T Is for Tara Grinstead
This month I'm participating in the A to Z Challenge. My theme this year is Unsolved Mysteries. Today's letter is:
Tara Grinstead was a former beauty pageant contestant, having competed for Miss Georgia in 1999. She used her pageant winnings to pay for college.
On October 22nd, 2005, she spent the morning helping a group of girls prepare for the Miss Georgia Sweet Potato pageant.
On the evening of October 22nd, she was seen at a cookout with some friends from school. She left the barbecue at approximately 11 p.m., saying she was going home to watch the video of the Sweet Potato pageant. Normally when she arrived home, though, she'd turn on a lamp to let neighbors know she'd made it safely. That night, the lamp never came on.
On Monday morning, when Tara didn't show up at the school where she worked, friends contacted the local police department. When officers arrived, they found her car in its usual spot. Inside the unlocked car was an envelope with $100 in cash. Everything looked normal inside the house.
The clothes she'd been wearing at the cookout were on the floor. Her bed looked slept in and her cell phone was on the charger. It looked like she'd arrived home and left the house temporarily. Outside the house was a business card wedged in the door and a latex glove on the ground.
Police believed a crime had occurred at the residence, but they've yet to pinpoint a credible suspect. A man's DNA was found on the glove. In 2008, the case received renewed attention when it was connected to the disappearance of Jennifer Kesse in Orlando three months later.
Jennifer arrived home on Monday, January 23rd, called first her parents and then her boyfriend, and said she was going to bed. Police believe she was abducted the next morning as she walked to her car to go to work. This man was seen parking her car and walking away. He has never been identified.
Do you believe the two cases are connected?
⬅️ S Is for the Springfield Three
Tara Grinstead was a former beauty pageant contestant, having competed for Miss Georgia in 1999. She used her pageant winnings to pay for college.
On October 22nd, 2005, she spent the morning helping a group of girls prepare for the Miss Georgia Sweet Potato pageant.
On the evening of October 22nd, she was seen at a cookout with some friends from school. She left the barbecue at approximately 11 p.m., saying she was going home to watch the video of the Sweet Potato pageant. Normally when she arrived home, though, she'd turn on a lamp to let neighbors know she'd made it safely. That night, the lamp never came on.
On Monday morning, when Tara didn't show up at the school where she worked, friends contacted the local police department. When officers arrived, they found her car in its usual spot. Inside the unlocked car was an envelope with $100 in cash. Everything looked normal inside the house.
The clothes she'd been wearing at the cookout were on the floor. Her bed looked slept in and her cell phone was on the charger. It looked like she'd arrived home and left the house temporarily. Outside the house was a business card wedged in the door and a latex glove on the ground.
Police believed a crime had occurred at the residence, but they've yet to pinpoint a credible suspect. A man's DNA was found on the glove. In 2008, the case received renewed attention when it was connected to the disappearance of Jennifer Kesse in Orlando three months later.
Jennifer arrived home on Monday, January 23rd, called first her parents and then her boyfriend, and said she was going to bed. Police believe she was abducted the next morning as she walked to her car to go to work. This man was seen parking her car and walking away. He has never been identified.
Do you believe the two cases are connected?
⬅️ S Is for the Springfield Three
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