Family sues over delayed issuance of amber alert

The attorneys for the Tacoma girl who was kidnapped and murdered claim the Amber Alert in her case was delayed for six hours because an officer fell asleep before telling anyone about it. Back in 2007, 12 year old Zina Linnik was taken from her home. The King County Superior Court suit states the only police officer allowed to issue such a warning fell asleep after getting a middle of the night call. The alert to the missing child system didn’t go out until hours later.

Tacoma Police department spokesman Mark Fulghum had taken an over the counter combination pain and sleep medication. Detectives on the Linnik case called Fulghum in the middle of the night and asked him to put out an Amber Alert. At the time, Fulghum was the only person authorized to do that. Instead of putting out the alert, lawyers claim he fell back to sleep.

My Northwest

Meanwhile attorneys for the city of Tacoma want the case tossed. They claim the department had no legal obligation to issue an alert. Anatoly Kalchik , the girl’s uncle says it’s not about money, but to make sure the system works correctly. Since the incident, the city has revised the policy on Amber Alerts. Back on July 4, 2007, Linnik was walking in the alley behind her home to find her siblings. Within moments her father heard a scream. He ran into the alley just in time to see a grey van speeding away and Zina gone. The little girl would never be seen alive again.

Several days later, a tip led police to a shallow grave which held the girl’s body. The tip came from the prime suspect in the girl’s murder,Terapon Adhahn. Adhahn is a 42 year old native of Thailand was also a registered sex offender.

Pierce County prosecutors planned to charge Adhahn with aggravated murder, but since he cooperated with authorities he instead was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Since then the family has started the Zina Linnik Project. They’re raising money to build a playground and renovate McCarver Park. This community-wide effort will improve two parks that bookend and bridge the Hilltop/Central Tacoma neighborhoods where Zina lived and played.

Zina Linnik Project

Question: If proper procedure was followed back then, and the policy has since changed, why are they suing, when it was stated it’s not over money? It doesn’t make sense.