Today I stumbled upon your web site and it brought back quite a few memories. I was a reporter for
the Athens Banner-Herald when Tara was murdered and have written many articles about her case.
During that time I interviewed a number of Tara's friends and family members, and while I'm not sure
I ever really got to know what Tara was like, I felt great empathy for the people left behind and
the grief and frustration they share.

I remember the day Tara was murdered well. It was a dreary, rainy afternoon. In the newsroom, we
heard some chatter on the scanner about a house fire, but didn't think too much of it. I remember
later hearing that a woman had died in the fire, yet that still wasn't altogether uncommon and fazed
me little. I was not the cops reporter at the time (I covered mainly courts), and would let Rhiannon
cover it.

Then the editorial page editor at the time came to me and said apparently there had been a heinous
murder at Deer Park and we should go to the scene.

I stood in the light rain that night outside Tara's home waiting for some word from detectives but
mostly cooling my heels under an umbrella. I watched as they wheeled her covered body out on a
gurney, and later saw the purplish-pink glow of ultraviolet light shining through the window as
detectives scoured the crime scene.

That night would be the beginning of a long involvement in covering the case, along with others,
including former Banner-Herald reporters Rhiannon Brewer Patrick and Joan Stroer. My involvement
didn't end until I took another reporting job at the Augusta Chronicle and left Athens in June 2003.

I just wanted you, and especially Lindsay, to know that I haven't forgotten about Tara and hope as
you do that one day there will be resolution in this case. I am also confident that Mike Tyndall,
Fred Stephens, and the many other investigators who have worked this case want it solved as much as
anyone.

I've enjoyed looking at the many photos of Tara and reading the letters submitted from all over. The
web site is a poignant tribute to a life taken much too soon. God bless to all of Tara's friends and
family.

Sincerely,

Stephen Gurr
Gainesville, Ga.