Babes
01-30-2006, 10:04 AM
http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/0106/2401_congressman_meets_fbi.html
By Seamus McGraw
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(Crime Library ) OCILLA, GA (Jan. 24, 2006) Though he has nothing but praise for the way the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has handled the four month old probe into the fate of missing school teacher and beauty queen Tara Grinstead, Congressman Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) says he plans to meet, perhaps as early as Wednesday, with FBI officials to discuss the young woman's mysterious disappearance.
Rep. Jack Kingston
"I don't sense that they're sitting on anything, I think they're vigorously pursuing this," Kingston said of the state's leading investigative unit during a brief interview Tuesday with Crime Library. "This is you know high profile so that they're not going to let it get on the back shelf."
Kingston, a seven-term Republican and a member of the House GOP leadership, made his comments after a brief meeting with Grinstead's family and local authorities spearheading the search for the missing woman. Kingston, whose district includes the rural Georgia community where Grinstead was last seen, credited the GBI with conducting a thorough investigation, thus far. Investigators, he noted, have quizzed all the key players in the missing teacher's life, including family members and former boyfriends. But if authorities have learned anything that might shed light on Grinstead's fate, he said, they're keeping it to themselves.
"Everybody has checked out...those that were close to her, but then again there could be things that the GBI for their own reasons don't want to disclose up to this point," the congressman said.
Despite his praise for the GBI, Kingston said he has scheduled a meeting with federal investigators to discuss a possible FBI role in the probe. "The FBI has not really been called in on the case, they're gonna help the GBI if they're asked, but right now the GBI has been handling it themselves, there's no federal hook," he said. Kingston said he plans to explore with FBI officials "what it is that we can do, what would bring them in."
While the FBI can assist local and state authorities, and offer its technical and investigative expertise as a resource to them, it is generally barred from actively participating in a case unless it is a major crime that crossed state lines or unless it involves a violation of federal laws.
Kingston Fears Tara Will Become One More Missing Person Mystery in America
Congressman To Meet With FBI To Discuss Missing School Teacher
Kingston Looks For Federal Role in Four Month Old Search for Tara Grinstead
(Crime Library ) OCILLA, GA — So far, investigators in Georgia have been unable to prove that either of those conditions has been met in the Grinstead case. In the four months since the popular young teacher vanished, state and local investigators have been unable to determine conclusively whether she simply ran away, or was kidnapped or worse.
Repeated searches, the latest last weekend involved more than 100 volunteers and a battery of high-tech equipment manned by experts from Texas EquuSearch, have so far yielded no significant clues. Officially, the GBI still considers the matter a missing person's case, and because they have uncovered no evidence that a crime has been committed, the agency insists that it has no suspects.
Authorities have acknowledged however that they have interviewed — and in some cases given polygraph tests to — several people, among them men Grinstead had dated. Recently, investigators have begun interviewing some of those men again.
Echoing the frustration of Grinstead's family and her supporters, Kingston said; "We don't seem to be getting traction on any of the leads, though I will say that I think the GBI has a lot of stuff which...they don't want to publicize."
In addition to exploring an FBI role in the probe, Kingston said he also plans to talk to officials at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the central training facility for the US Department of Homeland Security, also located in Georgia, about the possibility of enlisting trainees to join in future searches for Grinstead.
Outside the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
"What we don't want is this thing just to fade away into one more missing person mystery in the United States of America," Kingston said. "You know in November and early December, things were pretty hot, but I think some of the fanfare wears off and people move on to other issues and we just don't want that to happen."
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By Seamus McGraw
advertisement
(Crime Library ) OCILLA, GA (Jan. 24, 2006) Though he has nothing but praise for the way the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has handled the four month old probe into the fate of missing school teacher and beauty queen Tara Grinstead, Congressman Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) says he plans to meet, perhaps as early as Wednesday, with FBI officials to discuss the young woman's mysterious disappearance.
Rep. Jack Kingston
"I don't sense that they're sitting on anything, I think they're vigorously pursuing this," Kingston said of the state's leading investigative unit during a brief interview Tuesday with Crime Library. "This is you know high profile so that they're not going to let it get on the back shelf."
Kingston, a seven-term Republican and a member of the House GOP leadership, made his comments after a brief meeting with Grinstead's family and local authorities spearheading the search for the missing woman. Kingston, whose district includes the rural Georgia community where Grinstead was last seen, credited the GBI with conducting a thorough investigation, thus far. Investigators, he noted, have quizzed all the key players in the missing teacher's life, including family members and former boyfriends. But if authorities have learned anything that might shed light on Grinstead's fate, he said, they're keeping it to themselves.
"Everybody has checked out...those that were close to her, but then again there could be things that the GBI for their own reasons don't want to disclose up to this point," the congressman said.
Despite his praise for the GBI, Kingston said he has scheduled a meeting with federal investigators to discuss a possible FBI role in the probe. "The FBI has not really been called in on the case, they're gonna help the GBI if they're asked, but right now the GBI has been handling it themselves, there's no federal hook," he said. Kingston said he plans to explore with FBI officials "what it is that we can do, what would bring them in."
While the FBI can assist local and state authorities, and offer its technical and investigative expertise as a resource to them, it is generally barred from actively participating in a case unless it is a major crime that crossed state lines or unless it involves a violation of federal laws.
Kingston Fears Tara Will Become One More Missing Person Mystery in America
Congressman To Meet With FBI To Discuss Missing School Teacher
Kingston Looks For Federal Role in Four Month Old Search for Tara Grinstead
(Crime Library ) OCILLA, GA — So far, investigators in Georgia have been unable to prove that either of those conditions has been met in the Grinstead case. In the four months since the popular young teacher vanished, state and local investigators have been unable to determine conclusively whether she simply ran away, or was kidnapped or worse.
Repeated searches, the latest last weekend involved more than 100 volunteers and a battery of high-tech equipment manned by experts from Texas EquuSearch, have so far yielded no significant clues. Officially, the GBI still considers the matter a missing person's case, and because they have uncovered no evidence that a crime has been committed, the agency insists that it has no suspects.
Authorities have acknowledged however that they have interviewed — and in some cases given polygraph tests to — several people, among them men Grinstead had dated. Recently, investigators have begun interviewing some of those men again.
Echoing the frustration of Grinstead's family and her supporters, Kingston said; "We don't seem to be getting traction on any of the leads, though I will say that I think the GBI has a lot of stuff which...they don't want to publicize."
In addition to exploring an FBI role in the probe, Kingston said he also plans to talk to officials at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, the central training facility for the US Department of Homeland Security, also located in Georgia, about the possibility of enlisting trainees to join in future searches for Grinstead.
Outside the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
"What we don't want is this thing just to fade away into one more missing person mystery in the United States of America," Kingston said. "You know in November and early December, things were pretty hot, but I think some of the fanfare wears off and people move on to other issues and we just don't want that to happen."
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