By CATHY LOGG
Herald Writer
MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — At 18, she became a mail-order bride for a 39-year-old Mountlake Terrace man. Now 20, she’s a missing person who police fear may have met with foul play.
Anastasia Soloveva King was last seen Sept. 22 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport when she returned from a three-week visit to her parents in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Police don’t believe she chose to abandon a job she enjoyed, college studies, family and friends. Neither her parents nor long-time friends have heard from her, nor have neighbors seen her.
She also became eligible in late October for U.S. citizenship, but she failed to show up at the hearing as expected.
"She hasn’t talked to her parents, her close friends. Those are things that lead us to believe something bad may have happened to her," said Mountlake Terrace Police Detective Sgt. Craig McCaul on Monday when he announced her disappearance. "There are so many things that lead us to believe she wouldn’t have walked away from her life here."
A close family friend from Bishkek, a man whose children she had baby-sat when she was younger, reported her missing after he and her parents hadn’t heard from her, McCaul said. She kept in close touch with her parents, had almost daily e-mail contact with several friends, including a Russian mail-order bride in Seattle. Both women were students at the University of Washington.
Anastasia King worked at McCormick’s Fish House in downtown Seattle and had told her boss she planned to return to work after her vacation. She had signed up for fall classes at the UW, where her adviser also reported her missing when she didn’t return to school. She didn’t drive but traveled by bus.
Police plan to distribute fliers in the area of the Kings’ home in the 5200 block of 213th St. SW, as well as to businesses along 212th Street, McCaul said
Her husband, Indle King Jr., flew to Russia and stayed with her parents in Kyrgyzstan for three days before the couple flew home, McCaul said.
Indle King told police that he and his wife had an argument at the airport in Moscow and she walked away, telling him she planned to stay in Russia, McCaul said. Federal immigration and Customs agents told police that both Indle and Anastasia returned on the same flight. He said he wasn’t aware she was aboard, McCaul said.
King filed for divorce on Aug. 21. In court documents, he said he had tried to reach his wife by contacting her friends, but that she was avoiding him to keep from being served with divorce papers. He also alleged that she hid to keep from being deported by U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service officials.
During their two-year marriage, police responded twice to the couple’s home — once to a domestic dispute between the two, and once for a dispute between others in the house, McCaul. Neither incident involved physical violence and no arrests were made, he said.
King did not return a call for comment.
Police searched her safety deposit box, where they found marriage documents, several hundred dollars in cash, more than 200 photographs and miscellaneous papers, McCaul said.
"We have tossed so many scenarios between us," McCaul said. "We just don’t know (what happened to her). She is missing. There is no indication of foul play at this time. We want to get her picture out there. We’re hoping we’ll get some tips, some leads that we can go on."
Anastasia King is white, 5 feet 7 inches tall, 150 pounds, with bleached blond hair and green eyes. She has been known to dye her hair red or black.
Police ask anyone who knows where she is to call Detective Julie Jamison or McCaul at 425-670-8258, or call SnoCom dispatch center at 425-775-4545 regarding case number 00-2709.
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