Vanished with Beth Holloway (2011): Season 1, Episode 2 - Lunsford/Grinstead - full transcript
A 9-year-old girl goes missing from her Florida home; a high-school teacher vanishes.
Narrator: In southern
Georgia, a beauty queen
in the prime of
her life vanishes.
-Her car is here, cellphone's
here, what's happened?
-It's like she flew away.
Narrator: A
terrifying video could
hold the key to
her disappearance.
Narrator: In Florida,
a nine-year-old
disappears in the
middle of night.
-The young girl was discovered
missing from her home.
Narrator: Police suspect
the worst of her family.
-Please, help me
find my daughter.
Narrator: Beth
holloway is headed south
to help unravel a
mystery for one family
and explore the heroic
struggle of another.
-You are my hero.
And I just love you for
all your amazing work.
In 2005, I got
the call telling me
that my daughter,
Natalee, had vanished.
Every parent's worst
nightmare became my reality.
I ask the world to help me.
I found myself in an
unimaginable that's fight.
But my search for answers
gave me a new mission in life,
bring the missing home
and criminals to justice.
When a child vanishes,
parents will stop at nothing
to bring those
responsible to justice.
But before the father
of one young girl
could see justice
served, he had to prove
his own innocence
and that of his family.
Narrator: The tiny
town of homosassa,
Florida... home to truck driver
Mark lunsford and his daughter,
Jessica.
-She just had this thing about
her that would draw you to her.
You wanted to
talk to this little girl.
It was like she was
a thief of hearts.
Narrator: A single
father, Mark raises Jessie
with the help of his
parents, Ruth and Archie.
-She was born an angel.
She's was a very good child.
She never sassed you, she never
questioned you about anything.
It was, whatever
you said, that was it.
-We used to argue over who
loved each other the most.
And I told her, I said,
I love you this much.
And he's like,
what's that, dad, and I
said, that's all the way around.
She says, I love you
this much, and nothing
will come between us.
Narrator: But that was
before the terrifying events
that transpired
in February, 2005.
Wednesday, February
23rd, 10:00 pm.
Mark is getting ready for a
night out with his girlfriend.
Jessie is getting ready for bed.
-I yelled in the bathroom that
I was getting ready to leave.
She came out, and she had a
green towel wrapped around her.
And she was soaking wet.
And she gave me
a hug and a kiss.
Narrator: 6:00 am,
the following morning.
Mark goes into Jessie's
room to wake her up for school
and makes a
horrifying discovery.
-I opened up her bedroom
door, and she wasn't there.
And her bed was cooled down.
Her clothes were
still on the chair
that she would
have worn to school.
Narrator: Also missing
is Jessie's favorite toy,
a purple dolphin Mark won
for her at the county fair.
-I hollered for her in the house
and then asked my parents
if she was in bed with them.
And they said no.
And that's kinda like
when the bottom fell out.
Narrator: Mark's mother,
Ruth, frantically dials 911.
Narrator: Shortly after
receiving the 911 call,
police arrived at
the lunsford home.
Ruth: Probably in
less than 10 minutes,
this whole street was full.
They had a command
center right out here.
-The young girl was discovered
missing from her home.
There was no forced
entry into the home.
Narrator: But as they
begin to process the scene,
investigators become baffled.
How could a little girl
vanish from her own bed
without her family seeing
or hearing anything.
Police consider
everyone a suspect.
-And now the
questions come into play.
We have to look
at the grandparents.
We have to look at dad.
That's where we start
with the investigation.
Narrator: With no
sign of a break-n,
detectives are suspicious
that Jessie's grandparents aren't
telling everything.
So they decide to
administer polygraph tests
to both of them.
The results are shocking.
-When Ruth took the
polygraph and Ruth was asked,
do you know where
Jessie is, she said no.
And it indicated she was lying.
Narrator: Ruth
lunsford maintains
she had nothing to do
with Jessie's disappearance.
-You couldn't
comprehend all this.
Can... it's like, why are
you questioning me like this.
I mean, I was shattered,
absolutely shattered.
Narrator: Archie's polygraph
test also indicates deception.
-Nobody passed polygraphs.
And, coupled with no evidence
of forced entry into the house,
nobody could ever be ruled
out that they weren't a player.
Narrator: In the wake
of the polygraph results,
police focus on Archie as
a possible prime suspects.
Narrator: Could
Jessie's own grandfather
be responsible for
her disappearance?
Mark lunsford doesn't think so.
And while police
focus on his family,
Mark turns to the
media for help.
-I need all the media I can get.
I just... I just plead
with you to please help
me find my daughter.
-Mark, how did you handle
putting your face forward
in front of the media?
How did you do that?
-I think it's the
smartest things
a parent can do
when missing a child.
Get in the media and beg.
And people will
come, and they'll help.
Narrator: The community
response to Mark's pleas for help
are overwhelming.
The following day,
an army of volunteers
join with police to
search the wilderness
around the lunsford home.
Mark: It was everybody.
White collar, blue
collar, no collar... there
were sheriff deputies
that never went home.
Everybody wanted to
find this little girl... alive.
Everybody.
Samara sodos: They
searched, and they searched.
And the more they searched...
The more chaos, the more
panic... the more desperation.
Narrator: With no leads,
Jessie's grandparents
are still potential suspects
and are increasingly the focus
of media scrutiny,
including an intense interview
with a local reporter.
Reporter: You just
want your granddaughter.
-That's right.
Reporter: Even if it happened
to be a family member or close
family friend.
-Well, I know it ain't.
Reporter: I'm sorry,
I didn't hear ya.
-I know it's not
no family member,
just get off of this right now.
Ok?
Get off it.
Reporter: Well
that sheriff said...
The sheriff said that it c... It
had to be someone she knew...
-well i...
Reporter: To get out of here
without leaving any trace.
-That doesn't mean that
it was a family member.
Reporter: I'm
asking, or a friend.
-It was not...
Archie: No, no, man.
You've gotta quit.
- A family member.
So get out. Archie:
You gotta shut it off.
-Goodbye. Goodbye.
Archie: You gotta quit.
-Go aw... go away! Reporter: Ok.
All right.
-Everyone in your family
had to be so stressed out.
-They are gonna put
you through the ringers.
They're gonna to
tear your family apart.
But they have to
do everything they
can to get the right answers.
Narrator: But three weeks into
the search for Jessie, answers
are nowhere to be found.
Female speaker:
Listen, my child's missing.
[Sirens]
Narrator: Investigators
in the homosassa, Florida
believe the grandparents of
nine-year-old Jessica lunsford
may be responsible
for her disappearance.
Jessie's father, Mark,
believes police simply
have nowhere else to look.
Mark: They had
no clues, nothing.
It looked like this little girl
just vanished into thin air,
narrator: Then three weeks
after Jessica disappears,
an anonymous tip
provides authorities
with a shocking
breakthrough in the case.
It seems a convicted
sex offender
has been living in a
trailer less than 200 yards
from the lunsford home.
-This residence
was extremely close,
actually within visual
site of Jessie's home.
If you looked out
Jessie's front door,
you could see this trailer.
That's how close it was.
Narrator: Investigators
are able to identify
the convict as John couey.
-A sex offender was
living within 200 yards
of your daughter's bedroom.
-John couey had been convicted
two other times for crimes
against children,
molesting children.
He was registered
at another address.
And he was a career criminal.
Narrator: Within minutes
of identifying couey,
police descend
on his front door.
-They went to that trailer, and
they asked couey's half sister,
where is he.
And she said, I gave him
bus fare to go to Georgia.
Narrator: Police issue an apb
for their new prime suspect.
By then, Mark's impassioned
pleas have made national news
and are now squarely directed
at his daughter's alleged captor.
-I just want her to come
home and... and she's... I mean,
she's just like
your little girl.
I know that... whosever
got Jessie, they got a heart.
They gotta have a heart.
They got to.
Narrator: Mark's
media blitz pays off.
A woman working at a homeless
shelter in Savannah, Georgia
has spotted John couey.
Sheriff jerffrey dawsy: He
had spent the night in a shelter.
And a lady from the shelter
recognized John couey's face
when it came across
breaking news,
contacted the
sheriff's office up there.
And a police officer located
John couey walking out of town.
Narrator: Police
descend on couey
and take him into custody.
Investigators from Florida
race north to question him.
-When citrus county
detectives came up there,
he didn't say anything.
Then he took a
lie-detector test.
And he knew he failed.
He didn't even get
the results back.
He called the
detectives back in.
He was crying already, and
he said, I want to talk to you.
I've got something to say.
Narrator: Step by
step, John couey
recounts what happened the
night Jessica lunsford vanished.
Sheriff jerffrey
was... knew where
the bedroom was.
So he went over to the
residence... did gain access
through the back door
of the mobile home.
The door was not secured.
Narrator: Couey
admits to raping Jessie
and then tells investigators
what happened next.
Narrator: Couey
tells investigators
where to find Jessie's body...
Underneath his front porch.
Mark: Two police cars pulled up.
They come flying down my road.
They taped off the
house across the street.
And...
And then I knew what
happened to my daughter.
They walked
towards me, and I told
them just to get away from me.
But there was nothing
they could tell me
that I didn't know right now.
Narrator: Police begin
digging under couey's porch.
In the early morning
hours, they unearth Jessie.
-And I watched them
pull my little girl out
of the ground in a trash bag.
Her fingers were
poked through the bag
where she was trying to get at.
She could hear me.
He told the police
this, that she
could hear me calling
her, looking for her.
-Know that... it's really
hard for me to say it,
but I know that Jessie
had a... a toy with her.
-Yeah.
She had a... a
little purple dolphin
that I won her at the fair.
And he let her
take that [inaudible],
and he told her
that he was gonna
take her to see
her... to her daddy.
Narrator: The mystery of
Jessica's disappearance
is finally solved.
But her father's heartbreak
quickly turns to anger.
Mark: I found out that John
couey was a registered sex
offender, that he
was at... he wasn't
registered in that address.
I found out that John
couey wore a tracking device
but wasn't wearing it
anymore, because he
was taken off probation.
When they had
turned the camera on,
they don't answer questions.
All I wanted to do was point
my finger at em and tell em,
your system doesn't work.
Narrator: On march
19th, 2005, Mark lunsford
stands before reporters and
makes another impassioned plea.
-Jessie's home now.
And it's over.
And now we have a new struggle.
And I need more
people to support, now,
the efforts that we try to
make to change things.
Narrator: Using the press
that once attacked his family,
Mark embarks on a
campaign to strengthen
Florida's child protection laws.
-Here's a guy that drove
a truck, he was a laborer.
He was thrust into
the media spotlight.
I mean, he wasn't trained,
didn't go through any media
consultant-type work.
He just spoke from his heart.
And I think that's what
was so compelling to people.
-Kids will always be vulnerable.
And that's why we
have to continue
to do more, aggressively, not
slowly over the next 20 years.
-Where do you find the strength?
-The strength comes
from knowing that if you
can get through
telling your story,
Somebody's gonna do something.
-Today, with great pride, I
will sign the Jessica lunsford act
into law.
House bill 1877, as
you know, strengthens
penalties for
offenders who commit
sex crimes against children.
Narrator: Less than three
months after her murder,
the Jessica lunsford act
becomes law in the state of Florida.
-If you come here to
Florida from another state,
and you're convicted
sex offender,
and you commit the crime
one more time here, it's life.
Narrator: The
statute is designed
to keep habitual predators
like John couey off the streets
and away from children.
It's a law that's now
being duplicated
in states across the country.
-As of today, how many
states have adopted...
-40...
-Jessie's law.
-44 states have
Jessie's law now.
We're still looking at
the remaining states.
It's not easy, though.
Some of the states'
law, it's... you know,
you have to be ready to fight.
-I know you don't like to
hear it, but you are my hero.
-We're all each other's heroes.
Narrator: Two and a half
years after Jessica's murder,
John couey was
sentenced to death.
He died in prison
awaiting execution.
And though it may
be too late for Jessie,
her memory will continue
to fuel her father's mission
to protect all children.
Mark: I told god that
I'll do all these things,
if that's... if this is what
you're trying to show me that I
need to do, and
speak, well, then you
have to give me
the words to say.
And... you and Jessie.
And in return, I do all
this, I get to see her again.
I mean, that's the deal.
Narrator: Next on vanished...
Ocilla, Georgia, 2005.
30-year-old Tara
grinstead has a great job
and a loving boyfriend.
All of her dreams
seem to be coming true.
-She was in love
and looking forward
to getting married... the
happiest time in her life.
Narrator: Until one night
when Tara leaves a party
and is never see again.
-And the panic kinda set in...
Wondering, what's happened.
Narrator: The answer could
lie in a sinister home video.
Narrator: And a bone
chilling confession.
-I really believed
that we were gonna
be able to bring Tara
home, even if it was in pieces.
Narrator: Beth holloway
takes a closer look
at a beauty queen that vanished
and the horrific evidence that
may hold the key to finding her.
-When someone vanishes,
personal items they leave behind
can often help investigators
piece together what happened.
For one woman,
it's not the things
she left behind
that tell her story,
it's the one thing left
by a suspected killer.
Narrator: In the sleepy
South Georgia town of ocilla,
life moves at its own pace.
-People always say, in a
small town everybody knows
your business, but there's a
lot of advantages to that, too,
because they're there
for you when you need em.
Narrator: It's 1998.
23-year-old Tara
grinstead is living in ocilla
with her dad and step mom
saving money and working
as a high-school teacher.
Tara also has one other great
passion... beauty pageants.
-She just wanted to go
to Ms. Georgia one time.
One time is all
she wanted to go,
and she was facing to age-out.
So see went to the
Georgia preliminary pageants
over and over and over again.
-I'm an 11th grade history
teacher, irwin county high
school, and I also have
a cheerleader squad
of junior varsity cheerleaders,
ninth and tenth graders.
I just completed my
first year teaching,
and i... I loved
every bit of it.
Narrator: In 1999, Tara
realizes a lifelong dream.
Pageant judge: And the
new miss tifton for 1999,
she is contestant number two...
[screaming]
Narrator: Tara's
win qualifies her
to compete for the
title of miss Georgia.
-I thought she was
gonna fall off the stage.
That night was one of Tara's
proudest moments of her life.
Narrator: Later that
year, Tara competes
for the title of miss Georgia.
She doesn't win, but the
opportunity to compete
is more than enough to end
her career on a high note.
-After she reached
the age of 24,
which was the age limit
for competing in pageants,
then she became a
judge, a founder, a director,
just so m... any hat that she
can wear connected to pageants,
she just absolutely loved it.
Narrator: Shortly after
Tara retires from the pageant
circuit, her father accepts a
new job in Birmingham, Alabama.
Unwilling to leave
her life in ocilla behind,
Tara purchases a
house on park street.
-I remember she said,
this is the first time
I've had my own house
where I could just put things
where I wanted, and I don't
have to worry about anybody else.
And she was just
so excited about that.
Narrator: A young
woman out on her own,
Tara quickly bonds
with the couple living
next door, Joe
and myrtle portier.
-She'd called me and said,
Mr. Joe, I got flat tire on my car.
You know, I'd go get the
car, or have the tire fixed.
We was kinda mom
and daddy, I think,
to Tara... a local mom and dad.
Narrator: A home
of her own, a job
she loves, the title of
miss tifton... Tara grinstead
seems to have it all, including
the man of her dreams.
She's recently fallen
in love with a soldier
named Marcus Harper.
-There was just something
different about Marcus.
That's just, you know,
all she could think about
and all she could talk about.
Narrator: Unfortunately,
Marcus's long tours of duty
spark a series of fiery breakups
and passionate reunions.
-Did Tara expect
Marcus to propose?
-It was actually
serious enough that she
asked me to take her to
pick out her wedding gown,
and his mother went with us.
Narrator: In September
of 2005, Marcus Harper
again returns home
from active duty.
But a shocking turn of
events is about to change
his and Tara's
relationship forever.
October 22, 2005.
Tara spends her
afternoon helping
a houseful of aspiring
young beauty queens
prepare for a local pageant.
Afterwards, Tara stops
by a neighborhood cookout
just a few blocks
from her house.
Around 11:00 pm, Tara
heads home for the night
and is never seen again,
narrator: The next day, several
friends and family members
attempt to contact Tara.
But her phone goes to voicemail.
The silence is odd,
but not alarming.
-We was concerned
and worried a little bit,
but didn't have any reason to
think anything had happened.
Narrator: But by
Monday morning, Tara still
isn't answering her phone.
Neighbor Joe portier decides
to call irwin county high school
and makes sure Tara
has shown up for work.
What school officials tell
him raises a huge red flag.
-She hadn't called
in, and she didn't
have her substitute teacher.
Students was down
there by their self.
-She would not have
missed a day of work
without calling
in for a substitute.
Narrator: Around
8:30 am, Joe portier
uses his spare key
to enter Tara's house.
Everything seems to
be in order, but Tara
is nowhere to be found.
-There was no
sign of a struggle,
no sign of forced entry.
And nothing was missing.
The only thing missing was
Tara, her pocketbook, and her keys.
Narrator: Even more alarming
are the items Tara left behind.
Her cellphone is in her bedroom.
Her car is still
parked in the carport.
And her German Shepherd,
Dolly, is in the backyard.
-And then, you know, panic
kinda set in... wondering,
you know, her car is
here, cellphone's here.
What's happened?
Narrator: With no
sign of Tara, Joe portier
decides to contact ocilla
police chief Billy hancock.
-I received a telephone call
from Tara grinstead's neighbor.
They were indicating to
me that he had not seen Tara
that morning, and no one
had seen her since Saturday.
At about 11 o'clock, he wanted
me to come to the residence.
Narrator: At 9 o'clock,
hancock arrives at the scene.
Less than a minute
later, he discovers
the case's first clue.
-As I came into the
yard, I could clearly
see that there was
a latex glove laying
about eight to 10 feet
from the front door area.
Narrator: The glove is a
potentially game-changing piece
of evidence and a
sign that Tara grinstead
may have been abducted.
Taking no chances, ocilla
police hand the case and the glove
over to the Georgia
bureau of investigation.
-We sent all available agents
that morning down to ocilla.
We initiated a
crime scene search.
Narrator: Gbi agents
collect the latex glove
and send it out
for a full analysis,
then scour Tara's
property for other clues.
As they are
processing the scene,
Tara's parents race
300 miles to ocilla
to join friends and
local authorities
in a frantic search.
-Ocilla came together,
mobilized, so quickly.
They had search teams
out on four wheelers, dogs,
helicopters, motorcycles,
police cars, everything...
Out looking for Tara.
Narrator: By day two,
the massive search
has spread beyond ocilla,
with hundreds of volunteers
from around the
county joining the effort.
-The students wanted
their teacher back.
The teachers want
their friend back.
And the community wanted
one of their members back.
I mean, everybody
wanted Tara back home.
Narrator: Despite
the tireless efforts
of her family and
the entire community,
Tara's whereabouts
remain a mystery.
As do the details surrounding
her disappearance.
-There were almost as many
theories as there were people.
Some people thought
Tara just ran away.
Some people thought Tara
was abducted by a stranger.
People didn't know.
Narrator: In ocilla, Georgia,
30-year-old Tara grinstead
drives home from a
Saturday night barbecue
and then disappears
without a trace.
The only evidence
is a mysterious glove
found in her front yard.
-It became a pivotal
piece of evidence.
Why is somebody
burying the glove.
Did somebody abduct her.
There were so many
stories about what
might have happened to Tara.
Narrator: But it will be
days before forensic tests
on the glove are complete.
In the meantime, gbi agents
rely on old fashioned police work.
-When you don't have any obvious
evidence to give you direction,
you conduct interviews.
Narrator: One by
one, agents interview
nearly everyone
in the small town.
-They was questioning
everybody... boyfriends,
friends, school
teachers, me, myrtle.
Narrator: But this
standard procedure
soon yields a shocking
discovery and a possible suspect.
Investigators learn
that two weeks prior
to her disappearance,
Tara's fiery romance
with soldier-boyfriend
Marcus Harper
had come to a bitter end.
-Tara just felt like she
had waited long enough
and that she had talked to
Marcus and knew that, you know,
things were not going to
work out between them.
Narrator: Agents now
consider the possibility
that Tara was the victim
of a crime of passion.
-We can't really
rule anything out.
There's a possibility
that he is responsible
for her disappearance.
Narrator: On October
31, 2005, detectives
bring Marcus Harper
in for questioning.
When asked about his
whereabouts the night
Tara disappeared,
Marcus tells them
he was hanging out with
friends, an alibi investigators
quickly corroborate.
But during his interview,
Marcus reveals another detail
that seems to exonerate
him even further.
Apparently, it was
Marcus, not Tara,
that ended their relationship.
-She said, he looked
me straight in the eye
and told me three
times, it is over.
And she said, I
could tell by the way
that he said that
he really meant it.
Narrator: Tara's friend
and neighbor, Joe portier,
also confirms the
details of Marcus
and Tara's breakup
and the devastating effect
it had on her.
-She always went
after what she wanted.
And this guy she wanted bad,
and just couldn't quite get him.
And she just had a, you
know, complete meltdown.
I never seen
anybody in that shape.
I was just afraid that we was
gonna find her where she had,
you know, committed suicide.
Narrator: Confirmations of
Tara's fragile emotional state
prompt investigators to
declare Marcus Harper
an unlikely suspect, and
that rather than falling victim
to a crime of passion, Tara
might have taken her own life.
-Did you have any thoughts
whatsoever, Connie,
that this could have been part
of the breakup from Marcus,
and that Tara had
committed suicide?
-She told him,
well, if I find out
that you're dating
somebody else,
i... I'll just kill myself.
I can believe that Tara may
have said that in that moment,
but I don't believe
that she meant it.
That was just not Tara's
way of dealing with stress.
Narrator: And if Tara
did commit suicide,
then where is her body?
Gbi agents believe
that in the town
the size of ocilla,
search parties
would have discovered it by now.
-It was clear she had a
lot of things on her mind.
We surely considered
initially that she
could have
disappeared on her own.
But the bodies of
missing persons
often have a
tendency to turn up.
Narrator: It's a fact which
causes investigators to wonder,
could Tara have faked her
own disappearance in order
to make a clean
break from life in ocilla?
-There's been recent
cases of... of people
that have been missing
for several years that
were presumed dead that
turned up very much alive.
So, you know, that's always...
It's always a consideration,
it's just not
something that's likely.
Narrator: Especially considering
that neither Tara's cellphone
nor her atm and
credit cards have
been used since she vanished.
But most of all,
Tara's family believed
she had too much to live
for to suddenly abandon
life in her hometown.
-She already had
her master's degree.
She was teaching, she
had the job that she loved.
It was just like probably
the happiest time in her life.
Narrator: Tara's
family and the gbi
believe the key to
cracking the case still
lies with the latex glove
found in her front yard.
-I don't know if the person
that took Tara accidentally
dropped the glove or if the
glove was planted there just
to throw the investigation off.
Whoever put that
glove there knows
exactly what happened to Tara.
Narrator: Two weeks
into Tara's disappearance,
forensic analysis of the
glove is finally completed.
And it contains even
more physical evidence
than investigators
had hoped for.
-They were able to not
only obtain some finger pints
from inside the glove,
but DNA material as well.
That DNA indicated
that it came from a male.
And we've been
attempting to find
a match for that questioned
sample ever since.
Narrator: 150 local men,
including Marcus Harper,
are tested for a match.
-We've collected DNA
from pretty much any male
that we found that
had contact with her.
None of those matched the
questioned DNA off the glove.
Narrator: Still, none
of the men tested
are ruled out as suspects.
-We can't exclude
someone as possibly
being responsible for
Tara's disappearance
just because their
DNA does not match
the questioned
sample from the glove.
Until we know what
happened to Tara,
we're not going to be
able to eliminate anyone.
Narrator: By early
December, detectives
are no closer to narrowing
the list of potential suspects.
And they've officially declared
the search for Tara grinstead
over.
-It's just hard
for me to believe.
I know things like this
happen, but especially
in a little town like ocilla,
it's like she flew away.
Narrator: Clues regarding
Tara's whereabouts
are few and far between, but
her family refuses to give up hope.
-I don't think that I could
ever stop looking for Tara
or stop trying to find out
what happened to her.
You don't just wake
up one day and say, ok,
we've looked enough.
Narrator: 2009.
It's been nearly four years
since former beauty queen Tara
grinstead vanished
from her Georgia home.
In that time, investigators
have fielded hundreds of tips.
And thousands of
man hours have made
Tara's the largest
unsolved missing persons
case the largest
in Georgia history.
-How many different
scenarios go through your mind
in thinking, what could
have happened to Tara?
-We live with the
questions every day.
Where is she, what
happened to her,
when will we find,
will we ever find her,
is she still alive... that...
You just... you hang on
to that hope.
If there's any chance of
it, you're going to grab it.
Narrator: Finally, in
2009, investigators
uncover a shocking new lead.
They discover a string
of chilling Internet videos,
each presented by
a mysterious figure
who claims to
be a serial killer.
-I got a phone call from
one of the gbi agents.
And she said, I need to tell you
that there is somebody posting
on YouTube, and they're
saying they've killed 16 people.
And they're claiming
that Tara is one of them.
Narrator: Posting his
videos under the screen
name, catchmekiller,
the suspect seems
to know details only the
murderer would know.
Beth: Did you believe it?
-He started giving
out clues about where
we could find body parts.
And I really
believed that we were
going to be able to bring Tara
home, even if it was pieces.
Narrator: Agents run a trace
on the suspect's ip address
and track the video's
origin to gainesville, Georgia
and the home of Andrew
Haley, a 26-year-old father
to be whose wife
is in the hospital
about to give
birth to their child.
Is Andrew Haley
really Tara's killer?
-You had to go from the
thought of bringing home an alive
Tara to, now, just remains
of Tara, just pieces of her.
-The one thing that
had kept me going
was the hope that we
were going to find her,
and that maybe she
was gonna be ok.
And when I saw his videos,
it just robbed me of my hope.
Narrator: Police bring
Haley in for a polygraph test,
where he claims the
videos were all part
of a sick practical joke,
and that he acquired
his knowledge of
Tara's case online.
-He had nothing to do
with Tara, but his actions
were such that we
couldn't disregard them.
Narrator: Haley passes
the polygraph test
and is ultimately ruled
out as a suspect in all 16
murders he claims
to have committed.
-What did you think
once he had admitted
that it was all a hoax?
-It was just so hard
for me to believe
that this person could do that.
I mean, this was a grown,
married man giving no thought
whatsoever to the harm and
the pain that he was causing us.
Narrator: Andrew Haley
is cleared of Tara's murder,
but his interference with
the investigation is a crime.
The state of Georgia
prosecutes him
to the full letter of the law.
-Ultimately, we convicted
him for false statements
and tampering with evidence.
Narrator: Haley's
stunt gets him two years
in a work-release jail.
But the search for Tara
is back to square one.
The only hope now of
unraveling the mystery
lies in the latex glove
found four years earlier.
-We can identify the
person whose DNA
is on that glove
that will likely give us
some answer as to
what happened to her.
Narrator: Until then,
Tara's loved ones
continue to hope and pray
for the return of their beauty
queen.
-There is not a
single day that goes
by that we don't
think about her,
love her, miss her,
and want her back.
-The Tara grinstead
case remains one
of the largest
open investigations
in the state of Georgia.
And as long as investigators
have a DNA sample,
there's hope this mystery
may yet be solved.
Until that day, let's
keep working together
to bring the missing home
and criminals to justice.
Because someone out
there knows something.
Narrator: Tara grinstead
was last seen in ocilla, Georgia
on October 22, 2005.
She is 5 feet,
three inches tall,
with brown hair and brown eyes.
Today, Tara would
be 36 years old.
The grinstead family is offering
$100,000 for Tara's safe return
and another $100,000
for information
leading to an arrest.
If you have information
about this case,
please go to mylifetime.
Com/vanished,
and click on the tips button.
-I think about the
command centers that
were in place from
the gbi, and they just
state of the art equipment.
And it made me feel good for
Tara knowing that everything
that... that could be done, it
was being done at the time.
Mark, could you
have ever imagined
or even wrap your mind around
the path that you're on today?
-No, never.
How did I become the
one that had to speak up.
I mean, sure it was
cause Jessie passed away,
but it's just really hard to
understand sometimes, you know,
how do you... you know,
how do you find this in yourself.
But it's there, it's
there in all of us.
[Music playing]
Georgia, a beauty queen
in the prime of
her life vanishes.
-Her car is here, cellphone's
here, what's happened?
-It's like she flew away.
Narrator: A
terrifying video could
hold the key to
her disappearance.
Narrator: In Florida,
a nine-year-old
disappears in the
middle of night.
-The young girl was discovered
missing from her home.
Narrator: Police suspect
the worst of her family.
-Please, help me
find my daughter.
Narrator: Beth
holloway is headed south
to help unravel a
mystery for one family
and explore the heroic
struggle of another.
-You are my hero.
And I just love you for
all your amazing work.
In 2005, I got
the call telling me
that my daughter,
Natalee, had vanished.
Every parent's worst
nightmare became my reality.
I ask the world to help me.
I found myself in an
unimaginable that's fight.
But my search for answers
gave me a new mission in life,
bring the missing home
and criminals to justice.
When a child vanishes,
parents will stop at nothing
to bring those
responsible to justice.
But before the father
of one young girl
could see justice
served, he had to prove
his own innocence
and that of his family.
Narrator: The tiny
town of homosassa,
Florida... home to truck driver
Mark lunsford and his daughter,
Jessica.
-She just had this thing about
her that would draw you to her.
You wanted to
talk to this little girl.
It was like she was
a thief of hearts.
Narrator: A single
father, Mark raises Jessie
with the help of his
parents, Ruth and Archie.
-She was born an angel.
She's was a very good child.
She never sassed you, she never
questioned you about anything.
It was, whatever
you said, that was it.
-We used to argue over who
loved each other the most.
And I told her, I said,
I love you this much.
And he's like,
what's that, dad, and I
said, that's all the way around.
She says, I love you
this much, and nothing
will come between us.
Narrator: But that was
before the terrifying events
that transpired
in February, 2005.
Wednesday, February
23rd, 10:00 pm.
Mark is getting ready for a
night out with his girlfriend.
Jessie is getting ready for bed.
-I yelled in the bathroom that
I was getting ready to leave.
She came out, and she had a
green towel wrapped around her.
And she was soaking wet.
And she gave me
a hug and a kiss.
Narrator: 6:00 am,
the following morning.
Mark goes into Jessie's
room to wake her up for school
and makes a
horrifying discovery.
-I opened up her bedroom
door, and she wasn't there.
And her bed was cooled down.
Her clothes were
still on the chair
that she would
have worn to school.
Narrator: Also missing
is Jessie's favorite toy,
a purple dolphin Mark won
for her at the county fair.
-I hollered for her in the house
and then asked my parents
if she was in bed with them.
And they said no.
And that's kinda like
when the bottom fell out.
Narrator: Mark's mother,
Ruth, frantically dials 911.
Narrator: Shortly after
receiving the 911 call,
police arrived at
the lunsford home.
Ruth: Probably in
less than 10 minutes,
this whole street was full.
They had a command
center right out here.
-The young girl was discovered
missing from her home.
There was no forced
entry into the home.
Narrator: But as they
begin to process the scene,
investigators become baffled.
How could a little girl
vanish from her own bed
without her family seeing
or hearing anything.
Police consider
everyone a suspect.
-And now the
questions come into play.
We have to look
at the grandparents.
We have to look at dad.
That's where we start
with the investigation.
Narrator: With no
sign of a break-n,
detectives are suspicious
that Jessie's grandparents aren't
telling everything.
So they decide to
administer polygraph tests
to both of them.
The results are shocking.
-When Ruth took the
polygraph and Ruth was asked,
do you know where
Jessie is, she said no.
And it indicated she was lying.
Narrator: Ruth
lunsford maintains
she had nothing to do
with Jessie's disappearance.
-You couldn't
comprehend all this.
Can... it's like, why are
you questioning me like this.
I mean, I was shattered,
absolutely shattered.
Narrator: Archie's polygraph
test also indicates deception.
-Nobody passed polygraphs.
And, coupled with no evidence
of forced entry into the house,
nobody could ever be ruled
out that they weren't a player.
Narrator: In the wake
of the polygraph results,
police focus on Archie as
a possible prime suspects.
Narrator: Could
Jessie's own grandfather
be responsible for
her disappearance?
Mark lunsford doesn't think so.
And while police
focus on his family,
Mark turns to the
media for help.
-I need all the media I can get.
I just... I just plead
with you to please help
me find my daughter.
-Mark, how did you handle
putting your face forward
in front of the media?
How did you do that?
-I think it's the
smartest things
a parent can do
when missing a child.
Get in the media and beg.
And people will
come, and they'll help.
Narrator: The community
response to Mark's pleas for help
are overwhelming.
The following day,
an army of volunteers
join with police to
search the wilderness
around the lunsford home.
Mark: It was everybody.
White collar, blue
collar, no collar... there
were sheriff deputies
that never went home.
Everybody wanted to
find this little girl... alive.
Everybody.
Samara sodos: They
searched, and they searched.
And the more they searched...
The more chaos, the more
panic... the more desperation.
Narrator: With no leads,
Jessie's grandparents
are still potential suspects
and are increasingly the focus
of media scrutiny,
including an intense interview
with a local reporter.
Reporter: You just
want your granddaughter.
-That's right.
Reporter: Even if it happened
to be a family member or close
family friend.
-Well, I know it ain't.
Reporter: I'm sorry,
I didn't hear ya.
-I know it's not
no family member,
just get off of this right now.
Ok?
Get off it.
Reporter: Well
that sheriff said...
The sheriff said that it c... It
had to be someone she knew...
-well i...
Reporter: To get out of here
without leaving any trace.
-That doesn't mean that
it was a family member.
Reporter: I'm
asking, or a friend.
-It was not...
Archie: No, no, man.
You've gotta quit.
- A family member.
So get out. Archie:
You gotta shut it off.
-Goodbye. Goodbye.
Archie: You gotta quit.
-Go aw... go away! Reporter: Ok.
All right.
-Everyone in your family
had to be so stressed out.
-They are gonna put
you through the ringers.
They're gonna to
tear your family apart.
But they have to
do everything they
can to get the right answers.
Narrator: But three weeks into
the search for Jessie, answers
are nowhere to be found.
Female speaker:
Listen, my child's missing.
[Sirens]
Narrator: Investigators
in the homosassa, Florida
believe the grandparents of
nine-year-old Jessica lunsford
may be responsible
for her disappearance.
Jessie's father, Mark,
believes police simply
have nowhere else to look.
Mark: They had
no clues, nothing.
It looked like this little girl
just vanished into thin air,
narrator: Then three weeks
after Jessica disappears,
an anonymous tip
provides authorities
with a shocking
breakthrough in the case.
It seems a convicted
sex offender
has been living in a
trailer less than 200 yards
from the lunsford home.
-This residence
was extremely close,
actually within visual
site of Jessie's home.
If you looked out
Jessie's front door,
you could see this trailer.
That's how close it was.
Narrator: Investigators
are able to identify
the convict as John couey.
-A sex offender was
living within 200 yards
of your daughter's bedroom.
-John couey had been convicted
two other times for crimes
against children,
molesting children.
He was registered
at another address.
And he was a career criminal.
Narrator: Within minutes
of identifying couey,
police descend
on his front door.
-They went to that trailer, and
they asked couey's half sister,
where is he.
And she said, I gave him
bus fare to go to Georgia.
Narrator: Police issue an apb
for their new prime suspect.
By then, Mark's impassioned
pleas have made national news
and are now squarely directed
at his daughter's alleged captor.
-I just want her to come
home and... and she's... I mean,
she's just like
your little girl.
I know that... whosever
got Jessie, they got a heart.
They gotta have a heart.
They got to.
Narrator: Mark's
media blitz pays off.
A woman working at a homeless
shelter in Savannah, Georgia
has spotted John couey.
Sheriff jerffrey dawsy: He
had spent the night in a shelter.
And a lady from the shelter
recognized John couey's face
when it came across
breaking news,
contacted the
sheriff's office up there.
And a police officer located
John couey walking out of town.
Narrator: Police
descend on couey
and take him into custody.
Investigators from Florida
race north to question him.
-When citrus county
detectives came up there,
he didn't say anything.
Then he took a
lie-detector test.
And he knew he failed.
He didn't even get
the results back.
He called the
detectives back in.
He was crying already, and
he said, I want to talk to you.
I've got something to say.
Narrator: Step by
step, John couey
recounts what happened the
night Jessica lunsford vanished.
Sheriff jerffrey
was... knew where
the bedroom was.
So he went over to the
residence... did gain access
through the back door
of the mobile home.
The door was not secured.
Narrator: Couey
admits to raping Jessie
and then tells investigators
what happened next.
Narrator: Couey
tells investigators
where to find Jessie's body...
Underneath his front porch.
Mark: Two police cars pulled up.
They come flying down my road.
They taped off the
house across the street.
And...
And then I knew what
happened to my daughter.
They walked
towards me, and I told
them just to get away from me.
But there was nothing
they could tell me
that I didn't know right now.
Narrator: Police begin
digging under couey's porch.
In the early morning
hours, they unearth Jessie.
-And I watched them
pull my little girl out
of the ground in a trash bag.
Her fingers were
poked through the bag
where she was trying to get at.
She could hear me.
He told the police
this, that she
could hear me calling
her, looking for her.
-Know that... it's really
hard for me to say it,
but I know that Jessie
had a... a toy with her.
-Yeah.
She had a... a
little purple dolphin
that I won her at the fair.
And he let her
take that [inaudible],
and he told her
that he was gonna
take her to see
her... to her daddy.
Narrator: The mystery of
Jessica's disappearance
is finally solved.
But her father's heartbreak
quickly turns to anger.
Mark: I found out that John
couey was a registered sex
offender, that he
was at... he wasn't
registered in that address.
I found out that John
couey wore a tracking device
but wasn't wearing it
anymore, because he
was taken off probation.
When they had
turned the camera on,
they don't answer questions.
All I wanted to do was point
my finger at em and tell em,
your system doesn't work.
Narrator: On march
19th, 2005, Mark lunsford
stands before reporters and
makes another impassioned plea.
-Jessie's home now.
And it's over.
And now we have a new struggle.
And I need more
people to support, now,
the efforts that we try to
make to change things.
Narrator: Using the press
that once attacked his family,
Mark embarks on a
campaign to strengthen
Florida's child protection laws.
-Here's a guy that drove
a truck, he was a laborer.
He was thrust into
the media spotlight.
I mean, he wasn't trained,
didn't go through any media
consultant-type work.
He just spoke from his heart.
And I think that's what
was so compelling to people.
-Kids will always be vulnerable.
And that's why we
have to continue
to do more, aggressively, not
slowly over the next 20 years.
-Where do you find the strength?
-The strength comes
from knowing that if you
can get through
telling your story,
Somebody's gonna do something.
-Today, with great pride, I
will sign the Jessica lunsford act
into law.
House bill 1877, as
you know, strengthens
penalties for
offenders who commit
sex crimes against children.
Narrator: Less than three
months after her murder,
the Jessica lunsford act
becomes law in the state of Florida.
-If you come here to
Florida from another state,
and you're convicted
sex offender,
and you commit the crime
one more time here, it's life.
Narrator: The
statute is designed
to keep habitual predators
like John couey off the streets
and away from children.
It's a law that's now
being duplicated
in states across the country.
-As of today, how many
states have adopted...
-40...
-Jessie's law.
-44 states have
Jessie's law now.
We're still looking at
the remaining states.
It's not easy, though.
Some of the states'
law, it's... you know,
you have to be ready to fight.
-I know you don't like to
hear it, but you are my hero.
-We're all each other's heroes.
Narrator: Two and a half
years after Jessica's murder,
John couey was
sentenced to death.
He died in prison
awaiting execution.
And though it may
be too late for Jessie,
her memory will continue
to fuel her father's mission
to protect all children.
Mark: I told god that
I'll do all these things,
if that's... if this is what
you're trying to show me that I
need to do, and
speak, well, then you
have to give me
the words to say.
And... you and Jessie.
And in return, I do all
this, I get to see her again.
I mean, that's the deal.
Narrator: Next on vanished...
Ocilla, Georgia, 2005.
30-year-old Tara
grinstead has a great job
and a loving boyfriend.
All of her dreams
seem to be coming true.
-She was in love
and looking forward
to getting married... the
happiest time in her life.
Narrator: Until one night
when Tara leaves a party
and is never see again.
-And the panic kinda set in...
Wondering, what's happened.
Narrator: The answer could
lie in a sinister home video.
Narrator: And a bone
chilling confession.
-I really believed
that we were gonna
be able to bring Tara
home, even if it was in pieces.
Narrator: Beth holloway
takes a closer look
at a beauty queen that vanished
and the horrific evidence that
may hold the key to finding her.
-When someone vanishes,
personal items they leave behind
can often help investigators
piece together what happened.
For one woman,
it's not the things
she left behind
that tell her story,
it's the one thing left
by a suspected killer.
Narrator: In the sleepy
South Georgia town of ocilla,
life moves at its own pace.
-People always say, in a
small town everybody knows
your business, but there's a
lot of advantages to that, too,
because they're there
for you when you need em.
Narrator: It's 1998.
23-year-old Tara
grinstead is living in ocilla
with her dad and step mom
saving money and working
as a high-school teacher.
Tara also has one other great
passion... beauty pageants.
-She just wanted to go
to Ms. Georgia one time.
One time is all
she wanted to go,
and she was facing to age-out.
So see went to the
Georgia preliminary pageants
over and over and over again.
-I'm an 11th grade history
teacher, irwin county high
school, and I also have
a cheerleader squad
of junior varsity cheerleaders,
ninth and tenth graders.
I just completed my
first year teaching,
and i... I loved
every bit of it.
Narrator: In 1999, Tara
realizes a lifelong dream.
Pageant judge: And the
new miss tifton for 1999,
she is contestant number two...
[screaming]
Narrator: Tara's
win qualifies her
to compete for the
title of miss Georgia.
-I thought she was
gonna fall off the stage.
That night was one of Tara's
proudest moments of her life.
Narrator: Later that
year, Tara competes
for the title of miss Georgia.
She doesn't win, but the
opportunity to compete
is more than enough to end
her career on a high note.
-After she reached
the age of 24,
which was the age limit
for competing in pageants,
then she became a
judge, a founder, a director,
just so m... any hat that she
can wear connected to pageants,
she just absolutely loved it.
Narrator: Shortly after
Tara retires from the pageant
circuit, her father accepts a
new job in Birmingham, Alabama.
Unwilling to leave
her life in ocilla behind,
Tara purchases a
house on park street.
-I remember she said,
this is the first time
I've had my own house
where I could just put things
where I wanted, and I don't
have to worry about anybody else.
And she was just
so excited about that.
Narrator: A young
woman out on her own,
Tara quickly bonds
with the couple living
next door, Joe
and myrtle portier.
-She'd called me and said,
Mr. Joe, I got flat tire on my car.
You know, I'd go get the
car, or have the tire fixed.
We was kinda mom
and daddy, I think,
to Tara... a local mom and dad.
Narrator: A home
of her own, a job
she loves, the title of
miss tifton... Tara grinstead
seems to have it all, including
the man of her dreams.
She's recently fallen
in love with a soldier
named Marcus Harper.
-There was just something
different about Marcus.
That's just, you know,
all she could think about
and all she could talk about.
Narrator: Unfortunately,
Marcus's long tours of duty
spark a series of fiery breakups
and passionate reunions.
-Did Tara expect
Marcus to propose?
-It was actually
serious enough that she
asked me to take her to
pick out her wedding gown,
and his mother went with us.
Narrator: In September
of 2005, Marcus Harper
again returns home
from active duty.
But a shocking turn of
events is about to change
his and Tara's
relationship forever.
October 22, 2005.
Tara spends her
afternoon helping
a houseful of aspiring
young beauty queens
prepare for a local pageant.
Afterwards, Tara stops
by a neighborhood cookout
just a few blocks
from her house.
Around 11:00 pm, Tara
heads home for the night
and is never seen again,
narrator: The next day, several
friends and family members
attempt to contact Tara.
But her phone goes to voicemail.
The silence is odd,
but not alarming.
-We was concerned
and worried a little bit,
but didn't have any reason to
think anything had happened.
Narrator: But by
Monday morning, Tara still
isn't answering her phone.
Neighbor Joe portier decides
to call irwin county high school
and makes sure Tara
has shown up for work.
What school officials tell
him raises a huge red flag.
-She hadn't called
in, and she didn't
have her substitute teacher.
Students was down
there by their self.
-She would not have
missed a day of work
without calling
in for a substitute.
Narrator: Around
8:30 am, Joe portier
uses his spare key
to enter Tara's house.
Everything seems to
be in order, but Tara
is nowhere to be found.
-There was no
sign of a struggle,
no sign of forced entry.
And nothing was missing.
The only thing missing was
Tara, her pocketbook, and her keys.
Narrator: Even more alarming
are the items Tara left behind.
Her cellphone is in her bedroom.
Her car is still
parked in the carport.
And her German Shepherd,
Dolly, is in the backyard.
-And then, you know, panic
kinda set in... wondering,
you know, her car is
here, cellphone's here.
What's happened?
Narrator: With no
sign of Tara, Joe portier
decides to contact ocilla
police chief Billy hancock.
-I received a telephone call
from Tara grinstead's neighbor.
They were indicating to
me that he had not seen Tara
that morning, and no one
had seen her since Saturday.
At about 11 o'clock, he wanted
me to come to the residence.
Narrator: At 9 o'clock,
hancock arrives at the scene.
Less than a minute
later, he discovers
the case's first clue.
-As I came into the
yard, I could clearly
see that there was
a latex glove laying
about eight to 10 feet
from the front door area.
Narrator: The glove is a
potentially game-changing piece
of evidence and a
sign that Tara grinstead
may have been abducted.
Taking no chances, ocilla
police hand the case and the glove
over to the Georgia
bureau of investigation.
-We sent all available agents
that morning down to ocilla.
We initiated a
crime scene search.
Narrator: Gbi agents
collect the latex glove
and send it out
for a full analysis,
then scour Tara's
property for other clues.
As they are
processing the scene,
Tara's parents race
300 miles to ocilla
to join friends and
local authorities
in a frantic search.
-Ocilla came together,
mobilized, so quickly.
They had search teams
out on four wheelers, dogs,
helicopters, motorcycles,
police cars, everything...
Out looking for Tara.
Narrator: By day two,
the massive search
has spread beyond ocilla,
with hundreds of volunteers
from around the
county joining the effort.
-The students wanted
their teacher back.
The teachers want
their friend back.
And the community wanted
one of their members back.
I mean, everybody
wanted Tara back home.
Narrator: Despite
the tireless efforts
of her family and
the entire community,
Tara's whereabouts
remain a mystery.
As do the details surrounding
her disappearance.
-There were almost as many
theories as there were people.
Some people thought
Tara just ran away.
Some people thought Tara
was abducted by a stranger.
People didn't know.
Narrator: In ocilla, Georgia,
30-year-old Tara grinstead
drives home from a
Saturday night barbecue
and then disappears
without a trace.
The only evidence
is a mysterious glove
found in her front yard.
-It became a pivotal
piece of evidence.
Why is somebody
burying the glove.
Did somebody abduct her.
There were so many
stories about what
might have happened to Tara.
Narrator: But it will be
days before forensic tests
on the glove are complete.
In the meantime, gbi agents
rely on old fashioned police work.
-When you don't have any obvious
evidence to give you direction,
you conduct interviews.
Narrator: One by
one, agents interview
nearly everyone
in the small town.
-They was questioning
everybody... boyfriends,
friends, school
teachers, me, myrtle.
Narrator: But this
standard procedure
soon yields a shocking
discovery and a possible suspect.
Investigators learn
that two weeks prior
to her disappearance,
Tara's fiery romance
with soldier-boyfriend
Marcus Harper
had come to a bitter end.
-Tara just felt like she
had waited long enough
and that she had talked to
Marcus and knew that, you know,
things were not going to
work out between them.
Narrator: Agents now
consider the possibility
that Tara was the victim
of a crime of passion.
-We can't really
rule anything out.
There's a possibility
that he is responsible
for her disappearance.
Narrator: On October
31, 2005, detectives
bring Marcus Harper
in for questioning.
When asked about his
whereabouts the night
Tara disappeared,
Marcus tells them
he was hanging out with
friends, an alibi investigators
quickly corroborate.
But during his interview,
Marcus reveals another detail
that seems to exonerate
him even further.
Apparently, it was
Marcus, not Tara,
that ended their relationship.
-She said, he looked
me straight in the eye
and told me three
times, it is over.
And she said, I
could tell by the way
that he said that
he really meant it.
Narrator: Tara's friend
and neighbor, Joe portier,
also confirms the
details of Marcus
and Tara's breakup
and the devastating effect
it had on her.
-She always went
after what she wanted.
And this guy she wanted bad,
and just couldn't quite get him.
And she just had a, you
know, complete meltdown.
I never seen
anybody in that shape.
I was just afraid that we was
gonna find her where she had,
you know, committed suicide.
Narrator: Confirmations of
Tara's fragile emotional state
prompt investigators to
declare Marcus Harper
an unlikely suspect, and
that rather than falling victim
to a crime of passion, Tara
might have taken her own life.
-Did you have any thoughts
whatsoever, Connie,
that this could have been part
of the breakup from Marcus,
and that Tara had
committed suicide?
-She told him,
well, if I find out
that you're dating
somebody else,
i... I'll just kill myself.
I can believe that Tara may
have said that in that moment,
but I don't believe
that she meant it.
That was just not Tara's
way of dealing with stress.
Narrator: And if Tara
did commit suicide,
then where is her body?
Gbi agents believe
that in the town
the size of ocilla,
search parties
would have discovered it by now.
-It was clear she had a
lot of things on her mind.
We surely considered
initially that she
could have
disappeared on her own.
But the bodies of
missing persons
often have a
tendency to turn up.
Narrator: It's a fact which
causes investigators to wonder,
could Tara have faked her
own disappearance in order
to make a clean
break from life in ocilla?
-There's been recent
cases of... of people
that have been missing
for several years that
were presumed dead that
turned up very much alive.
So, you know, that's always...
It's always a consideration,
it's just not
something that's likely.
Narrator: Especially considering
that neither Tara's cellphone
nor her atm and
credit cards have
been used since she vanished.
But most of all,
Tara's family believed
she had too much to live
for to suddenly abandon
life in her hometown.
-She already had
her master's degree.
She was teaching, she
had the job that she loved.
It was just like probably
the happiest time in her life.
Narrator: Tara's
family and the gbi
believe the key to
cracking the case still
lies with the latex glove
found in her front yard.
-I don't know if the person
that took Tara accidentally
dropped the glove or if the
glove was planted there just
to throw the investigation off.
Whoever put that
glove there knows
exactly what happened to Tara.
Narrator: Two weeks
into Tara's disappearance,
forensic analysis of the
glove is finally completed.
And it contains even
more physical evidence
than investigators
had hoped for.
-They were able to not
only obtain some finger pints
from inside the glove,
but DNA material as well.
That DNA indicated
that it came from a male.
And we've been
attempting to find
a match for that questioned
sample ever since.
Narrator: 150 local men,
including Marcus Harper,
are tested for a match.
-We've collected DNA
from pretty much any male
that we found that
had contact with her.
None of those matched the
questioned DNA off the glove.
Narrator: Still, none
of the men tested
are ruled out as suspects.
-We can't exclude
someone as possibly
being responsible for
Tara's disappearance
just because their
DNA does not match
the questioned
sample from the glove.
Until we know what
happened to Tara,
we're not going to be
able to eliminate anyone.
Narrator: By early
December, detectives
are no closer to narrowing
the list of potential suspects.
And they've officially declared
the search for Tara grinstead
over.
-It's just hard
for me to believe.
I know things like this
happen, but especially
in a little town like ocilla,
it's like she flew away.
Narrator: Clues regarding
Tara's whereabouts
are few and far between, but
her family refuses to give up hope.
-I don't think that I could
ever stop looking for Tara
or stop trying to find out
what happened to her.
You don't just wake
up one day and say, ok,
we've looked enough.
Narrator: 2009.
It's been nearly four years
since former beauty queen Tara
grinstead vanished
from her Georgia home.
In that time, investigators
have fielded hundreds of tips.
And thousands of
man hours have made
Tara's the largest
unsolved missing persons
case the largest
in Georgia history.
-How many different
scenarios go through your mind
in thinking, what could
have happened to Tara?
-We live with the
questions every day.
Where is she, what
happened to her,
when will we find,
will we ever find her,
is she still alive... that...
You just... you hang on
to that hope.
If there's any chance of
it, you're going to grab it.
Narrator: Finally, in
2009, investigators
uncover a shocking new lead.
They discover a string
of chilling Internet videos,
each presented by
a mysterious figure
who claims to
be a serial killer.
-I got a phone call from
one of the gbi agents.
And she said, I need to tell you
that there is somebody posting
on YouTube, and they're
saying they've killed 16 people.
And they're claiming
that Tara is one of them.
Narrator: Posting his
videos under the screen
name, catchmekiller,
the suspect seems
to know details only the
murderer would know.
Beth: Did you believe it?
-He started giving
out clues about where
we could find body parts.
And I really
believed that we were
going to be able to bring Tara
home, even if it was pieces.
Narrator: Agents run a trace
on the suspect's ip address
and track the video's
origin to gainesville, Georgia
and the home of Andrew
Haley, a 26-year-old father
to be whose wife
is in the hospital
about to give
birth to their child.
Is Andrew Haley
really Tara's killer?
-You had to go from the
thought of bringing home an alive
Tara to, now, just remains
of Tara, just pieces of her.
-The one thing that
had kept me going
was the hope that we
were going to find her,
and that maybe she
was gonna be ok.
And when I saw his videos,
it just robbed me of my hope.
Narrator: Police bring
Haley in for a polygraph test,
where he claims the
videos were all part
of a sick practical joke,
and that he acquired
his knowledge of
Tara's case online.
-He had nothing to do
with Tara, but his actions
were such that we
couldn't disregard them.
Narrator: Haley passes
the polygraph test
and is ultimately ruled
out as a suspect in all 16
murders he claims
to have committed.
-What did you think
once he had admitted
that it was all a hoax?
-It was just so hard
for me to believe
that this person could do that.
I mean, this was a grown,
married man giving no thought
whatsoever to the harm and
the pain that he was causing us.
Narrator: Andrew Haley
is cleared of Tara's murder,
but his interference with
the investigation is a crime.
The state of Georgia
prosecutes him
to the full letter of the law.
-Ultimately, we convicted
him for false statements
and tampering with evidence.
Narrator: Haley's
stunt gets him two years
in a work-release jail.
But the search for Tara
is back to square one.
The only hope now of
unraveling the mystery
lies in the latex glove
found four years earlier.
-We can identify the
person whose DNA
is on that glove
that will likely give us
some answer as to
what happened to her.
Narrator: Until then,
Tara's loved ones
continue to hope and pray
for the return of their beauty
queen.
-There is not a
single day that goes
by that we don't
think about her,
love her, miss her,
and want her back.
-The Tara grinstead
case remains one
of the largest
open investigations
in the state of Georgia.
And as long as investigators
have a DNA sample,
there's hope this mystery
may yet be solved.
Until that day, let's
keep working together
to bring the missing home
and criminals to justice.
Because someone out
there knows something.
Narrator: Tara grinstead
was last seen in ocilla, Georgia
on October 22, 2005.
She is 5 feet,
three inches tall,
with brown hair and brown eyes.
Today, Tara would
be 36 years old.
The grinstead family is offering
$100,000 for Tara's safe return
and another $100,000
for information
leading to an arrest.
If you have information
about this case,
please go to mylifetime.
Com/vanished,
and click on the tips button.
-I think about the
command centers that
were in place from
the gbi, and they just
state of the art equipment.
And it made me feel good for
Tara knowing that everything
that... that could be done, it
was being done at the time.
Mark, could you
have ever imagined
or even wrap your mind around
the path that you're on today?
-No, never.
How did I become the
one that had to speak up.
I mean, sure it was
cause Jessie passed away,
but it's just really hard to
understand sometimes, you know,
how do you... you know,
how do you find this in yourself.
But it's there, it's
there in all of us.
[Music playing]