The circumstances surrounding Zebb Quinn’s disappearance couldn’t be more bizarre — or more maddening for his family. The full-time A-B Tech student (and Wal-Mart employee) has been missing for more than a month, and apparently, there are no fresh leads. His family is pleading with the community to come forward with anything that might help them locate him.
“This isn’t a runaway kid. He was not an outgoing person; he was a homebody,” said his grandmother, Sylvia Clymer. “I spoke with him that Sunday, and he seemed content. There wasn’t any conflict at home, and he talked about school and work and a girl he was interested in.”
Zebb, who has an organizational-learning disability, vanished on Sunday, Jan. 2 from Hendersonville Highway. He told a friend that he had to find a phone booth to answer a page — and then never returned. Except for a strange phone call to Wal-Mart two days later (someone called in to say that Zebb couldn’t come to work), no one has seen or heard from him since.
More eerie is the fact that, two weeks later, his light-blue, 1990 Mazda Protege was found parked at the Little Pigs Bar-B-Que on McDowell Street. Inside the car was a three-month-old black Lab puppy, and on the back window, someone had drawn a set of lips and two exclamation points. Zebb didn’t own the puppy; he already had two dogs at home, and no one has been able to decipher the meaning of the pictured lips.
Maybe the most suspicious thing about the location of the car was its close proximity to Mission St. Joseph’s — where Zebb’s grandmother, mother and sister all work as neo-natal nurses. “Somebody had to know that,” said Clymer.
Anyone with information is asked to call (800) 442-CRIME, or the Asheville Police Department at 252-1110.
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