by Seamus McGraw

(Continued)  

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But Tara 's supporters, including her half-sister Anita and brother-in-law Larry Gattis, contend that though Sheriff Donnie Youghn later relented, he initially tried to block their search, at one point threatening to arrest one of the volunteers.

Sheriff Donnie Youghn

Youghn, who did not respond to repeated requests for an interview, has reportedly denied that. And Robinson on Wednesday rushed to the sheriff's defense.

"I've tried to keep my ear to the ground," Robinson said, "and the things that are coming out are bordering on slanderous and I just couldn't stand for it."

Robinson contends that throughout his high-tech searches for Grinstead, Youghn and his deputies were actively involved and did everything possible to help them. "I mean we couldn't even wish out loud for something and we had it," he said.

Robinson also took issue with allegations that some properties in the immediate area had been missed or given short shrift during the searches last year. Robinson maintained that aerial drones had patrolled the entire area, and that he personally with the help of a deputy sheriff used a grappling hook to search a well on Harper's family land, not once but twice.

Un-manned arial vehicle RP Flight Systems

Gattis on Tuesday said that neighboring property owners told Tara 's family that their land had been overlooked in the initial searches and one property owner, Betty Mixon, has told Gattis that she had grave concerns about a well in a remote spot on her land.

An area of interest that was searched

But Robinson maintains that searchers were well aware of that site, though it remains unclear whether a full on-the-ground search was ever conducted. "It was marked by GPS," Robinson said, and a physical search of the property was planned, but Robinson said he was not certain that the search had been conducted. It was possible, Robinson said, that the search could have been conducted without the landowner's knowledge. On more than one occasion while Robinson was in the field, he said, landowners could not be reached and the sheriff, "stood up and said 'go ahead, I'll take the heat.'"

For her part, Mixon says she too is uncertain whether a ground search had been done on her property before last weekend. "I'm 89 years old and I don't go out there much anymore," Mixon told Crime Library, "so I don't really know if they've searched it before or not."

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