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1997 Zaccaqlini,Hannah M. 6-4-1997; McCloud
Topic Started: Feb 26 2007, 12:19 AM (833 Views)
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http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/z/zaccaglini_hannah.html

Hannah Marie Zaccaglini



Top Row and Bottom Left: Zaccaglini, circa 1997;
Bottom Right: Age-progression at age 20 (circa 2001)


Vital Statistics at Time of Disappearance

Missing Since: June 4, 1997 from McCloud, California
Classification: Endangered Missing
Date Of Birth: October 11, 1981
Age: 15 years old
Height and Weight: 5'5, 120 pounds
Distinguishing Characteristics: Caucasian female. Natural brown hair, brown eyes. Zaccaglini's hair was dyed black at the time of her 1997 disappearance. She has a birthmark behind her right ear near her hairline and a chicken pox scar near her right eye. Her upper left front tooth was chipped at the time of her disappearance. Zaccaglini's ears are pierced.
Clothing/Jewelry Description: Green and white-checkered shirt with daisy-shaped buttons, blue jeans and black canvas Vans deck shoes with the letter "V" imprinted in white on the side of each shoe, and possibly a gray sweatshirt.


Details of Disappearance

Zaccaglini was last seen leaving a friend's home in McCloud, California at approximately 10:00 p.m. on June 4, 1997. She was walking to her family's residence on Minnesota Avenue near Shasta Avenue, which is approximately one block from her friend's house. Zaccaglini never arrived and has not been seen again.
Zaccaglini was initially believed to have run away. Her parents recently divorced at the time she vanished and she had just broken up with her boyfriend; she was upset because he and his family were moving away. Authorities suspected that other factors were involved in her case as the investigation progressed. Zaccaglini had not argued with her family and she had left the majority of her personal belongings at her residence, including her clothing, purse, money, hairbrush, overnight bag, and bass guitar. Zaccaglini was a cheerleader and an aspiring model at the time she vanished. Her family maintains that she would never leave her home voluntarily, as such actions were uncharacteristic of her.

Authorities learned that Ed Henline Sr. and his wife, Deborah, may have been the last people to see Zaccaglini before she vanished. The Henlines owned a home on East Minnesota Avenue in McCloud, which was near Zaccaglini's last known location. Another young woman, Karen Knechtel Mero, also vanished from that locale in February 1997, four months prior to Zaccaglini's disappearance. Mero once lived in the Henlines' residence and they were reportedly the last people to see her as well. The Henlines were questioned in both cases and their home was searched by law enforcement, but the couple has never been connected to either disappearance. Authorities maintain that the Henlines have not been ruled out as suspects in the cases, however. They were arrested on drug charges in 1999, two years after Zaccaglini disappeared.

Another possible suspect in both Zaccaglini and Mero's cases is Wesley Howard Shermantine Jr. A photo of Shermantine is posted below this case summary. Shermantine was convicted in 2001 of four murders in California, including the presumed deaths of Chevelle Wheeler in 1985 and Cynthia Vanderheiden in 1998. It is not known if Shermantine is involved in either Zaccaglini or Mero's disappearances and the investigations are ongoing.

Foul play is suspected in Zaccaglini's case. Her disappearance remains unsolved.



Above: Shermatine, circa 2001


Investigating Agency
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office
530-841-2900
OR
Federal Bureau Of Investigation
Redding, California Office
530-223-6473
OR
Siskiyou County Secret Witness
530-842-5564



Source Information
The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children
The Polly Klaas Foundation
The Siskiyou Daily News
The Redding Record Searchlight
The Carole Sund/Carrington Memorial Foundation
Mayhem.Net
The Sacramento Bee



Updated 2 times since October 12, 2004.

Last updated April 17, 2006; details of disappearance updated.

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www.pollyklaas.org/missing/kids/hannah.htm

If you have information concerning this abduction, please contact:

The Siskiyou Co. Sheriff’s Office at 916-841-2900, or

The Polly Klaas® Foundation (800) 587-4357

Abductee information:

Type of Abduction: Endangered Missing

Date Missing: June 4, 1997

Missing from: Mc Cloud, California

Date of Birth: 10-11-81

Age at disappearance: 15 years old

Race: Caucasian

Sex: Female

Height: 5’ 5”

Weight: 120 lbs.

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Dyed black, natural color is brown, worn long & straight

Other: Chipped left front tooth, chicken pox scar near right eye, and a birthmark behind right ear in hairline. Circumstances:

Hannah was last seen leaving a friend’s house in McCloud, CA at 10:30 PM. She was walking to her home one block away at Minnesota Ave. near Shasta Ave. She was wearing a green/white checkered shirt with daisy buttons, blue jeans, black canvas deck shoes, (“Vans” brand, with white “V” on side). May also be wearing a grey sweatshirt.


Hannah's photo is show age progressed to 20 years by the NCMEC.

===========================================================
www.redding.com/newsarchi...o002.shtml

'Still a lot of hope' for vanished teen

Alex Breitler
Record Searchlight

McCLOUD — It was 10 p.m. on a school night. Hannah Zaccaglini, 15, stopped by a family friend's house just a few blocks from her own.

What happened next remains a mystery. Nearly four years later, the one thing everyone knows is Hannah never made it home that night.

Her case was one of 40 nationwide recognized by the Polly Klaas Foundation on Friday, National Missing Children's Day.

At first, it seemed Hannah might have run away. After all, there was little crime in McCloud, a tiny lumber town at the foot of Mt. Shasta. Personal problems — her parents' recent divorce and Hannah's break-up with her boyfriend — seemed to solidify the runaway theory.

As time passed, however, and detectives learned more about the aspiring model, their opinions changed.

Investigators today are "95 percent" sure foul play was involved in Hannah's disappearance on June 4, 1997, said Siskiyou County sheriff's Lt. John Villani, who has been involved in the case since its beginning.

A profile of Hannah compiled by the FBI and interviews with friends and family convinced officials there was more to the story. Plus, the McCloud High School student left behind her hairbrush, pocketbook, money and a bass guitar she treasured.

"The standard opinion was she didn't have the fortitude or aggressiveness to venture off on her own," Villani said Friday. "This would be totally unlike her."

Leads trickle in from time to time and are pursued, but the case is not active, Villani said.

Hannah was last seen at the East Minnesota Avenue home of Ed Henline Sr. and his wife Deborah, a couple in their mid-40s. A second missing McCloud woman — Karin Knechtel Mero, who vanished less than five months before Hannah — was also last seen at the Henlines' home.

The couple was questioned in both cases. Their home was searched by sheriff's detectives, FBI agents and body-hunting experts.

Villani stopped short of calling the Henlines suspects in Hannah's disappearance.

"We continue to watch them," he said.

Time has passed, but hope remains for Hannah's case, said Jenni Donnelly, hotline director for the Petaluma-based Klaas Foundation. Eighty-two percent of missing children profiled through the foundation are found, she said.

Hannah's story is featured on the foundation's Web site at www.pollyklaas.org/hannah.htm.

"It gets tougher, but there's still a lot of hope," Donnelly said Friday. "We see a lot of these kids come home after a long time.

"We don't want people to forget."

Reporter Alex Breitler can be reached at 225-8344 or at abreitler@redding.com.

Saturday, May 26, 2001




www.recordsearchlight.com...o016.shtml

Grieving families await tests on bones



Skeletal remains could be linked to one of three missing Siskiyou County women



Margo Horner

Record Searchlight



September 21, 2003 — 2:07 a.m.

MOUNT SHASTA — Armed with DNA samples, forensic experts will try to determine if bones found near Lake Siskiyou last month are from one of three missing Siskiyou County women.



Sheriff's officials here stress no specific evidence links the bones, which were recently identified as human, to the disappearance of Angela Fullmer, Karin Mero or Hannah Zaccaglini.



But that hasn't stopped the families of the missing women from hoping for an outcome in their cases.



Fullmer, 34, was last seen in December near Lake Siskiyou. Karin Mero, 28, has been missing since February 1997 from McCloud. Hannah Zaccaglini, 15, disappeared four months later from the same house in McCloud where Mero was last seen.



A Mount Shasta man walking his dog in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest discovered the bones Aug. 5 near North Shore Road, Siskiyou County sheriff's spokeswoman Susan Gravenkamp said Friday.



"At first it was even hard to tell exactly what kind of bones they were," Gravenkamp said. "They had all somehow been cut up."



Investigators, unable to determine if the bone fragments were from an animal, sent the remains Turhon Murad, a Chico State University anthropology professor. Murad recently confirmed they were human bones, Gravenkamp said.



Rebecca Mendoza said knowing the bones are those of her daughter, Angela Fullmer, would help bring an end to the ordeal her family has endured for the past nine months.



"I know her body's only a shell — the bones. Her spirit's gone, but at least you know you can have a memorial and that sort of thing," she said Friday.



Fullmer was last seen by Thomas O'Connell of Mount Shasta on Dec. 15 after the pair spent the afternoon together. He told authorities she stormed out of his truck after the pair argued over mud in his pickup.



He and Fullmer had been drinking for much of that weekend, O'Connell has told investigators, when they decided to take a drive to the Twin Pines area near Lake Siskiyou, west of Mount Shasta. After she left the truck, O'Connell told authorities he thought he heard a car door slam and the sound of an engine that soon faded away.



"We know she's gone. A mother knows," Mendoza said. "It's scary to think that. You have that little tiny thread of hope even though your head says no and your heart says no. . . . I'm scared. But I want it to be over."



Bob Knechtel of Mount Shasta hopes the bones are those of his daughter, Karin Mero.



"We just want the remains found so we know she's dead," Knechtel said. "The thing that has been upsetting is not knowing where she is."



The Knechtels last saw Mero when they brought her chicken noodle soup and cough syrup in McCloud, where she was staying with her boyfriend, Ed Henline Jr. That was Valentine's Day 1997.



Investigators didn't consider her missing until months later.



More than six years after Mero's disappearance, a cemetery plot at the Mount Shasta Memorial Park lies vacant while Knechtel waits for the remains of his daughter.



"We want them to find the remains so we can take care of her," he said. "So we can have some closure."



The Henline house was also where Zaccaglini, then 15, was last seen, sheriff's officials have said. The teen vanished June 4, 1997, after walking with family friend Ed Henline Sr., near his house, detectives said. Zaccaglini was walking home from her former boyfriend's apartment, authorities have said.



Zaccaglini's mother, Jennifer, could not be reached Friday.



Meanwhile, Gravenkamp said it would be several weeks before results from the DNA tests are available.



Investigators have not ruled out the possibility of the bones being from an unreported death or an unauthorized disposal of skeletal remains.



"Some people may not be aware of the laws regarding the disposal of human remains," she said. "It's not unheard of that people try to do that."



Up to $7,500 each is being offered for information about the disappearances of Zaccaglini, Mero or Fullmer.



Anyone with information is asked to call the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department at 841-2900 or Siskiyou County Secret Witness at 842-5564.



Sunday, September 21, 2003




(IMG:http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-4/154448/yellowvwDen.gif)




http://www.mtshastanews.com/articles/2007/.../01tenyears.txt

10 years later: disappearances remain unsolved

By Gene Eagle
Published: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 2:03 PM CDT

Alice and Bob Knectel hold a photograph of their daughter, Karin, one of two McCloud women who disappeared 10 years ago.
Last month marked the 10 year anniversary in the tragic disappearance of two McCloud women.

Karin Knechtel-Mero, 27, disappeared February 15, 1997, and four months later, 15 year old McCloud High School student Hannah Zaccaglini went missing.

Their disappearances remain baffling and troubling for law enforcement officials, families, and a small community at large.

Many people still wonder how two people could vanish without significant clues, especially in this small town where almost everybody knows each other on a first name basis.

Both women's parents and friends continue to struggle to hang on to the hope that their daughters will be found alive and returned, but that hope has diminished with time.

“We haven't forgotten them,” Siskiyou County Sheriff Rick Riggins said in a brief statement. “Unfortunately there are so many TV shows out there that show these things being solved in an hour that it causes a lot of heartache for us in our business anymore. It just doesn't happen that way.”

Riggins said, “We may have somebody that wasn't involved with the case originally take a look at it, and see if they might see something that might have been missed.”

Siskiyou County Sheriffs Department detective John Villani, who was the lead detective on both the Hannah Zaccaglini and Karin Knechtel-Mero cases, said, “We get things now and again that trickle in, but nothing really of substance; we do follow every lead.”

Villani said the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the two women continue to be bothersome for investigators.

Villani recently spoke with family members of both missing women, assuring them that the department was taking another look at both cases.

“The loss of a child is the most devastating experience a parent can face - and missing the child never goes away,” said Karin's father, Bob Knechtel. “A piece of yourself is lost and your future is forever changed. The age of the child does not lessen the hurt or devastation.”

Karin was last seen on the front porch of the Ed and Debbie Henline residence on East Minnesota Street in McCloud, where she was living with her boyfriend, Ed Henline Jr.

From the onset of both investigations, Sheriff's investigators were criticized for what family and friends of the two women perceived as a slow response to their disappearances.

Because she was an adult and believing Karin had probably moved away, the Sheriffs Department didn't list her as missing until November 1997.

Deputies also had a warrant out for her and thought she might be hiding. But as time passed, the likelihood the women had left town on their own lessened, and law enforcement agencies' efforts to find them accelerated.

“We had issues with Karin,' Bob Knechtel said. “There were things she was doing that we didn't approve of, but she was over 21.”

Karin was estranged from her husband, Marcus, at the time of her disappearance.

Bob Knechtel said his daughter underwent a liver transplant in 1994 and was receiving regular anti-rejection medicine and prescriptions. She was also collecting $700 a month for disability

“As time went by and she didn't respond for her medications, the likelihood of finding her alive grew less likely with each passing day,” said Knechtel.

Still Bob and Alice Knechtel pray Karin will be found and returned to them.

“My parents bought Karin a grave in Mt. Shasta, where we can hopefully, place her remains one day,” Bob said. “She was our only child.”

Karin's disappearance hit home for McCloud resident Nancy Johnson, who was a friend of Karin's grandmother, Edna Knechtel.

“I had met Karin a few times, but didn't know her well,” Johnson said recently. “It's still difficult to believe someone could just disappear in a town like McCloud, much less two people. I know it is devastating to the families and friends of the missing ladies to not know what happened to them.”

Johnson added, “Hopefully, this article will remind people to be more aware when venturing out alone at night so no one else goes missing. Though, oft' times, the person responsible is known to the victim, sad to say, so precautions become moot.”

“It's very sad,” said long-time friend Jennifer Coe of Mount Shasta. “I've known Bob and Alice since I was in the second grade. I met Karin in grade school. We weren't terribly close then, but later, in high school, we became closer. Karin was a very caring person; very outgoing and had a lot of friends.”

Coe said she believes the Sheriff's Department followed their rules in the Mero investigation, as far as the timeline when someone goes missing.

“She was an adult, 27 years old, married, and separated,” she said.

“I'd like to see some kind of resolution for the families,” said McCloud resident Patty Ballard. “I don't know what I'd do if it was my kid. My child is my life.”

Referring to a recent unrelated incident that made national news, Ballard said, “I think it was a miracle they found those two boys in Missouri. It makes me wonder how many other people are out there missing and being told terrible things so that they don't try to get away, or how scared to death they are made to be so they don't try to get away. I am happy the boys are back with their families, but I feel bad for the boy who was missing for four years and wonder what it will do for his psyche.”

Hannah Zaccaglini disappeared around 10 p.m. June 4, 1997, while walking to her home from her boyfriend Danny Rice's apartment, a distance of about two blocks. She too was last seen at the Henline's residence.

Hannah's mother, Jennifer Zaccaglini, said she still believes her case might have been taken more seriously in the beginning had Hannah been someone else's daughter.

She said, “False rumors around town that I was a drug dealer not only hurt me but may have influenced initial reaction to the case. Life these past ten years have been an agonizing roller coaster ride for me and my family.”

Jennifer said people have been bombarding her with information over the years as to where they think her daughter might be or their idea of what could have happened to her.

“This gives us a ray of hope, and we do follow up on the information, thinking in our hearts, “maybe this will be the lead that will bring Hannah home. But in the end it turns out to be nothing. It's a continuous high and low for my family. I know these people mean well, but anyone having any credible information should contact the Sheriffs Department.”

Jennifer said, “Someone out there knows what happened to Hannah, but for whatever reason is afraid to come forward with the information. Any little bit of information of what happened the night Hannah disappeared could change everything.”

Jennifer has nothing but praise for Villani, whom she said has always contacted her over the years, keeping her aware of what was going on when something related to her case came up.

“I believe in my heart that one day she will be brought home and we can put her where she belongs,” she said. “She would have been 25 years old this year.”

The Henlines were questioned in both cases, and their home was searched by law enforcement, but the couple has never been officially connected to either disappearance. Authorities maintain that the Henlines remain “persons of interest.”

Anyone having any information regarding the disappearance of Karin Knechtel-Mero or Hannah Zaccaglini is asked to contact the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department at 24-hour dispatch number, 530-841-2900.



http://www.redding.com/news/2007/jun/23/lost-not-forgotten/

Lost, not forgotten
Memories of missing stay with families, police

By Ryan Sabalow (Contact)
Saturday, June 23, 2007

There’s a frustration-filled hole in Bob Knechtel’s heart that has been festering for the past 10 years.

On Feb. 14, 1997, his 27-year-old daughter, Karin Knechtel Mero, disappeared after being spotted at a home in McCloud.

Knechtel, 64, thinks his daughter was murdered, her remains hidden somewhere in Siskiyou County.

Less than five months later, on June 4, 1997, 15-year-old Hannah Zaccaglini similarly vanished after last being seen at the same McCloud home.

Knechtel is convinced that the two cases are related, and he’s grown so frustrated that his daughter’s disappearance hasn’t been solved that it’s hurt his heart in a more physical sense.

He said he’s suffered from multiple cardiac problems, including at least two heart attacks. In part, he said, his ailments arise from the stress of losing his daughter, and also the frustration from what he thinks is a lack of urgency from local law enforcement to solve his daughter’s murder.

“We want to know what happened,” he said. “We want them to find her remains. We know she’s dead. There’s no issue on that at all.”

But Siskiyou County Sheriff Rick Riggins says the cases haven’t been forgotten.

“It’s been on the radar,” he said. “It’s never been off the radar.”

He said he recently hired two retired longtime law enforcement officials who will work part time going over the two disappearances as well as other cold cases in the county.

Riggins, who oversees 59 sworn officers who patrol much of the 6,347 square miles of California’s fifth-largest county, said the cold cases deserve special attention.

“It gives us a set of new eyes,” Riggins said. Solving the cases “means a lot to the families, and, with this, I think we’ll be able to help them out.”

One of the investigators is Ed Pecis Jr., the former special agent in charge of the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement in Redding, who retired to Siskiyou County and “was looking for something to do,” Riggins said.

Mero and Zaccaglini’s disappearances are among at least 10 recent suspicious missing person cases that perplex north state detectives. They are the only two recently from McCloud, an unincorporated logging town of about 1,300 people about 12 miles southeast of Mount Shasta.

The two women were last seen at the East Minnesota Avenue home of Deborah and Ed Henline Sr.

Mero had been living at the Henline home with her boyfriend, Ed Henline Jr., before she disappeared.

Zaccaglini was last seen about 10 p.m. leaving the Henline home.

The Henlines were questioned and their home was searched by sheriff’s detectives, FBI agents and body-hunting experts, but no one was declared a suspect in the disappearances.

Deputies initially discouraged Mero’s parents from reporting their daughter’s disappearance, but they finally reported her missing in October 1997, nine months after she had last been seen.

Detectives said at the time they thought she was in hiding because of a warrant for her arrest on drug-related charges.

Similarly, for the first two weeks after Zaccaglini disappeared, investigators originally thought she was a runaway, depressed about breaking up with her boyfriend.

But detectives later determined that the girl wouldn’t have struck out on her own and labeled the disappearance as suspicious.

They thought the aspiring model would never leave behind her hairbrush, pocketbook, money and her prized bass guitar.

Anyone with information about the two women’s whereabouts is asked to call the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office at 841-2900.
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Hannah Zaccaglini Still Missing But Not Forgotten
Reported by: Elizabeth Gadley
Email: egadley@khsltv.com
Last Update: 9/01 6:40 pm

Print Story | Share this Story

The Jaycee Duggard case is stirring up a lot of emotion for Jennifer Zaccaglini.

Her daughter, Hannah, disappeared from the small town of McCloud in 1997. Hannah was just 15 years old. Jennifer says it has been really hard not knowing what happened.

The teen was last seen leaving an apartment complex where her boyfriend lived. She lived only a couple of blocks away, but never made it home.

Jennifer says she is hoping for the best but her gut is telling her that Hannah is gone.

"It's a mother's instinct that you feel when your child is no longer with us. Hannah didn't run away."

Jennifer hopes her instincts are wrong. She says it would be a dream come true to see her daughter again

Jennifer still lives in the same house. One of the persons of interest detectives have focused on during their investigation still lives right down the street.

Jennifer Zaccaglini says she can't move away until she finds out what happened to her little girl. she wants to be in the same house just in case Hannah were to come home.

"I just want closure for my kids, my family, her friends,"says Jennifer.

Another woman, Karen Mero who also lived in McCloud disappeared four months earlier. She was 27 at at the time.

Karen also knew the ZacCaglinni's neighbors who've been questioned in both cases but never arrested.

If anyone has any information on Hannah Zaccaglini's whereabouts, they are urged to contact the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department.

http://www.khsltv.com/content/localnews/st...X8WKL6IgWg.cspx
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Mount Shasta, Calif. -

It’s been 13 long, painful and frustrating years for the parents and families of two McCloud women who mysteriously disappeared without a trace in 1997.
Time doesn’t always ease the pain of the loss; on the contrary, longterm missing persons can be devastating to families.
Robert Knechtel, father of Karin Knechtel-Mero, one of the missing women, suffered a heart attack and developed other stress-related health problems shortly after his daughter’s disappearance.
In a recent interview he said he and his wife Alice haven’t given up hope that their daughter will be found and the person or persons involved in her disappearance will be apprehended.
“My wife and I are having faith in the justice system and we are hoping for a resolution, and that’s what we are praying for,” he said.
Hannah Marie Zaccaglini, then age 15, disappeared four months after Mero.
Both women were last seen at the home of Ed Henline Sr. and his wife Debbie.
From the onset of the investigations, sheriff’s investigators were criticized by both families of the two women for what they perceived as a slow response to the disappearances.
Hannah’s mother Jennifer has always maintained that false rumors around town saying she was a drug dealer not only hurt her but may have influenced initial reaction to her daughter’s case.
In a recent interview, Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department Captain John Villani, a former detective on both cases, said, “Mero was an adult and believing that she had probably moved away, or was in hiding, because of an outstanding search warrant, the Sheriff’s Department didn’t list her as missing till November 1997.
“As time passed the likelihood she had left town on her own lessened and our efforts to find her accelerated,” he said.
“Hannah running away didn’t gel with me,” said her former McCloud High School teacher Susan Villarreal in a recent telephone interview.
“Hannah played the bass guitar in a band at a school concert the night before she disappeared, then played again during a school assembly the day of her disappearance. That was the last time I saw her.
“She was totally stoked, very happy and very excited, because the kids had been invited to play at the race track in Yreka the following week. That would be their first gig. “She was a very outgoing, very strong-willed, intelligent and a very creative girl. So sad,” Villarreal added.
Siskiyou County Sheriff Rick Riggins said that two years ago the department hired part-time, retired detective sergeant Nick Schwall to reinvestigate the Mero case.
“I felt somebody that wasn’t involved with the case originally might see something that might have been missed,” Riggins said. “He is doing an excellent job and we are extremely happy with him.”
“I would really personally find extreme satisfaction that the two cases be solved and that there be some kind of closure for the families,” said Villani. “If I could wish anything in the world I would like to see some resolution because I’ve had an opportunity to get close to the families and see what residual effects it’s had on them. I pray that for them.”


A missing woman timeline about their disappearances was published in Southern Siskiyou Newspapers in 2003. It included events in 1997 and 1998.
• Feb. 14, 1997 — Bob and Alice Knechtel of Mount Shasta see their daughter Karin Knechtel-Mero at the home of Ed Henline Sr. and his wife Debbie Henline at East Minnesota Avenue in McCloud. Mero was 27 at the time of her disappearance and was last seen Feb. 14, 1997 at the Henline residence. Mero was living there with her boyfriend Ed Henline Jr.
• May 21, 1997 — The Knechtels have heard nothing from their daughter since February. Her 28th birthday passes and they still don’t hear from her. The Knechtels continue to try to notify the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department and California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco after her disappearance. The hospital handled Mero’s anti-rejection medicine and prescriptions after she had a liver transplant in 1994. The Sheriff’s Department tells the Knechtels that Mero is an adult so she can leave when she wants. Deputies also have a warrant out for her arrest so they think she is hiding.
• June 4, 1997 — McCloud High School student Hannah Zaccaglini, 15, disappears from McCloud. Deputies say the last person to see her was Ed Henline Sr. outside his house.
• Late June 1997 — Sheriff’s detectives ask FBI agents for assistance in the Zaccaglini case.
• Summer 1997 — Detectives do about four consent searches at the Henline home.
• Oct. 16 1997 — Sheriff’s detectives tell the Knechtels that detectives can’t get information on whether their daughter is receiving her medicine without a missing report. The Knechtels are finally able to make a report. FBI agents also help on the Mero case.
• November 1997 — Authorities cancel Mero’s medical disability money and she still doesn’t contact anyone.
• April 16, 1998 — Sheriff’s detectives serve a search warrant at the Henline home. This is the first search warrant served concerning the Zaccaglini/Mero cases. Ed and Debbie Henline are arrested on suspicion of welfare fraud. They are suspected of writing checks on Mero’s account from the time she disappeared to December 1997 and failing to report the extra income.
• April 30, 1998 — Ed and Debbie Henline plead guilty to perjury in connection to the fraudulent acquisition of funds from the checking account of Mero. The Henlines are sentenced to pay $2,000 and placed on three years probation.
• May 1998 — The Knechtels retrieve two of their daughter’s rings that had been sold to Jon Thomas Jewelry in Mount Shasta.
• June 8 and 9, 1998 — Authorities serve two search warrants at the Henline home. These are the second and third search warrants served there. Two body-searching cadaver dogs scour the home and other areas of McCloud for two days.
McCloud resident Ron Berryman, in a recent interview, said, “I personally think it is very likely there are people still living in this area that know what happened to those two young ladies but are remaining quiet for obvious reasons.”
“I can only imagine what must go through the parents’ minds on a daily basis. My sympathies lie with the families that haven’t gotten closure for their loved ones. Mostly what we need is someone to come forward,” Berryman added.
McCloud resident Barbara Korb said, “I suppose only if someone with direct knowledge spills the beans will the cases ever be closed. Maybe someone will be tired of secrets and speak up.”
“The Henlines remain as “persons of interest,” according to Detective Schwall, who is assigned to both Zaccaglini and Mero cases, but is presently focused on the Mero case.


Anyone with any information regarding either case is urged to call the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department at (530) 841-2900.

http://www.mtshastanews.com/news/x13289447...-still-unsolved
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Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office
Detective John Villani
530-841-2900

Agency Case Number: 97-1303

NCMEC #: NCMC833807

NCIC Number: M-031542082
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Hannah Zaccaglini





* Report Type: Unknown Circumstances
* Sex: Female
* Race: White
* Hair: Black
* Eye Color: Brown
* Height: 5 ft. 05 in.
* Weight: 120 lbs.
* Date of Birth: 10/11/1981
* Clothing: Green and white checked shirt with daisy buttons, blue jeans, black canvas Vans deck shoes
* Last Seen: 6/4/1997
* Other Identifiers: Hair recently dyed black (naturally brown)
* Dental X-rays Available: Yes
* Age Enhanced

Hannah Zaccaglini was last seen leaving a friends house in the town of McCloud. She was walking to her home located one block away, but never arrived. Photo on the left is age-progressed to 20 years of age. Age progression is provided by National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

CONTACT
Agency: Siskiyou Sheriffs Department
Phone Number: (530) 841-2900
Case Number: 97-1303
http://dojapp.doj.ca.gov/missing/detail.as...N=5459715600363
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Investigators in Siskiyou County say they may be close to solving a pair of suspicious disappearances that have gone unsolved for 14 years.

Newly elected Sheriff Jon Lopey said Thursday that his detectives recently asked Siskiyou County District Attorney Kirk Andrus to review possible charges in the disappearance of 27-year-old Karin Knechtel Mero.

Andrus said his office is considering filing murder charges.

"I know there's been progress," Andrus said. "We are getting close."

Knechtel Mero disappeared on Feb. 14, 1997 after being spotted at a home in McCloud.

Less than five months later, on June 4, 1997, 15-year-old Hannah Zaccaglini similarly vanished after last being seen at the same McCloud home.

Detective Sgt. Mark Hilsenberg said he couldn't comment on the specifics of the case or identify the suspects, due to the sensitivity of the investigation.

He said the potential suspects in the case still live in the area, but detectives haven't been able to locate the bodies of the two women.

"There is a possibility there's a connection between both girls' disappearances," Hilsenberg said.

Though cautiously optimistic, Knechtel Mero's father, Bob Knechtel, 67, of Yreka, said Thursday he was surprised the case had suddenly progressed after so long.

But he was trying to stay calm to keep his weakened heart steady. Knechtel partially blames the stress from his daughter's disappearance for years of poor health.

"Hopefully, there will be some resolution of it in my lifetime," he said.

Lopey said that since he's been elected he's made solving the disappearances, as well as a number of cold case murders, a priority.

Lopey said his office plans to bring in federal and state help, forensic specialists and technology that was not available at the time of the disappearances. He's also freeing up resources inside the sheriff's department to work on the cases.

"This thing has festered in this county for a long time," he said.

The two young women were last seen at the East Minnesota Avenue home of Deborah and Ed Henline Sr.

Mero had been living at the Henline home with her boyfriend, Ed Henline Jr., before she disappeared.

Zaccaglini was last seen leaving the Henline home about 10 p.m. a few months later.

The Henlines were questioned and their home was searched by sheriff's detectives, FBI agents and body-hunting experts, but no one was declared a suspect in the disappearances.

Deputies initially discouraged Mero's parents from reporting their daughter's disappearance, but they finally reported her missing in October 1997, nine months after she had last been seen.

Detectives said at the time they thought she was in hiding because of a warrant for her arrest on drug-related charges.

Similarly, for the first two weeks after Zaccaglini disappeared, investigators originally thought she was a runaway, depressed about breaking up with her boyfriend.

But detectives later determined that the girl wouldn't have struck out on her own and labeled the disappearance suspicious.

They thought the aspiring model would never leave behind her hairbrush, pocketbook, money and her prized bass guitar.

Detectives asked anyone with information about the two women's whereabouts to call the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office at 841-2900.

© 2011 Record Searchlight. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://www.redding.com/news/2011/feb/17/op...disappearances/
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Sheriff Lopey says solving cold cases is a priority


By Anonymous
Mount Shasta Area Newspapers
Posted Feb 17, 2011 @ 03:27 PM
Print Comment
Yreka, Calif. —

The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department announced Thursday, Feb. 17, that they have submitted the Karen Mero case to the District Attorney’s office for review of criminal charges stemming from her disappearance in 1997 in the McCloud area.

In conjunction with the Mero case, Sherriff Jon Lopey announced that his investigation division is actively investigating the Hannah Zaccaglini case that focuses on the disappearance of the 15 year old girl who also disappeared from the McCloud area in that same time period.

Sheriff Lopey stated that the Department will be bringing in federal and state assistance that will include forensic specialists and technology that was not available at the time of the girl’s disappearance.

Lopey has made it a priority to solve these cases as well as the other “cold cases” that are in the Sheriff Department, according to a press release from his office.

He said he is also placing additional resources into the investigations to help the assigned detectives including the Secret Witness program and “using innovative techniques to help assist in the investigations of these cases.”

“We are going to relentlessly pursue the person or persons responsible for the disappearance of these young women,” Sheriff Lopey is quoted as saying in the release. “Often times, young women and children are the most vulnerable in our society and too often fall victim to criminals. The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office will never forget these victims or their families. We will not stop investigating these cases until they are solved. Our department personnel are actively working with other law enforcement agencies and the district attorney, Kirk Andrus, to vigorously pursue every investigative lead and legal tool at our disposal to ensure justice is realized for these crime victims and their families who have waited far too long for closure and a just outcome.”

Both the Zaccaglini and Mero case are believed to be suspicious in nature and the girls are believed to have been the victims of possible criminal actions, the Sheriff’s Department states in the release.
Anyone with any information on the listed cases is strongly urged to contact Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department Detective Jeff Moser at 841-2900.
Copyright 2011 Mount Shasta Herald. Some rights reserved
http://www.mtshastanews.com/news/x15684454...s-is-a-priority
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http://www.mtshastanews.com/news/x81684922...n-on-cold-cases

Sheriff seeks information on cold cases
Mount Shasta Area Newspapers
Posted Apr 06, 2011 @ 04:34 PM

Siskiyou County, Calif. —

The Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department reports that it is making progress on two suspected cold case homicides involving presumed victims Hannah Zaccaglini and Kimberlie Kantonen.

Zaccaglini was last seen June 4, 1997 leaving a friend’s house in the town of McCloud. She was walking to her home located one block away, but she never arrived, the SCSO release said.

Born in October 1981, Zaccaglini was 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed 120 pounds when last seen. She was wearing a green and white checked shirt with daisy buttons, blue jeans and black canvas Vans deck shoes.

Anyone with information regarding Zaccaglini is asked to contact Detective Jeff Moser at 842-8764.

Kantonen was last seen in the Hornbrook area on at around 9 p.m. March 8, 1989. She was reported missing three days later, an SCSO release said.

Kantonen – who was four months pregnant at the time of her disappearance – was described as being 5 feet, 5 inches in height and weighing 104 pounds. She had brown hair and hazel eyes and was last seen wearing a tan corduroy jacket, blue sweat suit and white tennis shoes.

A March SCSO press release stated that the Secret Witness department has offered a $6,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the suspects being sought in Kantonen's case.

Anyone with information regarding Kantonen is asked to call Detective Frank Barrett at 842-8316.

“Our Detective Unit is vigorously investigating both of these cases and pursuing leads as new information and investigative leads are brought to our attention,” Sheriff Jon Lopey said. “Again, we need the public’s help and urge anyone with any additional information about these two young women or the circumstances surrounding their disappearances to contact the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office. We will not give up until these cases are solved.”

Lopey said “investigative leads and progress in these cases could not have been made without the assistance of the media and the public we serve.” He thanked area media and “citizens who have come forward with information concerning these cases.”
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http://www.redding.com/news/2011/jul/28/re...ths-recent-two/

Human remains found in Siskiyou; Chico State anthropologists aid investigators
Two bodies are not thought from cold cases
By Sean Longoria, Scott Mobley
Posted July 28, 2011 at 11:36 p.m.

Human remains found earlier this week by Siskiyou County sheriff's deputies are not thought to be related to any of the county's cold cases, a spokesperson said Thursday.

Deputies checking a reported abandoned truck near Happy Camp on Monday found the remains nearby.

On Tuesday, deputies continued their search with help from Chico State University anthropologists and Jackson County Search and Rescue, and found more remains, apparently of a second person, about 300 yards from the truck.

Wild animals have disturbed the remains, making it difficult for investigators to identify the two peopleor determine how and when they died, said Allison Giannini, Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office spokesperson.

Authorities are treating the case as a homicide until they can get a better idea what happened, deputies said.

On Thursday, Giannini said deputies think the two people died recently, butan exact time frame is undetermined.

"It's just hard to tell how recently," she said.

Giannini also said the sheriff's office doesn't suspect the remains are connected to any missing-person cases or cold case murders in Siskiyou County.

Sheriff Jon Lopey has said that since his election, he has made solving long-standing disappearances and a number of cold case murders a priority.

Siskiyou County sheriff's deputies arrested a Hornbrook man in June in connection with the 22-year-old cold-case investigation into the possible murder of Kimberly Kantonen, who disappeared March 8, 1989, at age 19. Her body was never found.

Deputies arrested Arnold Aggas Sr., 66, on suspicion of killing Kantonen. He's in Siskiyou County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bail and is awaiting an Aug. 9 hearing on his challenge to the charges.

Investigators in Siskiyou County have said they also might be close to solving a pair of disappearances unsolved for 14 years. Karin Knechtel Mero, 27 at the time, and Hannah Zaccaglini, 19 at the time, disappeared in 1997.

The sheriff's office identified suspects in the disappearances and forwarded the information to the District Attorney's Office for review earlier this year, but no charges have been filed.
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http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/article/20121115/NEWS/121119889

Cold case murder suspect arrested
Nov. 15, 2012 9:39 a.m.

YREKA - An arrest has been made in the cold case murder of Hannah Zaccaglini, the 15-year-old girl who disappeared in the McCloud area in 1997.

According to a press release issued by the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office (SCSO), on Nov. 15, deputies arrested Edward Ray Henline, 57, of McCloud.

Henline is charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit a crime. He is being held without bail in the Siskiyou County Jail.

Siskiyou County District Attorney Kirk Andrus stated that Henline is scheduled to be arraigned in the Siskiyou County Superior Court on Monday.

According to the release, on June 5, 1997 Hannah went missing shortly after being last seen walking with Henline in the vicinity of his home.

“For several months, sheriff’s office detectives from the Major Crimes Unit have been vigorously pursuing new and previous investigative leads, which led to the arrest of Mr. Henline. Some leads were generated by new witnesses but SCSO Detectives believe there are other citizens with knowledge about Hannah’s disappearance and the circumstances leading to her death,” the release stated.

The SCSO is also conducting a parallel investigation involving the disappearance of Karen Knechtel Mero, another McCloud resident who was 27 years old at the time of her disappearance – also in 1997 and also from the McCloud area.

Anyone with information about either of these two cases is urged to contact Detective Jeff Moser at 842-8764. Calls may also be made to the SCSO 24-hour Dispatch Center at 841-2900.

In the release, Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey wrote the following statement regarding Henline’s arrest:
“I am proud of the exemplary investigative efforts of the SCSO Major Crimes Unit, which tenaciously and relentlessly pursued investigative leads in this case which ultimately led to the arrest of the suspect, Mr. Henline.

“This has been a long, arduous and emotionally tumultuous journey for the investigators and this tragic case has been extremely difficult for the loving family and friends of Hannah Zaccaglini.

“Family members and friends have had to live with the grief, uncertainty and irrevocable loss associated with her disappearance for over 15 long years.
“The department has been working very closely with the Siskiyou County District Attorney’s Office to ensure charges are filed against Mr. Henline and any involved co-conspirators.

“This investigation also involved the assistance and support from many state and local agencies, which assisted the sheriff’s office with various phases of the investigation. The assisting agencies include the California Department of Justice (Bureau of Investigations and Redding Crime Lab), Siskiyou County Wide Interagency Narcotics Task Force, Yreka and Weed Police departments, California Highway Patrol, Siskiyou County District Attorney’s Office Investigative Unit, Siskiyou County Probation Department and Western States Intelligence Network (WSIN).

“This arrest resulted from good old-fashioned police work, the dauntless efforts of our investigators, the collective efforts of many law enforcement agencies and the support of witnesses willing to provide information about the case.

“The arrest of Mr. Henline reinforces one important point and that is that the SCSO will vigorously and relentlessly pursue criminals who prey on children and adults in our county.

“This case, although still on-going, also serves as a small measure of closure to the family and friends of Ms. Hannah Zaccaglini and I am grateful for the hard work and determination of those law enforcement professionals participating in this major investigative effort. On behalf of the SCSO, I would also like to take this opportunity to extend our thoughts, prayers and sincere condolences to Hannah’s family and friends.”
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