The Lisa Life

Tara Grant's Husband Speaks

An article in the paper today.  Stephen Grant speaks.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070222/NEWS04/702220365

Once again, shades of Scott Peterson, no?

Where Is Tara Lynn Grant?

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.

Missing In Michigan

I've been blabbering about it for at least a year now.  I'm 40 and if I plan on being Michigan's version of Ann Rule, I need to get off my ass and do something about it.

As Nike suggests, Just Do It.

I have been talking about writing a book about some of the unsolved murders and disappearances of several Michigan young women as well as a couple resolved ones.  Some of the cases I plan on writing about: Dean Marie Peter-Pyles (blog entry to come soon), Paige Renkoski, Kellie Marie Brownlee, Christina Castiglione, Kimberly Louiselle, Chrerita Thomas, Christina O'Brien, Christina Lee Byers and Becky Sue McDonald. I also plan on including the victims of the Leslie Allen Williams case and the case of John Gilboe, who disappeared very close to where I live, seemingly into thin air.

If any of you, dear and gentle readers, have any information you would care to share with me regarding any of these people, I would be happy to hear it.  You can remain completely anonymous in anything I write.  I can be reached at [email protected]. 

The Oakland County Child Killer, Part II

The Oakland County Child Killer entry I did back on July 20, 2005 remains a popular entry. (If you are not familiar with this case, you can find the entry in the archives.)

I don't think it remained popular because it is so light and heartwarming but because it not only remains an unsolved mystery, it created a real live bogeyman for those of us who grew up in Southeast Michigan at the time.

Recently, there has been a lot of buzz on the case and it is being revisited by the investigators in an active way.  In August of 2005, four DNA samples were sent to the FBI lab in Quantico; two of deceased potential suspects and two specimens from live suspects who's identities were not being disclosed so as not to hinder the investigation.

Some viable suspects have been considered recently.  Among them are a priest who eventually was sent back to Sweden.  Investigators tried to link him to the killings and even requested help from Interpol, but there was no evidence he was involved in the OCCK.  Since he was under suspicion and was sent back to Sweden, I have to imagine he was up to something nefarious somehow.

Richard Lawson, another potential suspect, had worked with the police back when the OCCK case was active as a sort of liaison between the sleazy pedophile world and the gay community and the police.  You have to realize, back then, people were not so enlightened to understand that pedophiles weren't gay or straight; pedophiles like kids of whatever sex they happen to like. It's the kid thing, not the sexual orientation.  Lawson  was recently convicted for a long ago murder and was offered a plea bargain in which he would give information about the OCCK in return for the opportunity to choose where he would serve his life sentence.  He declined the offer but it should be noted that I couldn't find any reference as to why he declined the offer; did he just not have any useful information or was he not willing to share that information?

Another potential suspect is a lovely guy by the name of Grant.  Grant's son found a trunk of his father's that was filled with an amazing array of bizarre shit.  Children's baby teeth, locks of hair, newspaper clippings of Michigan's Most Wanted, several papers referring to the son that were obviously fake, pictures with the son's name on the back that don't appear to be the son.  In addition, Grant is a convicted child killer.  In 1970, he was living with a girlfriend in Indiana and one of her sons died while Grant was bathing both sons.  He was convicted of that charge and sentenced to an Indiana prison, which he escaped from in 1973.  He was in Michigan in 1976 and 1977, when the OCCK occurred, living under an alias.  He sexually and physically abused his son and indeed, was sent back to prison in Indiana after being arrested for domestic violence against one of his sons and his true identity was revealed.

The most compelling suspect, however, is James Donald Moore.  I know I tend to overuse this word to describe these criminals, but Moore is a monster.  Thankfully, he is safely locked away in the lovely Gus Harrison Correctional Center in Adrian, Michigan.  For life.

Some of Moore's past convictions include child molestation in 1968 in Mt. Clemons, Michigan; sexual battery of a minor in 1978 in Southfield, Michigan, which was dismissed although I can't find any documentation as to the reason is was dismissed; and in 1987, child molestation in Lakewood, Ohio.  Between the dismissed charges in Michigan in '78 and the charge in Ohio in '87, he moved to Cleveland and married a woman with children.  She owned a blue Gremlin, long believed to be the car involved in the OCCK.  He used it for frequent trips to Michigan to allegedly visit family.

At the time the OCCK were occurring, from February of 1976 until March of 1977, Moore was single.  He met and married a woman from Ohio in August of 1977.  This was an obvious ploy to conceal his true proclivities since he was a closeted gay who also happened to be a pedophile.  He was not interested in sex with consenting adult males,although he thought he was, he was interested in sex with male children.  So I guess that makes him just a pedophile, since gay males don't pursue children as sexual partners.

Other compelling facts:  Moore was a neat freak.  People seeing his house would have guessed he had a very thorough paid cleaning lady but he in fact cleaned himself and was obsessive about it.  All of the victims of the OCCK had been well cared for and kept for a period before being found.  They showed signs of bathing, nail clipping, and attention to personal cleanliness.

Moore was raised by very strict, very strange parents.

Moore was a truck driver. Itinerant lifestyle. Moore was also convicted of assaulting DJ Dempsey in Michigan.  He is in prison for the particularly heinous death of Justin Bogdanik, who was found, barely alive, eyes Krazy Glued shut and horribly beaten, sexually assaulted, right here in Livingston County.  Moore had lured Bogdanik by offering him money to help unload Moore's semi.

The similarities are striking.  Moore preyed on victims who were vulnerable.  Some were young, some were vulnerable in other ways, as in being homeless or drug addicts who were hustling for their next fix.  Only the boys in the OCCK were sexually molested, the girls were not, as Amy Mihaljevic in Ohio was not sexually assaulted.  All of the victims were also left near major roadways, so they were found very easily, as if the killer was giving himself a trophy for his handiwork.

According to an article in the Detroit Free Press, one of the suspects being investigated is from Cleveland.  I hope it is Moore.  He has left a devastating trail of victims who have a lot in common in with OCCK's victims.

According to Detective Anger, the cop who is revisiting the OCCK, Someone knows Something.

 

A Candle For Paige, Part II

Today marks the 16th anniversary of the unsolved disappearance of Paige Renkoski.

Last year, I wrote a detailed entry about Paige's disappearance. I apologize for being typepad challenged and I can't get the entry to link directly.  However, you can easily find it by looking in the Missing Persons category on the right.  I had really hoped that by this time, I wouldn't be commemorating another year with no conclusion to her case.

Law enforcement seemed very hopeful that they had identified two suspects.  It was revealed today that the investigators no longer believe either of the suspects had anything to do with Paige's disappearance and admit that it has turned into a cold case.

Nevertheless, I do believe that Paige's case will be solved.  In the meantime, can we all take a moment to remember Paige and light a candle in her memory?.

I would like to take a moment as well to note that I have received so many comments, both on and off the blog, from people who's lives Paige has touched.  She will not be forgotten.

Where Are Jennifer And Adrianna Wix?

Jennifer Wix moved with her two year old daughter to her boyfriend's family compound on an 80 acre farm outside of Cross Plains, Tennessee in August of 2003.  She had told her mother that she had found her "prince".   Her boyfriend's entire family lived in this remote compound, aunts, uncles, grandparents.  They were rather reclusive and did not like outsiders.

Jennifer's relationship with her boyfriend turned sour quickly, though and her mother moved to the area to be closer to Jennifer and help her get through this time.  Jennifer had told her family members that her boyfriend had made some threatening remarks to her.

On Thursday, March 25, 2004, Jennifer's boyfriend claimed they argued and he drove her to a nearby gas station close to the interstate.  He claimed she got into the backseat of a white four door car with Adrianna.  He also said he did not see the driver of the car or what direction they were headed.  The car was alternately a white Mustang, a white Camaro and eventually, probably along the time the boyfriend realized that neither Mustangs nor Camaros come with four doors, the car became a Grand Prix.

The boyfriend claimed that Jennifer came back the next day, driving the same car, without Adrianna with her.

Jennifer did not take any personal belongings either for herself or Adrianna.  She had no money with her, no ID. 

His family will not allow their property to be searched, although it is the last place Jennifer and Adrianna were seen.  Although the Robertson County sheriff's department never said they suspected foul play, the case is listed as a criminal investigation.  They have never pushed the boyfriend's family to search the property thoroughly.  At one point, a volunteer search was organized and at the last minute, the family backed out.

The boyfriend does not have a great reputation, according to rumors.  In an unrelated incident, when he was placed in the back of a police car, he allegedly kicked out the back window and had to be hog tied.  He didn't have a regular job, yet always had a wad of cash.  Allegedly, he was working for his family building a home and being paid in cash.

Even if you follow missing persons cases, this may have been one you haven't heard about.  Kathy, Jennifer's mother and Adrianna's grandmother, has pushed very hard to get some national attention focused on this case, to very little avail.  Finally, it will be featured on Montel Williams on Friday, October 21.

The link below features pictures of both Jennifer and Adrianna.

Jennifer and Adrianna Wix

John Gilboe

Although I am a big true crime buff, I don't think my best writing lies in that direction.  I have a few pet cases I have strong opinions on that I write about, but that's about it.

One of the most heartbreaking things I can imagine is to have a loved one go missing and not know anything about it.  Like they just vanished into thin air.  I also have a strange fascination with these cases and how some of them receive so much media coverage and some receive so little.

With that said, I have decided from time to time to spotlight one of cases that seems to be under the media radar.

John Gilboe is 62 years old, six feet one inch tall and weighed about 300 pounds.  He lives in Hamburg, Michigan. 

On January 31, 2005, his vehicle slid off the road in Green Oak Township (the neighboring township) near the M-36 interchange on U.S. 23.  If I remember correctly, the weather was pretty bad that day.

Mr. Gilboe was last seen walking away from his car. 

He's not been seen nor heard from again.

It was discovered he was missing when he had failed to contact his sister, whom he was close to, for some time.  Mr. Gilboe is retired and lives alone.

Local hospitals were checked as well as his favorite hangouts, such as the Hamburg Pub.  The local LE did a tremendous job searching using the Michigan State Police K-9 unit, the Livingston County Sheriff Department's mounted patrol, the Green Oak Township and Hamburg Township Police assisted in the search as well as officers from  Kensington Metro Park, which is nearby. The State Police even called in their Aviation unit for an air search.

All to no avail.  Not a trace of him.

If you have any information regarding John Gilboe, please call the Green Oak Township Police at (810) 231-9626.

Of Note: The only other unresolved missing person case in Livingston County at this time according to the local news is that of Paige Renkoski. 

A Candle For Paige

Today marks the fifteenth anniversary of the disappearance of Paige Renkoski.  Paige disappeared on May 24, 1990, here in Livingston County.

I remember this well because although I lived in Pennsylvania at the time, I had been home for a visit at the time.  I'm not positive, but I think May 24, 1990, was a week-end.  I remember talking to my mom about it a lot since Paige was only a few years older than me and it was just plain weird for anyone to disappear in Livingston County.  Things like that just didn't happen there. This was coming on the heels of two other unsolved homicides in the area.  Very strange happenings for Livingston County.

Here are the facts of this still unsolved case.

Paige was a 30 year old substitute teacher from Okemos, Michigan.  She was five feet six inches tall, 125 pounds, with blue eyes and blonde hair.  She was pretty and had a great smile.  That day, she had dropped off her mother at Detroit Metro Airport and on the way back, had stopped to visit a friend in Canton Township.  After leaving her friend's, she stopped at a party store and bought a quart of beer.

She headed back to Okemos, eventually ending up on I- 96 going through Livingston County, a very heavily traveled highway. 

Her 1986 silver Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais was found idling on the westbound side of I-96.  There was no mechanical damage to her car, nor any body damage or a flat tire.  The car was running, the door was unlocked, the headlights on and her purse,  shoes and beer were still inside, undisturbed. The radio was still on.

There was no sign of a struggle and no sign of Paige.

After flooding the media with her picture in hopes of generating tips, local law enforcement came up with the following facts:

Paige's car was seen weaving in and out of traffic with an older burgandy minivan close behind.

She was spotted on the side of the expressway with a burgandy minivan parked close by, talking to two men. 

She was spotted throwing her hands up in the air gesturing and one of the men put his hand on her shoulder.

There was possibly a third man near or in the burgandy minivan.

One passerby in particular became concerned when he first saw Paige's car parked on the side of the expressway and saw her with these men at about 3:30 p.m.,  then saw her car, running but with no one inside, during his return trip at 7:30 p.m. 

Paige was engaged at the time of her disappearance, planning on getting married in November of 1990.  Although some friends and family members thought she had some concerns about her impeding marriage and her fiance, no one felt she would abandon the whole thing.  No runaway bride here.

She left a sizable sum in her bank account and it has never been touched.

She had an especially close relationship with her mother.

Out of the many tips that came in, law enforcement has identified two suspects, both from the Detroit area.  One was a juvenile at the time, seventeen years old, and the other is incarcerated right now due to a carjacking.  The juvenile, no longer a juvenile,  has failed a lie detector test regarding Paige and the other has refused interviews with law enforcement. 

Still, detectives are positive that this case can be solved.  Paige's body has never been found.  While this may be the fastest growing county in Michigan, there are still many places that are undeveloped, remote and undisturbed here.

Law enforcement believes that it was a random crime.  No stated motive.

Also of note, there are three unsolved abductions/homicides in this area from the same time frame.  Also considered to be random.

I wonder what would have made Paige pull over.  Did the men in the van indicate she had something wrong with her car?  Why would they have been following her?  An Olds Cutlass Calais, while a nice car, is certainly not flashy, especially not a 4 year old one.   In all the things I have read and heard about this case, there was nothing to indicate Paige would have voluntarily disappeared herself.  While she may have been having concerns about her upcoming marriage, no one indicated she was freaked out by it or unhappy.  More like normal Oh My God, I'm Getting Married concerns.  By all accounts, she was responsible and level headed. 

The local law enforcement seems hopeful that this will be solved. I don't think at this point anyone expects to find Paige alive and well in say, Costa Rica, but it would be nice to see justice done to those who snuffed out her life so prematurely.

I light a candle for Paige tonight and hope her family and friends know that she is not forgotten.