POI- John David Andersen

[believe09]

JDA processed Tara's car for GBI, without disclosing his relationship with either Tara or Marcus Harper. He grew up in a house down the street from Tara's father. He was married at the time of Tara's disappearance.

Did he find a shirt of Tara's and throw it in the trunk of his car?

 

[christine2448]

The hardest thing about this case is being able to know what is fact and what is fiction.

I recall it being said that many left Ocilla w/in the 1st 6 months after Tara's disappearance, was he one of them? I am curious to confirm how long did he live in Ocilla, did he leave shortly after she disappeared?

I also recall reading somewhere John had a K-9 that couldn't pick up Tara's scent past the driveway....trying to find a link to confirm this also, fact or rumor?

 

[LillyRush]

I don't know who this guy is (aside from an Ocilla police officer), what is the theory behind him being a POI? I imagine it would have been hard to find an officer who didn't at least know of either one of them, but I guess if he had very personal ties to them he should have disclosed that fact before getting involved with processing the scene.

 

[RememberTara]

JDA is the Police Chief of Fort Valley, GA. He has been in that position since he left the Ben Hill County Sheriff’s Department in January of 2006. Prior to that, he worked in Irwin County at the Sheriff’s Department and Ocilla Police Department. He grew-up in Ocilla and was a year behind MH Irwin County High School. His father lived very close to Billy Grinstead when Tara was staying with the Grinsteads. When Tara moved into her own place, it was within a couple of blocks his father’s home. Supposedly MH first met Tara at the Anderson’s home.
As I understand it, JDA processed Tara’s car the morning she was reported missing and was involved in a canine search of Tara’s yard. From what I have read, JDA is very respected by his peers and has an extensive background in LE (unfortunately, those stories were ran in a local paper when JDA took the position and are not available on line). I have never heard exactly why he was at Tara’s Monday morning but I expect his help was requested by Chief Hancock.

http://www.fortvalleyusa.com/police.cfm
http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local_story.aspx?storyid=20543
http://www.macon.com/197/story/364844.html

 

[LillyRush]

Thanks very much for the explanation, RememberTara!

And the POI part...is it that people think Tara was seeing him at one time leaving him with some kind of personal motive?

 

[believe09]

Ahhh, LR-it depends on where you stand with the conspiracy theories...IIRC, JDA did csi type investigation for GBI and other LE in the area. The lines blur a little when it comes to his relationships with Tara and MH-some have stated that he was a friend of MH and I have read rumors that he and Tara dated casually. The other issue I have seen raised was whether or not he found or was handed a shirt with red stains on it, which he tossed into the trunk of his car, never to be seen again...GBI has been quoted in stories from the Crime Library boards as indicating if they had known he had ties to Tara, they never would have called him to process her car. My recollection of the timeline of events was that the Chief called GBI pretty quickly once it seemed that Tara was really missing and no one immediately knew her whereabouts.

 

[RememberTara]

...The other issue I have seen raised was whether or not he found or was handed a shirt with red stains on it, which he tossed into the trunk of his car, never to be seen again...

The person involved with the shirt was not JDA. Also FWIW, I was assured months later that the shirt had been turned over to the GBI.

 

[believe09]

The person involved with the shirt was not JDA. Also FWIW, I was assured months later that the shirt had been turned over to the GBI.

Thank you for the correction.

 

[Esah]

The person involved with the shirt was not JDA. Also FWIW, I was assured months later that the shirt had been turned over to the GBI.

I am surprised to read this RT. I had always heard from a very reliable source that it was JDA that was there when the shirt was recovered. I'm not sure why it matters who was actually there and recovered a shirt, but I had always heard it was JDA. I'm glad that it was turned over to the GBI regardless.

Were you on this search and know this for a fact? Just trying to make sense of this detail after all this time. Thanks.

 

[LillyRush]

Thanks for the additional information, everyone.

I'd seen the initials JDA tossed around before, but could not place him as far as his role, etc.

 

[believe09]

I am surprised to read this RT. I had always heard from a very reliable source that it was JDA that was there when the shirt was recovered. I'm not sure why it matters who was actually there and recovered a shirt, but I had always heard it was JDA. I'm glad that it was turned over to the GBI regardless.

Were you on this search and know this for a fact? Just trying to make sense of this detail after all this time. Thanks.

This was how I remembered the detail as well, Esah...

 

[Esah]

Me too, Believe. I also want to point out that the shirt itself is far more important than who found it, bagged it and turned it in. JMO.

What evidence is on this shirt that makes it important enough to clarify who 'didn't' turn it in? This detail doesn't really matter in the big picture does it? After all, that person was just doing their job, who ever it was.

Obviously any evidence on that shirt is too sensitive an answer to post publicly but the question remains.

 

[LillyRush]

Is this the one that was a women's softball t-shirt? Or is this something else entirely?

 

[RememberTara]

It is two different items from two separate searches from two different areas. I believe the softball shirt was mentioned in a crime library article in the early months of searching. The other item was found in January on a TES search.

 

[LillyRush]

Thanks, RT. I didn't know that any other articles of clothing had been found during the searches.

 

[bpinkbinkie]

John David Anderson Fired for Sexual Harrassment

http://www.macon.com/2012/03/17/1948917/sexual-harassment-allegations.html

 

[believe09]

Welcome to WS bpinkbinkie!!!!!

Now isnt that tidbit interesting. Really interesting.

 

[bpinkbinkie]

Thank you for the welcome - I have been reading the boards for years. I was doing a little sleuthing on my own last night after seeing the Dateline program on Tara Grinstead for about the 10th time and just had to post when I came across this article.

 

[believe09]

I wonder if GBI pulled his cell phone records...txts etc around the time of Tara's disappearance. I am certain that they did.

 

[LillyRush]

Well, that's certainly interesting. Just a couple of years ago I didn't know who this guy was and now he just shot to the Top 5 of my POI list. lol I wonder if he ever referred to Tara as a "badge bunny". Creepy.