Former boyfriend arrested 27 years after mother of two goes missing
The former boyfriend of a young mother who disappeared 27 years ago in Northern California has been arrested in connection with the cold case, authorities said.
Richard Pyle, 55, who was described by deputies as a transient, was taken into custody in Stockton on Thursday, according to a news release from the Butte County Sheriff's Office.
Pyle lived with Tracy Zandstra in November 1991, when the then-29-year-old disappeared from the home they shared in Stirling City, authorities said.
Zandstra's body was never found, but detectives have uncovered evidence indicating she had been killed and her body disposed of, sheriff's officials said. A Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, however, declined to say what that evidence was.
"She was a mother of two young children," Megan McMann, the spokeswoman, said of Zandstra. "We didn't think that a mother would just up and leave."
Zandstra also left behind her purse and other belongings, McMann said.
Detectives have continued to investigate the case over the years and last week worked with the district attorney's office to obtain an arrest warrant for Pyle, sheriff's officials said.
Pyle has been charged with murder in the Zandstra case, with enhancements for using a firearm during the commission of the crime and for previous felony convictions, court records show.
Pyle is being held at the Butte County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail and is scheduled for a court appearance Thursday to enter a plea.
_Los Angeles Times
