It was late. January 2, 2000, in Asheville, North Carolina. Zebb Quinn, an 18-year-old working at Walmart, just finished his shift. He was planning to look at a new Mitsubishi Eclipse with his friend, Robert Jason Owens. They drove in separate cars. But halfway there, Zebb flashed his lights, pulled over, and told Owens he’d received a page. He looked panicked. After a quick phone call at a gas station, he told Owens he couldn't go see the car anymore.
Then he vanished.
For nearly two decades, the murder of Zebb Quinn was the ghost that haunted Buncombe County. It wasn't just a missing person case; it was a bizarre puzzle of puppies, lipsticks, and a friend who seemed just a little too helpful. If you’ve ever fallen down a true crime rabbit hole, you know these cases usually go cold because of a lack of evidence. This one went cold despite having too much weird evidence.
The Crime Scene That Made No Sense
Two days after Zebb disappeared, his Mazda Protege was found. It wasn't in some ditch or hidden in the woods. It was parked right in front of the hospital where his mother worked. That's a bold move. It felt like a taunt.
Inside the car, police found things that didn't fit Zebb’s personality at all. There was a pair of hotel keys. There was a jacket that didn't belong to him. And, most famously, there was a live puppy. A black Labrador mix. Oh, and someone had drawn a pair of lips in pink lipstick on the back window. It was chaotic.
People often ask why the puppy was there. Honestly? Investigators think it was a distraction. A way to make the scene so bizarre that it shifted focus away from the actual logistics of the crime. The puppy was eventually adopted by one of the investigators, which is maybe the only happy part of this whole mess. But back then, it just added to the noise.
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Robert Jason Owens: The Friend in the Shadows
From day one, all eyes were on Robert Jason Owens. He was the last person seen with Zebb. He showed up at a hospital the next day with broken ribs and a head injury, claiming he’d been in a separate car accident. Convenient timing, right?
Owens was a "person of interest" for years, but the police couldn't pin it on him. There was no body. There was no murder weapon. In the early 2000s, without DNA or a confession, it’s incredibly hard to charge someone with murder. You need more than just a "bad feeling" and a weird alibi.
The investigation hit a wall. Years turned into a decade. Zebb’s mother, Denise Vlahakis, never stopped pushing, but the case stayed stagnant. It felt like Owens had gotten away with it. He moved on with his life, living on a large property in Leicester. But people like Owens usually don't stop being who they are.
The Break That Changed Everything
Fast forward to 2015. A high-profile disappearance rocked the same community. Food Network Star contestant Cristie Schoen Codd and her husband J.T. Codd went missing. They were pregnant. They were beloved. And their neighbor was Robert Jason Owens.
When police searched Owens' property for the Codds, they found something horrific. He had killed them, dismembered them, and burned their remains in a wood stove. This wasn't just a crime of passion; it was calculated and brutal.
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As the SBI (State Bureau of Investigation) combed through Owens' land, they started looking for more than just the Codds. They started looking for Zebb. They dug up the backyard. They tore into concrete slabs. While they didn't find a full skeleton—Owens had a habit of destroying remains—they found enough forensic evidence and "incinerated bone fragments" to finally link him to the murder of Zebb Quinn.
Why It Took 17 Years
A lot of folks get frustrated with how slow the justice system moves. You’ve probably thought, "Everyone knew it was him, why wait?"
The truth is nuanced.
- The "No Body" Problem: Before the Codd murders, prosecutors were terrified of losing a trial. If you charge someone and they get acquitted, double jeopardy kicks in. You only get one shot.
- Lack of Digital Footprint: In 2000, we didn't have GPS in every pocket. We had pagers. Tracking a pager call from a payphone is a nightmare compared to tracking an iPhone.
- The Misty Taylor Connection: There was a girl Zebb liked, Misty Taylor. Her boyfriend, Wesley Smith, was reportedly jealous. This created "alternate suspects" that Owens' defense could have used to create reasonable doubt.
Owens eventually pleaded guilty to the Quinn murder in 2017 as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty for the Codd murders. He admitted to killing Zebb, claiming it was an accident, but the evidence suggested a much darker, premeditated motive involving jealousy or a perceived slight.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Case
You'll see theories online about Zebb being part of some underground ring or that the lipstick on the window was a secret code. Usually, the simplest answer is the right one. The lipstick wasn't a code. It was a red herring.
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Owens was an expert at manipulation. He didn't just kill Zebb; he tried to curate a narrative. He wanted the police to think Zebb had run away or was involved in some weird late-night drama. He was trying to buy time.
And it worked. It worked for seventeen years.
Actionable Insights for True Crime Followers
If you're following cold cases or want to help advocate for unsolved murders, there are actual steps that make a difference.
- Support Jane/John Doe Projects: Many cold cases from the 90s and 2000s are being solved via investigative genetic genealogy. Organizations like the DNA Doe Project rely on public uploads to GEDmatch. If you’ve done a 23andMe or AncestryDNA kit, you can opt-in to help law enforcement identify remains.
- Focus on the "Person of Interest" Patterns: As seen with Owens, violent offenders rarely commit a single isolated act. If a cold case suspect is arrested for a new crime, that is the moment for the community to pressure local DAs to reopen the old files.
- Verify with Official Records: Don't rely on TikTok "re-tellings." Read the actual court transcripts from the Buncombe County Superior Court regarding the Robert Jason Owens conviction. It provides a much clearer picture of the forensic limitations of the time.
The murder of Zebb Quinn reminds us that "cold" doesn't mean "finished." It just means the evidence hasn't caught up to the truth yet. Owens is currently serving life without parole, ensuring he can never do this to another family again.