Please Come Home, Sister Begs Runaway -- Father Committed Suicide After 15-Year-Old Ran Away

FEDERAL WAY - Tracy Lyne has a message for her sister: Please come home.

The 15-year-old left home in March, and Lyne is worried that something has happened to her.

So are police.

Katya Lyne's disappearance is one more tragedy in a long list for her 20-year-old sister.

Several days after Katya disappeared, their father, Pat Lyne, committed suicide. It's possible Katya may not know her father is dead.

The night before she disappeared, Katya (pronounced Ka-tee-uh) had an argument with her father over her grades at Auburn High School. He had considered placing her in another school, hoping she would do better, but she was opposed to the idea.

Tracy, who had been a student at Seattle Pacific University, stopped by the next morning to say hello and found Katya gone.

Her disappearance added to Pat Lyne's worrries. He had lost a job at Boeing a few months before, and before that a 27-year marriage had come to an end.

He reported his daughter as a runaway, and friends and family members began knocking on doors, and made thousands of fliers asking for information about Katya's whereabouts.

Three days later, on March 25, Pat Lyne took his life.

Detective Lee Leddy said Federal Way police from the start have investigated a possible connection between Katya's disappearance and her father's suicide. But he said there was no indication that Katya - who lived alone with her father - had been abused. He also said that based on the opinions of family and friends, it was unlikely for her to just disappear.

Over the past few months, there have been three possible sightings, but none was confirmed.

Katya, who was born in El Salvador and adopted by the Lynes as a baby, is 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weighs about 125 pounds.

"She's a bright girl and more articulate than many of her peers," Leddy said.

He said Katya may be in the Seattle area because she attended a modeling school in downtown Seattle and was familiar with the neighborhoods.

For Tracy Lyne, her sister's disappearance is one more worry. When Lyne was a student at Federal Way's Decatur High School, she was state balance-beam champion, winning a gymnastics scholarship to Seattle Pacific University. However, a torn ligament forced her to leave the team, and as a result she lost her scholarship and dropped out of college. She's supporting herself by painting houses.

Tracy is worried, too, about her mother, Trudy. Trudy Lyne is recovering from breast cancer.

But most of all she's worried about Katya.

"I feel guilty if I go out with my friends. I feel I should be out looking for her," Tracy said.

She handed out 4,000 fliers at a Mariner game one night. The fliers have photos of Katya, the number to call if anyone has any information - 253-661-4600, ext. 4747 - and a message for her little sister:

"We love you very much."

Nancy Bartley's phone message number is 253-946-3978. Her e-mail address is: nbar-new@seatimes.com