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The 1997 McCloud Disappearances: Two Victims, One Suspect, No Arrests

Despite having a firm idea of who murdered Karin Mero and Hannah Zaccaglini, police lack the smoking gun to make an arrest and solve the cold cases.

Verity Partington
4 min readFeb 17, 2023
Karin Mero, left, and Hannah Zaccaglini, right, who both disappeared in 1997

Investigators in the Californian community of McCloud say they do not intend to stop pursuing leads until they can solve two cold case disappearances dating back to 1997.

Karin Elizabeth Knechtel Mero and Hannah Zaccaglini both vanished within months of each other more than a quarter of a century ago — and they were both seen in or near a property owned by the same man.

But as time continues to slip by and no further information is forthcoming, can police hope to build a case against him unless their bodies are located?

Two missing women

Karin Knechtel Mero was 27 and had been living in McCloud with her boyfriend Ed Henline Jr and his parents, Debbie and Ed Henline Sr.

The situation was perhaps less than ideal: according to Detective Sergeant James Randall from the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department, Ed Sr and Karin did not like each other and there were frequent arguments between the two.

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Verity Partington
Verity Partington

Written by Verity Partington

A writer and author of crime thrillers living in the UK. Partial to books, stationery, papercrafts and walking. You can find her books on Amazon here: https://a

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