Tara Grant lived in Washington Township, Michigan, with her husband Stephen and their two children, ages 4 and 6. She was employed as an operations manager for Washington Group International, an engineering, construction and management company based in Idaho with offices in Troy, Michigan. She had been with the company for over ten years.
She traveled a lot for work to San Juan, Puerto Rico and was scheduled to go back to Puerto Rico on Sunday, February 11. She normally spent Monday through Friday in Puerto Rico, returning home on week-ends.
On Friday, February 9, Stephen claims that he and Tara had an argument about the long hours and time away from home she spent for her job. He claims that she left the house at 11:15, getting into a dark sedan at the end of their driveway. He did not hear from her again and reported her missing on the 14th, five days after she was last seen.
He claimed that he thought she had traveled to the Caribbean as planned and assumed she didn't contact him because of the argument they had.
Stephen cooperated with the Macomb County Sheriff at this point, even allowing an evidence technician into the house who photographed a scratch on his nose that Stephen said he got at work at a machine shop owned by his family.
He scheduled a polygraph with the sheriff's department.
The next day, he was pulled over by the Macomb County Sheriff's Department and arrested for driving with a suspended license and outstanding parking tickets. He was booked into the jail and here is where things start to go awry.
Stephen had lawyered up at this point. His attorney claims Stephen was "interrogated" for six hours and likened it to "cowboy" tactics. The sheriff's department claims that is absurd and he was treated routinely.
An interesting side note, Stephen has had other brushes with the law, notably an arrest in October of 1989 for reckless driving and carrying a concealed weapon. These charges were reduced to careless driving and failure to get a permit for a handgun. He paid a fine and served no jail time.
Investigators now say that Stephen's cooperation has "soured" and he will only communicate through his lawyer, via fax.
The lawyer also claims that it is worth noting that Tara was scheduled to lay off 50 employees. The Washington Group has said next to nothing about the case publicly and didn't comment on this.
An ex-girlfriend of Stephen's from his college days in the early 90s recently turned over to police a series of email exchanges she had with Stephen in January. He claims in the exchange that Tara was having a physical affair with someone he referred to as "the old geezer" and claimed he had installed a program on their home computer that tracked her exchanges but since they were in code, he wasn't quite sure what they meant. He claimed she had a non physical relationship a few years back with another man. He also says some pervy things to his ex-girlfriend, who was having none of it. (Atta girl!)
Investigators have spoken to the men involved; both said those were false allegations and the investigators seem quite certain they are telling the truth.
I will refrain for my editorial comments right now, but feel free to discuss and I'll join in.
I fear we have Michigan's Laci Peterson case and I send my good thoughts and prayers to Tara's family.
Edited to add: I did have a picture of Tara Grant that I had swiped from a news site but it somehow turned into a picture of her husband, so I took it down.
Let me get this straight.
She comes home on the 9th after a gruelling week at work, they have an arugement,she leaves that same night at 11:15pm in a dark sedan? He calls to report her missing on the 14th? What am I missing? Bueller?
Posted by: Charlie | February 21, 2007 at 09:52 PM
And he didn't report her missing to the cops until the 14th, although he claims to have contacted family and friends.
The whole car thing is a red herring. Metro Cars and Checker Cars are very common for airport runs here and they are very obvious. All big black Lincolns and the like with discreet yet distinctive marks.
And they all keep records and none of them have a record of a pick up for her.
Also, it was mentioned in one article that she normally drove her own car to the airport and left it in long-term parking.
Posted by: Lisa | February 21, 2007 at 10:07 PM
Hmmm. What was the make and model of her car?
Was in at the residence when he reportedly said she left in the dark sedan parked at the end of the driveway?
Posted by: Charlie | February 21, 2007 at 10:18 PM
Her car was still at her home.
No mention of what type car she drove. No activity on her credit cards or cell phone or if those were in her home or not or if her purse was also missing.
I would imagine with the type of job she had, she was pretty tied to her cell phone.
Posted by: Lisa | February 21, 2007 at 10:22 PM
Interesting. Who is watching the kids?
What a nasty man! sneaking around in your spouse's computer is horrible, IMO.
Posted by: vero | February 22, 2007 at 01:23 AM
She would have wanted to see her children when she arrived home from the Airport. I wonder if she did?
I think one of the articles I read said she got home at around 9:00PM. On a Friday night there would be no reason for those children to be in bed.
When her sister stops getting answers that make sense from Stephen, she will find it hard to support him publicly, any longer.
Posted by: Mgt | February 22, 2007 at 05:07 AM
Guilty! I called that word the minute I saw the ASSHOLE on TV! He is as guilty as the day is getting longer!
I hope they fry him. I mean come on, since when is it acceptable to have a fight with your wife and then kill her--Scott Peterson reborn!
Posted by: Beth | February 22, 2007 at 07:29 AM
Strange that he has called himself the No 1 suspect, before LE has even mentioned suspects.
He would be clinging to every last hope that she is alive, if he was innocent. There can only be one reason he called himself a suspect. He killed her!
Posted by: Mgt | February 22, 2007 at 10:14 AM
Sounds highly fishy to me...he took 5 days before he reported her? Not buying it. That sounds as unbelievable as having your sister-in-law go over to your house to retrieve a fax all so she can discover her own sister's dead body. WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH THESE PEOPLE????? Do they honestly think they are going to get away with this kind of stuff?
Posted by: Michelle | February 22, 2007 at 10:27 AM
They think the rules don't apply to them.
Posted by: vero | February 24, 2007 at 09:01 AM
Tara is a cousin of mine. A lot that has been reported has the media's twist on things. Please try to remember that. Her husband does LOOK guilty but that doesn't mean he had anything to do with her disappearance. Because none of us have been in his shoes we can't say how we would react. I hope and pray every day that she is found alive but god forbid she's not, for the sake of those children I HOPE he is not involved because if he is, those two children have no parents. :(
Posted by: Wind | February 25, 2007 at 09:34 PM
He is guilty otherwise he would be taking a lie detector test and letting the police, detectives, and anyone else in his home to search for clues. It is only when you have something to hide that you choose not to do what is reight.
Posted by: Alice | February 26, 2007 at 12:12 PM
Do you realize that he HAS let the police search? The day she was reported missing the police were in the house for several hours. I have no idea why he own't let them back in now but does "planting evidence" ring a bell? It could happen. If he's not involved, he certainly doesn't want his children left parentless because of poor police work...and poor police work happens every day. I am in no way saying that the police work in this case is or is not up to par...
Posted by: Wind | February 27, 2007 at 10:02 AM
Her husband in an email to his old girlfriend, spoke of himself as not having a conscience. This makes me wonder. He seems more absorbed in what is happening to him than what has happened to his wife. His behavior, in my opinion, is indicative of a guilty man.
Posted by: jane | February 27, 2007 at 04:05 PM
well atleast we all know now that he is guilty and he is going to get what he deserves. the nerve of this man to kill his own spouse. and think of the children who are now parentless. and to think that families go to stoney creek and have a good time. now all i think of that place is disgusting and riveting by the fact that a man could do that to someone. DISGUSTING
Posted by: chelsea | March 05, 2007 at 10:18 AM
This man is clearly guilty, of first degree murder they have found a womans torso in the garage, the case is solved.
Posted by: Jaime | March 05, 2007 at 10:24 AM