Eleven and a half years ago, Tara Grinstead, the beauty queen high school teacher from Ocilla, disappeared – seemingly without a trace. Investigators found few clues, leads dried up quickly, every twist and turn in the sordid case led to dead ends. Until this week. Thursday afternoon, inside the Irwin County Courthouse in Ocilla at a special called press conference, J.T. Ricketson, Special Agent in Charge of the Region 13 GBI office, announced to a packed courtroom that investigators had made an arrest in the Grinstead case. Ryan Duke, a 2002 graduate of Irwin County High School and a former…
Author: Staff Reports
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation will be holding a press conference at 3pm today at the Irwin County Courthouse in Ocilla. Officials indicate that there will be an update provided on the case of missing person, Tara Grinstead. Tara Grinstead, an Ocilla teacher, went missing in October of 2005. We will have someone on hand at the press conference to report on what the GBI shares. Stay tuned for updates as we get them.
The CCA Lady Patriots are off to the Elite Eight. The girls defeated Solid Rock in Sandersville Tuesday night. The win gets them one step closer to another state title for the program. They will face Brentwood Friday afternoon at Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon at 4 p.m. CCA’s boys begin their postseason run when the first round begins today. Photo courtesy of Suzanne Ray
Today, Representative Thomas Massie introduced H.R. 899, a bill to abolish the federal Department of Education. The bill, which is one sentence long, states, “The Department of Education shall terminate on December 31, 2018.” On the day of Betsy DeVos’ scheduled Senate confirmation for Secretary of Education, Massie said, “Neither Congress nor the President, through his appointees, has the constitutional authority to dictate how and what our children must learn.” Massie added, “Unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. should not be in charge of our children’s intellectual and moral development. States and local communities are best positioned to shape curricula that…
Coffee County sheriff’s authorities have arrested a Coffee County man in a shooting death that occurred early Sunday morning. Deputies responded to a residence off Ramblewood Rd. in the Green Acres community shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 19, in reference to a report of criminal trespass. While officers were en route to the scene, they were informed the suspect, identified as 58-year-old Thomas Lamar Vining, had been shot. Mr. Vining was discovered by deputies with a shotgun wound to his back and was transported to Coffee Regional Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries. As a result of…
The body of a white male that was found in a wooded area in the Green Acres community on Feb. 6, 2017, has been positively identified as 38-year-old Shawn Wayne Brooker. Brooker was reported missing on Jan. 20, 2017 and the last known contact with him was on Jan. 18, 2017. Coffee County sheriff’s investigators with the assistance of Douglas Police Department, Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, Douglas Coffee Drug Unit, Georgia State Patrol and local area residents searched the area on ATVs, by foot and aerial surveillance attempting to locate Brooker from the time he was reported missing until the…
Southeastern Marine’s staff hit the jackpot this week on their annual fishing trip to the coast. The fish were really biting and everyone racked up on the sheepshead. It didn’t take the guys but about four hours to limit out. The fish weren’t just numerous; they were big as well. It was exciting fighting the monster sheepshead; some took as long as 15 minutes to land on light tackle. They took a 218 DLV Carolina Skiff with a 150 Suzuki on it and really had an enjoyable day on the water. Interestingly, they didn’t leave an open invitation to the…
A 38-year-old man was jailed in Alma Tuesday after allegedly slicing the throat of a female victim. Alma police responded to a report of an aggravated assault in the 400 block of S. Bead St. Tuesday evening. Authorities stated this was the second incident involving the victim this date in the same area. The victim was life-flighted to a trauma center. Following a brief search for the suspect, police arrested an individual identified as Torris Tonyakus Snell. Anyone with further information concerning this case is asked to contact the Alma Police Dept. or Bacon County 911.
A 22-year-old man currently serving a probation sentence was arrested last week after authorities discovered cocaine, marijuana, and other drug paraphernalia during the execution of a search warrant. Officials from the Douglas-Coffee Drug Unit, Coffee County Sheriff’s Office, and Douglas Police Department executed a search warrant at 409 S. Letitia Ave. on Feb. 8. The individual being investigated during the incident, Antavious Trayon McTear, ws located in a bedroom and taken into custody without incident. A search of the residence resulted in the discovery of an undisclosed quantity of cocaine, marijuana, digital scales, and packaging materials. McTear was arrested and…
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Douglas Regional Office was requested to assist the Atkinson County Sheriff’s Office with the recovery of human remains around 6 p.m. Friday. Authorities state a civilian reported finding the remains near a residence on Charlie Harper Road in Willacoochee. The remains have not been identified and a cause of death is presently undetermined. The remains will be sent to the GBI’s crime lab for examination. Anyone with information concerning this investigation is asked to call the Atkinson County Sheriff’s Office at (912) 422-3611 or the GBI Douglas office at (912) 389-4103.