Missing Voluntarily?

[christine2448]

Until Tara is found, every theory is a possibility.

Did Tara leave for some reason on her own? Was it planned, or did something set her off and she ran?

 

[SeekingJana]

I posted this in more depth in the Gen. Discussion, but when one looks at the info released to the public by LE in any case, it must take precedence over rumors, innuendo, speculation. Right?

LE has released posters/ flyers for 2 and a half years which declare Tara Grinstead to be MISSING. Because I believe that an important part of rational case discussion has fallen into camps of one conspiracy theory or a bevy of murder theories, I want to go right back to the beginning like this board did tonight, and state that I believe that Tara Grinstead is exactly what LE states that she is- MISSING.

I do not know the wherefores and circumstances surrounding her missing status other than that her purse and keys are said to be missing as well. It gives me a good feeling to realize that her status is not the same as my distant cousin Jana Witt's- Jana is declared Missing- Endangered on her Missing Poster.
Tara is NOT declared Endangered. She is simply " Missing".

As I said in my other post, tomorrow is Mother's Day, and her family will be missing her once again.. Reading about what a lovely young woman she is, I believe that if she could be with them, she would be. I'm sure her family knows this.
Lives can change on a dime, for a thousand different reasons which we are not privy to. Tara is cared about by thousands of people who have never met her, and is known and loved by specific people in her life.
I want to honor them as well as Tara by not putting any conditions on the " missing" status.

IOW, she is missing from the last known things in her environment: her job in Ocilla, her pets,her house, her car, her friends, but we cannot know why or any other condition of the missing status. Just like I have no clue as to what has happened to my distant relative.. no one knows. Both women have families and friends who love them, and Tara certainly has a beautiful and gifted personality and extreme intelligence which gives her an advantage, IMO.

Misisng from their last known location does not equal a runaway, an abduction or an undiscovered murder until or unless the case facts change.
In my opnion.

Respectfully,
Maria

 

[believe09]

We need docwho3 to repost or we need his archived posts on this subject brought forward again...he had some pretty succinct statements regarding this. I have seen cases when the missing person left voluntarily, but all of the pressure and media attention made them fearful of returning....sort of like telling a lie and having it all snowball? I do not know if this is the case here-I find GBI's statements regarding foul play troubling, but is is a possibility. Were there any sightings that made it into the media?

 

[concernedperson]

I started a thread when I opened the forum about runaway being a possible...would love to discuss that more.

Today I opened an thread to discuss the evidence.

Not likely at this point that Tara is a runaway when authorities believe this is foul play. The fact of the glove containing DNA doesn't suggest that someone would be casually picking up Tara for a date or a runaway situation. Why wear gloves?

The runaway aspect at this juncture really doesn't make any sense. It could be akin to Hans Reiser saying this about his ex wife but he finally led authorities to her body today.

If we want this case to be solved than we need to be apprised of what has transpired and what GBI has recently said. That is where the help can be. Otherwise, nothing is being done for Tara.

 

[believe09]

Not likely at this point that Tara is a runaway when authorities believe this is foul play. The fact of the glove containing DNA doesn't suggest that someone would be casually picking up Tara for a date or a runaway situation. Why wear gloves?

The runaway aspect at this juncture really doesn't make any sense. It could be akin to Hans Reiser saying this about his ex wife but he finally led authorities to her body today.

If we want this case to be solved than we need to be apprised of what has transpired and what GBI has recently said. That is where the help can be. Otherwise, nothing is being done for Tara.

Respectfully, unless there is evidence from Tara on the glove, how do we know for sure the glove is not just something someone dropped?

I have to say however, the whole stranger abduction has me floored-i suppose that it may be likely that some of this was staged by Tara herself even if there is evidence on the glove that can be linked back to her. Let me state clearly that I do not know what I believe at this point...

 

[christine2448]

I think it's possible that she could be missing voluntarily...but, at this moment, unlikely. MOO

Why?......the glove, it is suspicious, and until we know for sure what evidence it holds, I am suspicious of it. The clock being under the bed and wrong time. The jossled lamp (I am not however convinced this wasn't already broken), the fact that GBI still holds her automobile....ummm, completely out of character for her, the cadaver hits in the fire on Snapdragon, the actions/reactions I have witnessed to those close to the case on the internet...all that, right now, has me singing foul play. I do not know this case inside and out so if I am incorrect, don't hesitate. I am going by memory here :crazy:

 

[concernedperson]

Respectfully, unless there is evidence from Tara on the glove, how do we know for sure the glove is not just something someone dropped?

I have to say however, the whole stranger abduction has me floored-i suppose that it may be likely that some of this was staged by Tara herself even if there is evidence on the glove that can be linked back to her. Let me state clearly that I do not know what I believe at this point...

This is a quote from Gary Rothwell on the Greta phone interview from last week.



ROTHWELL: Circumstances that are evident to us make it clear that that glove will solve this case, that the glove was definitely associated with her disappearance, more than just appearing on the lawn.

 

[LillyRush]

Maybe they found the broken pieces that were bit off of the glove in an area of her house.

 

[browneyedgirl]

I believe that Tara is the victim of murder. I dont think she would have left on her own and abandoned her mother, especially in her health. I have never heard, read or saw a single person claim that Tara was a selfish person. And, it would take a very selfish person to take off and leave their families, home, career and not to metion her animals, never to be heard from again.

I think she was tricked into opening her door at a late hour by someone she knew and I think this person had one reason only for coming to Tara's home that fateful Saturday night. I am one of the very few that believe that this monster came back to Tara's after disposing of her body and straightened up the crime scene. I just dont think he did a very good job of it. I have always wondered how LE missed the broken beaded necklace laying on Tara's bedroom floor under her bed? They didnt find it until the 2nd search, IIRC.

I also think that the fire on Snapdragon Rd has always been significant to Tara as well. I believe that her dead body was taken there in the SUV that burned in the garage. I think it is very telling, when you start putting the pieces of the puzzle together and include the info we have from the fire.

Whatever happened to Tara, her fate, Im sure was unimaginable and I just want justice for her and for the life she was robbed of living because of one persons selfishness. Tara, wherever you are, we will not stop looking for you.

 

[MrsSimon]

There are several missing persons who I believe walked away from their lives, however, Tara is not one of them. I just don't see it. I truly believe she is dead and was the victim of foul play.

 

[Ruflossn]

I also think that the fire on Snapdragon Rd has always been significant to Tara as well. I believe that her dead body was taken there in the SUV that burned in the garage. I think it is very telling, when you start putting the pieces of the puzzle together and include the info we have from the fire.

Hi Browneyedgirl~
Was there a body found in the SUV? If so, was forensic testing done on it?

 

[concernedperson]

Hi Browneyedgirl~
Was there a body found in the SUV? If so, was forensic testing done on it?

I will answer since browneyedgirl is not here. There was no body found in the SUV or anywhere on the premises. However, there were several teams of cadaver dogs that "hit" or indicated a corpse in several places, one of which was the SUV. If I am not mistaken it was in the rear of the SUV.

If you read the fire reports there is a staked out area where the cadaver dogs hit in the house. That was the official arson investigators report. The dog's used for arson are not the same as the dogs used for cadaver scent.

I believe the dogs used for cadaver scent were GBI dogs and that is a separate report and sealed and not needed for the arson/undetermined aspect of this fire. The owners of the property were in no way culpable and in no way should they have been penalized for what was done to their property.

IMO, this Snapdragon Rd. incident was a holding area for what happened to Tara and then she was moved.

 

[Ruflossn]

Thank-you Concerned Person for the information. I am curious about the SUV that burned in the garage. Who owned it? Was it stolen?

 

[concernedperson]

Thank-you Concerned Person for the information. I am curious about the SUV that burned in the garage. Who owned it? Was it stolen?

It wasn't stolen it belonged to the spouse of the woman who cleaned for the out-of-town owners. It didn't burn in the garage as I believe the property only had a carport and this vehicle was found outside of that area but on the property.

The owner of the vehicle has since been arrested and convicted on drug charges but his name has not come up officially in Tara's investigation so it best that I don't mention it. I don't think he had anything to do with harming Tara but POSSIBLY his vehicle/access to the house etc. could have had something to do with Tara's disappearance and is a sticking point for me now as well as in the past.There were no other missing person's from that town and, yet, cadaver dogs hit on that property.

 

[Trino]

When Tara initiailly disappeared, I, too, theorized that she might have voluntarily disappeared, but as time passed with such a high visiblity case, no sightings, and no contact with anyone, I became certain she was no longer alive. IMO GBI has come to the same conclusion but with no leads to support an arrest.

This isn't NYC or Detroit. There's just something strange about a woman in small town America being abducted without evidence and never found. I'm very doubtful this was a sexual assault. It wasn't robbery. Not drugs. So what's the reason? I've always thought someone local - maybe even involved - knows more than they're willing to say.

 

[fran]

I've always felt this was an abduction and murder. IMHO, there is more than one person in that location (county) that knows what happened to Tara. They know who they are and why.

At this point, it's mere speculation on my part.

JMHO
fran

 

[Trino]

As a former social studies teacher, I became intrigued with the case before it became national news. Now I check off and on.

It's amazing what some people can live with without feeling guilt. Then, too, blood and relationship are thicker than water in this tightly woven community. Maybe a deathbed confession, but I sincerely doubt that, too. Maybe talk over the years could bring some surprises. I suspect, however, we could be discussing Tara for many years to come. That's just the nature of those involved. Don't you wonder how such individuals can live with themselves?

 

[LillyRush]

I've tried to give the missing voluntarily theory some credit, but it's hard to do when the people who've promoted that theory the most seemed to have had personal ties (one way or the other) with her ex-boyfriend. By ex-boyfriend, I'm referring to Marcus Harper. Am I allowed to say that name outloud? Anyway, it's like that saying about where there's smoke there's fire (literally it seems, in this case).

On a practical note, why on earth would Tara need to disappear just to get out of Ocilla? She could have moved back to Hawkinsville or to Valdosta closer to where she was getting her graduate degree. She could have even moved to Atlanta, she had friends there. With any of those options, she had legitimate reasons to be there and would not have needed to fake a disappearance just to relocate there.

 

[WmHersey]

Until Tara is found, every theory is a possibility.

Did Tara leave for some reason on her own? Was it planned, or did something set her off and she ran?

I think it was well planned murder. They had some kind of fool proof way of disposing of the body so they will never be found. She did not leave of her own accord. Scene in bedroom suggests struggle.

 

[docwho3]

I never did go back & try to repost the info from my previous posts in the tara discussion, as a poster suggested, mostly because I had been working pretty hard on many different things for some time as well as following websleuths cases so I was really too tired to go back and redo it. Also there was the just the chance the posts would be just stirring up the same old sorts of back & forth posts as before without really helping the case along.

So far I have seen nothing to really change my outlook that tara may have left on her own. Inspite of hints to the contrary by various posters and some concerns that an L.E. or two may have voiced I have not read of anything concrete to tip the balance from voluntary missing to a crime having taken place.

Having said all that, I take note that no theory should be held once concrete facts to the contrary surface & so if concrete evidence of a crime surfaces I am willing to jump on the it-was-a-crime band wagon.
Perhaps L.E. has such concrete evidence or perhaps not but until I know one way or the other I continue to consider a runaway statistically likely.