DETROIT, March 3, 2007

Police: Torso Of Missing Mich. Woman Found

Husband Of Tara Grant Wanted In Her Murder; Attorney Says Suspect Is "Suicidal"

    • This photo released by the Macomb County, Mich. Sheriffs Department shows Tara Grant in an undated photo. Grant, 34, of Macomb County's Washington Township, Mich., has been missing since Feb. 9, 2007.

      This photo released by the Macomb County, Mich. Sheriffs Department shows Tara Grant in an undated photo. Grant, 34, of Macomb County's Washington Township, Mich., has been missing since Feb. 9, 2007.  (AP Photo)

    • Stephen Grant, 37, of Washington Township, Mich., talks at a Detroit law office, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007. Grant said police told him that he is the number one suspect in the disappearance of his wife, Tara Lynn Grant, on Feb. 9.

      Stephen Grant, 37, of Washington Township, Mich., talks at a Detroit law office, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007. Grant said police told him that he is the number one suspect in the disappearance of his wife, Tara Lynn Grant, on Feb. 9.  (AP Photo)

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(CBS/AP)  Investigators found what is believed to be the torso of a 34-year-old suburban wife and mother of two who disappeared last month and are seeking her husband as the suspect in her slaying, the Macomb County sheriff said Saturday.

Sheriff Mark Hackel said the torso was found in the garage of the home in Macomb County's Washington Township shared by Tara Grant and her husband, Stephen, following a search that began Friday night.

Stephen Grant is now being sought and will be charged with the murder of his wife. The sheriff says Stephen Grant was last believed to be driving a
yellow 2006 Dodge Dakota extended-cab pickup truck, with a license
plate number 9FLR57.

But according to CBS Station WWJ News Radio, Grant's attorney fears he may have taken his own life.

"He is the number one and at this time the only suspect in the murder of Tara Lynn Grant," Hackel told reporters at a news conference in Mount Clemens.

Hackel said investigators were looking for other evidence and additional body parts. He said a search was planned for Saturday in Macomb County.

Tara Grant has been missing since Feb. 9. Stephen Grant, 37, reported her missing five days later. Police say the day she went missing, the Grants argued over her frequent business trips abroad.

Throughout the search, Stephen Grant has maintained his innocence.

Hackel said Stephen Grant was detained Friday before the search began, but returned to his home, where he let investigators inside and later left. Hackel said investigators didn't have evidence at the time to hold him.

Stephen Grant's lawyer, David Griem, told The Associated Press on Saturday morning that he spoke twice with his client earlier in the day. He said he hoped to arrange for Grant to turn himself in to authorities.

"He was suicidal," Griem said. "I spent some significant period of time begging him to meet with me and reminding him of all the reasons why he had to live: the foremost being a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old who love him very much."

Griem said his client last was in the Detroit area, but he didn't know exactly where.

Griem learned of the search when Grant called him from the back of a police car on Friday. Grant later let investigators inside and was picked up by his sister, then went to stay with family members, Griem said Friday.

Deputies cordoned off entrances leading into the Grants' subdivision, the sheriff said, and a Michigan State Police mobile crime lab vehicle was at the house.

A 4 1/2-hour search last weekend through wooded areas near the couple's home 30 miles north of Detroit turned up no clues.

The case has been a daily fixture on local TV newscasts and in Detroit's newspapers. It has conjured comparisons to media-saturated missing-women cases such as those of Laci Peterson and Natalee Holloway.

Tara Grant was working as an operations manager for Boise, Idaho-based Washington Group International, an engineering and construction firm with an office in the Detroit suburb of Troy. Her job regularly sent her to Puerto Rico.

The Grants have two children, a 6-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy who were staying Friday with Stephen Grant's sister, Kelly Utykanski of Sterling Heights. They did not see the search or their father being detained.

Investigators found what is believed to be the torso of a 34-year-old suburban wife and mother of two who disappeared last month and are seeking her husband as the suspect in her slaying, the Macomb County sheriff said Saturday.
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by knyghtwolf March 4, 2007 10:48 AM EST
Jennifer Lopez, Selena, Mike Tyson and Robin Givens, I even recall when supreme court justice Clarence Thomas was accused of harrassing Anita Hill, remember her? Pee diddy, many rappers, too many to list for shooting ex's at public clubs, at home, and I do believe that Wesly Snipes was charged with spousal assualt a time or two that made headlines. Diana Ross was beaten and that made news, Three Blacks who raped tortured, and executed two out of three whites for no reason who also used racial slurs and racial referrences but were never charged with hate crimes because they were just "angry". Shall I go on or is this enough? If racial equality means headline news, you got it every single day of the year if you actually look, the media is crawling with it. Check out even more that go on in the NBA, MLB, and NFL. I could not believe the coverage I found. There were hundreds of stories in the news. So are we now going to keep count to make sure the balance between races are kept?
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by bildooreilly March 4, 2007 8:52 AM EST
and I didn't say it was a "Jewish Conspiracy" Bob, you did. Is he even Jewish? It isn't about race anyways, it's about people who our society puts above the law... like Rush Limbaugh for instance, how many other americans can get busted with 4,000 illegally obtained prescription painkillers and not do a day in jail? I know a girl that spent almost a year in jail for the same thing on a smaller scale and she lost her kids over it too. Is Rush a jew too bob? I don't believe he is... Sounds like you're the racist Bob, not I....
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by bildooreilly March 4, 2007 8:49 AM EST
bobgee, I didn't say the story was gone, I said the message board on the story is gone. It was there last night, I posted on it.

Yeah Bob, I'm sure if I "accidently" bought some stolen property worth $700k they'd just let me hang on to it also lol.... sure bob... tell me some jokes...
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by bobgee_1999 March 4, 2007 5:40 AM EST
BTW, bildooreilly: the Spielberg story isn't gone, it's right here: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/03/ap/entertainment/mainD8NKMTD00.shtml

Anyway, it was Spielberg's people that reported possession of the thing, it isn't as if they had anything to hide, and they bought the thing through a legitimate dealer. He is retaining the painting probably because it's worth close to a million dollars and they really don't want to be shuttling it all over the place to get damaged unnecessarily. Everything really isn't a Jewish conspiracy.
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by bobgee_1999 March 4, 2007 5:30 AM EST
I keep hearing that black & hispanic spousal murder cases don't get the same amount of attention, as if this is racially motivated, and perhaps it is. But it may simply be circumstantial: whites are the majority in the U.S., majority of the news watchers, majority of news reporters and majority of news makers. Do people really want a big news story about a black or hispanic guy who chops up his wife? If there were coverage of a high-profile murder involving minorities, wouldn't people be making accusations of racism on that basis, as they did with O.J.?
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by billpl-2009 March 4, 2007 5:29 AM EST
SharnCedar: ROFLMAO you're killing me!!

s-crew 'em and shoot 'em... hee, hee

(I know you were only kidding, because Microsoft doesn't make stone and chisel keyboards)
Reply to this comment
by bildooreilly March 4, 2007 3:44 AM EST
You ever notice how CBS manipulates its message boards, like the Steven Spielberg stolen painting story. There was a message board on that exact same story last night, and I posted something like...

Kind of funny that Steven Spielberg gets busted with a $700,000 stolen painting and doesn't get arrested, as a matter of fact, they let him retain posession of the stolen property... Simply amazing.. and you people don't think there's two sets of justice systems in this country?

Now today the whole message board on the story is gone, I guess steven spielberg is even above discussion, he can do no wrong, especially int he eyes of our #1 non biased news source CBS... yee haw..


Spielberg is cooperating with the FBI and will retain possession of the Russian Schoolroom until its "disposition can be determined," the bureau said.
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by iceman_1960 March 4, 2007 2:30 AM EST
"...By the way you only proved my point, Nicole Brown Simpson had considerable "airtime", in which O.J.'s trial polarized an entire nation..."

As bad as that was, the trial had a decidedly tabloid flavor.

The really polarizing event was earlier, when the brutal LA cops were aquitted of beating Rodney King, and the infamous LA riot broke out.

In fairness to white folks, you didn't see a lot of whites dancing around and cheering when the cops were acquitted. The riot would have been a lot worse if that had happened.
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by gmond March 4, 2007 1:54 AM EST
As usual, the comments section is more interesting than the story.
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by iceman_1960 March 4, 2007 1:41 AM EST
"...Whitney Houston and her abuse at the hands of Bobby Brown.."

ALLEGED abuse.

(She should have hired Kevin Costner as her bodyguard in real life.)
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by iceman_1960 March 4, 2007 1:34 AM EST
"When was the last time a black or Hispanic woman got the Laci treatment in the media ?"

Well, there's Whitney Houston and her abuse at the hands of Bobby Brown, that's the nearest example I can think of.

And if that's the best I can do, it proves my point.



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by iceman_1960 March 4, 2007 1:00 AM EST
I heard that Richard Kuklinski was framed by a cult of African-Hispanic Satanists, with the connivance of Nancy Grace, but I can't prove it.

By the way, kailumego1, tell me you didn't have to look up "torso" in the dictionary when you first saw this headline...
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by wizest March 4, 2007 1:00 AM EST
arn't you guys in the wrong line?
Of course not,If you were, you would not be able to cloud the issue.
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by iceman_1960 March 4, 2007 12:53 AM EST
"Well, I'm sure the media is happy to have another "white damsel in distress"..."

I fear that Tara Grant is well beyond the "damsel in distress" point.
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by misspp-2009 March 4, 2007 12:50 AM EST
Well, I'm sure the media is happy to have another "white damsel in distress" to obsess about. In fact, Nancy Grace is probably sniffing and crying about it right now.
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by iceman_1960 March 4, 2007 12:44 AM EST
"Metamucil is a bulk-producing laxative and fiber supplement manufactured by Procter & Gamble. The Metamucil brand has existed since 1934. The active ingredient is Psyllium seed husks. It is often used to treat constipation, hemorrhoids, diverticular disease and irritable bowel syndrome. It has also been shown to reduce cholesterol when taken daily. Metamucil is sold in powdered drink mixes, capsules, and wafers."

- Wikipedia
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by iceman_1960 March 4, 2007 12:41 AM EST
"Oops" I forgot, you might order a hit on me, or lace my food with arsenic."
- kailumego1

Keep this up and I'll lace it with Metamucil.

That might do you some good.
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by iceman_1960 March 4, 2007 12:37 AM EST
Red Grange had the name "Iceman" long before Richard Kuklinski did.

Not to mention that Red Grange was a much nicer man.

He was one of those football players who didn't murder his wife. They're the best kind.
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by iceman_1960 March 4, 2007 12:33 AM EST
By the way, kailumego1, I am white, and I am putting my money where my mouth is, in supporting the Presidential candidacy of Barack Obama.

Yeah, I know he's part white.

Who cares about race ?

He's the best man for the job, in my opinion.
Reply to this comment
by kailumego1 March 4, 2007 12:30 AM EST
Richard Kuklinski (April 11, 1935 %u2013 March 5, 2006) was a convicted murderer who claimed to be a notorious hit man known as "The Iceman" who was connected to the Gambino crime family. He was the older brother of Joseph Kuklinski.

-Wikipedia
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