FBI takes lead in finding Athens murder suspect

Athens — As the mystery deepens into the whereabouts of accused triple-murderer George Zinkhan III, it has become increasingly apparent that the job of apprehending him is falling to the FBI.

Special Agent In Charge Gregory Jones told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday that the FBI has at least a dozen agents from seven states — including Georgia divisions in Atlanta, Athens and Macon — assigned to the case.

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All of them are working daily to follow leads that might help track down Zinkhan, a 57-year-old University of Georgia marketing professor accused of gunning down his wife, Marie Bruce, and two men, Tom Tanner and Ben Teague, in broad daylight Saturday near downtown Athens.

The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Zinkhan was last seen driving out of his Bogart neighborhood in his red 2005 Jeep Liberty on Saturday afternoon. That Zinkhan’s vehicle still has not been located is of particular concern to the FBI.

“It is quite disconcerting that vehicle has not been sighted,” Jones said. “We’re led to believe it is perhaps out of the public view, housed in a garage, underground or wherever. In most cases vehicles used in the commission of a crime such as this are usually still in the possession of the individual and either sighted later on and/or recovered. That hasn’t been the case here.”

Jones said his agents have conducted dozens of interviews with family, friends, neighbors and acquaintances of Zinkhan to try to get an idea of just the type of person they’re dealing with and where he might be headed.

Jones said the profile that is emerging is a troubling one: An extremely intelligent and fiercely private individual who is well-resourced, well-traveled and obviously capable of murder.

“They paint the picture of the controlling type of an individual who is extremely private and aloof,” Jones said. “We’ve had people in the neighborhood who have told us they have lived next door to them but they don’t know him.

“Also, others have told us that he went out of his way to not allow people to know him and would not engage in conversation or let his guard down to enable somebody to know more about him. Such things as, ‘How was your week? What did you do?’, he would cut such conversations off squarely and coldly.”

Meanwhile, local authorities are clearly frustrated by the lack of leads in the investigation.

“The only thing we can do at this point is let [the investigation] run it’s course,” Athens-Clarke County Police Capt. Clarence Holeman said. “We’ve got a lookout on the guy. Nobody’s seen him. We’re not doing anything special… . The main thing is we know is who did it. We’re just trying to find him. We’ve got 159 counties and 50 states. He could be anywhere.”

The last local lead police had, a tip that Zinkhan or at least his vehicle could have been hiding in a warehouse in rural Oconee County, was proved unfounded Tuesday afternoon.

Because Zinkhan is an avid hiker, police alerted the Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Park Service and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. Since Zinkhan’s passport is missing and he had booked an airline ticket for May 2 to Amsterdam, lookouts have been posted at airports and have been extended internationally.

Though it’s an extremely wide net authorities are having to cast, Jones remains cautiously optimistic Zinkhan will be found.

“That’s the ultimate goal,” the FBI agent said. “It comes down to detective, gumshoe, investigative work. You’re trying to piece together information, however limited it might be, to get to that ultimate goal. There are some definite and specific leads we have pursued. The interview process has generated more leads. But each time you get one it’s like starting from zero again to get to where you need to be.”