NBC Dateline, coverage of the disappearance of Tera Smith
- Missing-person resources: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
- Case information: Shasta County Sheriff’s Department
