Crystal Ann Tymich was born on Sept. 23, 1987, to Jane Newman and Mario Tymich and grew up in South-Central L.A. It is unclear if her parents ever married, but in 1994, she split her time between Newman’s home in Santa Monica and Tymich’s at 6018 Brynhurst Avenue.
Crystal was visiting him on June 30, 1994; it was the last time he saw his little girl.
There are two versions of what happened leading up to Crystal’s disappearance that I found in newspaper articles. I’m not sure which one is correct, so I include both.
Version 1
At 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 30, 1994, Crystal, 6, was bike-riding with her three older brothers, 12, 10, and 8, at the time, in Tymich’s neighborhood. The boys went ahead of Crystal, and she was gone when they turned to look back.
Version 2
As described by Crystal’s brother in 2005.
Jeffrey Tymich said Crystal and their younger brothers threw peaches over the roof of a house to see who could throw the farthest. Jeffrey Tymich and his brothers ran home when they heard their grandmother calling for them because the family planned to watch “The Lion King.” When the boys looked back, Crystal was gone.
More than 100 police officers with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) searched for Crystal Ann Tymich in the 6000 block of Brynhurst Avenue but failed to find any clues leading to Crystal’s whereabouts.
The little girl’s disappearance prompted LAPD to call a localized tactical alert, which kept officers on duty after their shifts ended. LAPD canceled the alert at 4:30 a.m. on July 1, 1994, but continued searching for Crystal on their regular shifts with zero luck.
Newman said that Tymich’s neighbors had seen Crystal wandering off several times on June 30th and brought her back to her brothers. Newman also said that Crystal had talked about running away.
In early 1996, Detective Tim Brewer of the Corvallis Police Department in Corvallis, Oregon, asked for the public’s help locating Crystal after she was reportedly seen near the Corvallis/Benton County Public Library and Cub Foods in September and October 1995. However, he provided no further information.
In 1997, Norm Wigginton and Rebecca Gold put Crystal’s photograph on the backs of four Wigginton’s Plumbing Services trucks, along with pictures of two other missing Southern California girls (Deseret News, May 25, 1997). Those two girls were Nancy May Huang, 14, missing since April 30, 1996, and Jessica Eva Hill, 9, missing sing September 2, 1995. Jessica was found in 2010. Her mother had taken her away from her abusive father. It is unclear what happened to Nancy. No information is available on her.
Crystal’s case was revived in 2005 when more than 100 law enforcement officials searched the house directly across Tymich’s. Authorities never publicly said if the search was linked to Crystal’s disappearance. The only things they found were animal and fish bones.
Jeffrey Tymich said a female reverend lived in that house when Crystal disappeared. The woman often invited the neighborhood kids into her home for religious services. She did not live there in 2005, and her identity is unknown. It does make me wonder if the police got a tip about the reverend and Crystal’s body buried in the crawlspace.
As far as I can tell, there has been zero activity with this case since the search of the neighbor’s home in 2005. The family has set up a Facebook page for Crystal.
Crystal Ann Tymich would have turned 32 years old on September 23, 2019.
True Crime Diva’s Thoughts
Clearly, this is an abduction. Not a planned one, but one of opportunity. Her abductor literally snatched her in seconds, and that’s all it takes. I read an article that said it only takes 90 seconds, but I think with the right conditions, it can be done quicker than that.
I don’t understand if Crystal kept wandering off and neighbors had to take her back to her brothers, why was she allowed outside after that?
The two versions I mentioned above about what happened up to Crystal’s disappearance is a bit strange. There should be only one version of what happened if everyone is telling the truth. Now, this could be because the media didn’t initially have all of the correct information. I want to know. Were they riding bikes or throwing peaches? Early reports, which tend to be more accurate, stated Crystal and her brothers were riding bikes. In 2005, Jeffrey said they were throwing peaches. Two very different activities, but it would have been easier to kidnap Crystal if she was not on a bicycle. Plus, I found nothing on whether or not her bike was found, so I’m going with throwing peaches.
Did anyone in the neighborhood see Crystal with her brothers before she vanished? Or even after? This was broad daylight. You’d think someone would have seen something unless it’s one of those places where nobody saw a thing because they didn’t want to get involved.
I did notice that her father’s home sits close to 4 L.A. freeways and LAX airport. So her abductor could easily have made his or her getaway fairly quickly. But I think whoever took her was familiar with the Tymich’s neighborhood so that it could have been one of Mario’s neighbors. If Crystal knew her abductor, she would have gone with him or her willingly – no screaming.
I am curious about the female reverend. I’m not a religious person so, of course, I find it strange she would invite the children into her home for religious services. Wasn’t she a reverend at an actual church? And who is she? Why did police search that home in 2005?
The Oregon sighting is interesting, but I couldn’t find anything else on it. She was reportedly seen in September and October 1995. Who was she with? Man, woman, both? I don’t know if it was a confirmed sighting or not. She would have been almost 2 years older, but her facial features would be almost the same. I wish we had more info on this.
Sources
- Becerra, Hector, Morin, Monte. “South L.A. Search Fails to Find Evidence of Long-Missing Girl.” The Los Angeles Times. August 19, 2005.
- “Corvallis Police Looking for Missing 9-Year-Old.” Corvallis Gazette-Times. January 20, 1996.
- “Police Seeking Missing Girl.” The Los Angeles Times. July 2, 1994
- Riccardi, Nicholas. “Citywide Search Continues for 6-Year-Old Girl.” The Los Angeles Times. July 21, 1994.
- “Trucks Used in Search for Missing Kids.” Deseret News. May 25, 1997. https://www.deseret.com/1997/5/25/19314101/trucks-used-in-search-for-missing-kids
1 comment
Interviewed brother in 1994, the peaches version is the correct one in my experience.