The Red and Black

Issue date: 5/2/09 Section: News

Media Credit: DANIELLE MOORE Law enforcement officials head out of the search area where George Zinkhan's Jeep was found Friday. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: JAKE DANIELS A police helicopter takes off from the command center off Cleveland Road. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: WAITES LASETER Law enforcement gather in trucks, getting ready to search. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: DANIELLE MOORE Police keep watch as helicopters look over the terrain. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: DANIELLE MOORE U.S. Marshals keep and eye out. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: WAITES LASETER Police officials meet with the media [Click to enlarge]

Area of search for George Zinkhan [Click to enlarge]

BOGART - The massive manhunt for "not your typical type of fugitive" descended on northwestern Athens-Clarke County Friday, as law enforcement hunted through a large wooded area for accused murder and University professor George Zinkhan.

Officers from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Marshals Office, FBI and ACC spent Friday on an 1,110-acre tract off Fowler Mill Road looking for Zinkhan after his maroon 2005 Jeep Liberty was discovered Thursday night in a ravine. They were joined by Department of Natural Resources rangers, riding all-terrain vehicles with rifles strapped to their backs, as the GBI told reporters 200 people were searching for Zinkhan between Cleveland Road and the Jackson County line.

"We had to rule out the possibility of him still being here," John Bankhead from the GBI said during a news briefing at Cleveland Road Baptist Church. "There's all kinds of speculation right now."

Law enforcement gathered a little before 6 p.m. at the church for a final debriefing Friday before wrapping up the search for the night, but a patrol will be kept on site just in case.

Zinkhan vanished after police say he killed three people Saturday afternoon at the Athens Community Theatre off Grady Avenue. His wife Marie Bruce, 47, Tom Tanner, 40, and Ben Teague, 63, were gunned down at a Town & Gown reunion.

The Jeep was in drive when it was found in the ravine, as if someone pushed it over, said Capt. Clarence Holeman, assistant commander of Athens-Clarke police's Criminal Investigations Division. There was no blood or weapons found, and it looked as if it was there for some time, according to man who runs a wood-cutting business, Holeman said. The Jeep could have been there since last Saturday.

The Jeep was pulled out of the ravine a little before 11 a.m. The rear windows were broken out and there were dents in the rear half of vehicle. It will be taken to GBI Athens for investigation. Police tracked down the Jeep by tracing a signal emitted by one of Zinkhan's cell phones, FBI Special Agent in Charge Greg Jones told the Associated Press. Bankhead would not comment on the cell phone Friday afternoon.

Police searched all night for Zinkhan, using dogs and maintaining radio silence so as not to alert Zinkhan.

As the night went to day on Friday, the comings and goings on Cleveland Road moved at a fever pitch. A crisis negotiation team was sent into the scene at noon Friday, and streams of FBI agents and law enforcement came in and out of the wooded area. At 12:15, police were stopping cars along Cleveland Road and checking the back seats of every car that came through. At 12:45 p.m., streams of law enforcement vehicles were coming out of the scene. Some more officers were coming in to relieve officers who were searching all night. Low-flying news helicopters were buzzing and several members of the media flooded the area.

Zinkhan's house on Chesterfield Road was just a mile away from where the Jeep was found and two ACC police cars were parked in the driveway Friday morning.

Cleveland Road Elementary School, which backs up to the search area, was on lockdown on Friday morning, but the lockdown was suspended later in the day.

UGA Alert sent out texts, phone calls and e-mails to students, faculty and staff at 8:10 a.m. announcing the discovery of the car.

The message stated: "Overnight in northwestern Clarke County, Athens-Clarke Police located the vehicle belonging to George Zinkhan, the former UGA professor wanted in the killing of three people. Until he is located by police, as stated previously, please continue to use caution. Do not call 911 or the UGA Police unless there is an emergency or you have sighted George Zinkhan."

"We are confident he will be found," Bankhead said, adding "he is not the typical type of fugitive."

Part of the discovery about Zinkhan following the murders was he had a ticket to fly to Amsterdam on May 2. If he does, authorities will be ready.

"We hope he tries to get on that plane to Amsterdam," Bankhead said.

Check www.redandblack.com for any updates.

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