The Mysterious Disappearance of Tara Grinstead
Suspicion Grows
As Tara's sister, Anita Gattis would later tell reporters, Tara Grinstead was a grounded, Christian woman, a responsible and well-respected member of the community, who in her mind, would not simply run off.
From the very beginning, Gattis, and others who had known Tara over the years, feared that she might have been the victim of foul play. Perhaps, they fretted, she had been abducted or worse.
Though there was no evidence to support that conclusion, Ocilla Police Chief Billy Hancock knew that he would have to tread cautiously in the investigation, authorities have told Crime Library. In any missing person's case, Hancock realized, friends and acquaintances can offer all kinds of valuable information, and no one would have been more valuable to learn about Tara's mindset than Harper, Tara's ex-boyfriend. But Harper was a former Ocilla police officer who still had strong ties to the department. In fact, the night Tara disappeared, Harper had been at police headquarters and traveled around the community until the wee hours of Sunday morning in the company of an Ocilla police officer.
Nor was Harper the only cop in Tara's life. Among her closest friends and confidents was Heath Dykes, a captain in the Perry police department. Realizing the potential for allegations that the local authorities might have conflicting loyalties, Hancock quickly summoned the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.