By Marilyn Bardsley
OCILLA, GA (Crime Library) — It was a beautiful mid-December Georgia weekend, crisp and cool in the morning, quickly warming up to near perfect by lunch.
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| Volunteers |
Instead of Christmas shopping, harvesting pecans, or putting up the Christmas tree, hundreds of volunteers from as far away as
South Dakota and
Florida gave up their family weekend to search again for any sign of missing
Georgia history teacher Tara Grinstead. Mike Wild, with video camera in hand, and I came to chronicle the event in words and photos for Court TV's Crime Library.
Like the earlier search conducted in Nov., the gathering place was the spacious Irwin County Senior Citizens Center. By 7:30 a.m. Inside, the aroma of freshly-made coffee, bacon and pork sausage, scrambled eggs and mountains of warm, sticky pastries welcomed the volunteers who had crowded into the center to register and join the designated search teams.
Many of the volunteers sported shirts and jackets identifying themselves as sheriff's deputies, fire department, and search and rescue professionals surrounding counties and jurisdictions as far away as Atlanta. Others I recognized as teachers, friends and students who been deeply involved in the search from the day Tara was discovered missing.
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| Beth Holloway Twitty |
Another familiar figure, though not from my earlier visits to Ocilla, was Beth Holloway Twitty, mother of missing Alabama honor student Natalee Holloway, who is instantly recognizable to anyone who watches television on a regular basis. Beth, a teacher like Tara Grinstead, drove over ten hours round trip to support the volunteer recruitment for the search for Tara. Unaffected by her "celebrity" status, she spent a couple days empathizing with and encouraging the local folks in the quest for their beloved Tara. A number of volunteers told me of how inspired they were by Beth's strength and faith despite the suffering she has endured from the loss of her daughter and the frustration of the dealing with the incompetent Aruban authorities.
Next Page
Beth Twitty To Join Hunt for Tara Grinstead
Tara Sightings & New Timing Questions
New Search Planned for Tara Grinstead
Taras Family, Friends Hoping for a Miracle
Beauty Queen & Teacher Tara Grinstead Goes Missing
Return to full Tara Grinstead coverage
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