Post by LadyBlue on Jul 4, 2006 20:46:04 GMT -5
It is, perhaps, a tantalizing clue an orphan speck of DNA recovered during the search for missing schoolteacher and beauty queen Tara Grinstead.
But despite a massive effort by state and local law enforcement officials, authorities still don't know whom it came from, says criminologist Dr. Maurice Godwin, or whether it might hold the key to solving the mystery of Grinstead's disappearance.
Officially, authorities will not even confirm the existence of the DNA evidence, or any of the other leads Godwin has claimed to uncovered in the months since he launched his own probe into the schoolteacher's disappearance. "The issuesare not something we're going to comment on," said John Bankhead, a spokesman for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The case, officials say, remains a missing persons investigation, and authorities have uncovered no evidence to suggest that the young teacher was the victim of foul play. In the past, authorities have been circumspect in their comments on Godwin's assertions about the case.
But Godwin, who says he has been working "fourteen or 15 hours a day on the case" at the behest of Tara's family, contends that GBI officials not only have the DNA evidence but have taken it seriously enough that they have collected DNA samples from a number of men in Tara's life. "They're swabbing people right and left," Godwin said. "You don't swab people without having something to compare it to."
So far, Godwin says, the GBI has not come up with a match, not from Tara's former boyfriend, not from a police captain in a nearby community with whom she enjoyed a close friendship, not from any of the other men in who played a prominent role in her life.
Precisely where the evidence was recovered also remains a closely guarded secret. "I know," Godwin told Crime Library. "I can't tell you."
In the meantime, Godwin says, he has turned over to investigators information he obtained last month regarding two witnesses who claim to have spotted a black Chevy pickup near Tara's house on the night nearly eight months ago when she disappeared after attending the local Sweet Potato festival and beauty pageant. One of those witnesses, he says, claimed to have exchanged words with the driver of the pickup. Again, GBI officials declined to comment on Godwin's assertion, other than to say that the probe remains open and investigators are aggressively tracking every lead.
But despite a massive effort by state and local law enforcement officials, authorities still don't know whom it came from, says criminologist Dr. Maurice Godwin, or whether it might hold the key to solving the mystery of Grinstead's disappearance.
Officially, authorities will not even confirm the existence of the DNA evidence, or any of the other leads Godwin has claimed to uncovered in the months since he launched his own probe into the schoolteacher's disappearance. "The issuesare not something we're going to comment on," said John Bankhead, a spokesman for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The case, officials say, remains a missing persons investigation, and authorities have uncovered no evidence to suggest that the young teacher was the victim of foul play. In the past, authorities have been circumspect in their comments on Godwin's assertions about the case.
But Godwin, who says he has been working "fourteen or 15 hours a day on the case" at the behest of Tara's family, contends that GBI officials not only have the DNA evidence but have taken it seriously enough that they have collected DNA samples from a number of men in Tara's life. "They're swabbing people right and left," Godwin said. "You don't swab people without having something to compare it to."
So far, Godwin says, the GBI has not come up with a match, not from Tara's former boyfriend, not from a police captain in a nearby community with whom she enjoyed a close friendship, not from any of the other men in who played a prominent role in her life.
Precisely where the evidence was recovered also remains a closely guarded secret. "I know," Godwin told Crime Library. "I can't tell you."
In the meantime, Godwin says, he has turned over to investigators information he obtained last month regarding two witnesses who claim to have spotted a black Chevy pickup near Tara's house on the night nearly eight months ago when she disappeared after attending the local Sweet Potato festival and beauty pageant. One of those witnesses, he says, claimed to have exchanged words with the driver of the pickup. Again, GBI officials declined to comment on Godwin's assertion, other than to say that the probe remains open and investigators are aggressively tracking every lead.