Timeline of events in Zinkhan case

By MARCUS K. GARNER

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The search for George Zinkhan ended Saturday when a pair of cadaver search dogs and volunteers found his body buried in a shallow grave with a single gunshot to the head.

Here is a recap of Zinkhan's alleged shooting spree and the subsequent search:

• April 25: Zinkhan arrives at a picnic for the Athens-based Town and Gown Players and argues with his estranged wife, attorney Marie Bruce. He goes to his Jeep where his two children are waiting, returns with a pair of handguns and fatally shoots Bruce and fellow theater members Thomas Tanner and Ben Teague.

• April 25: The incident triggers an area-wide manhunt, as Zinkhan drops his children off with a neighbor and drives out of sight. Police determine that Zinkhan has not used his cellphone, credit cards or ATM cards in an attempt to flee.

• April 26: Police put out a nationwide search for Zinkhan's red Jeep Liberty. Authorities say he has a home in Amsterdam and could try to flee the country.

• April 27: Family and friends of the victims mourn the loss of the three slain Town and Gown Players. Police reveal a delay in alerting UGA students of the incident on the day of the shooting because of the need to isolate Zinkhan's cell number from the roughly 25,000 phones contacted.

• April 29: The FBI takes the lead in the investigation .

• May 1: Authorities find Zinkhan's Jeep in a ravine in a heavily wooded area just a few miles from his Bogart home.

• May 2: Police stake out Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport based on information about a May 2 ticket to Amsterdam he had previously purchased.

• May 6: Authorities release sketches of what Zinkhan might look like if he attempted to alter his appearance.

• May 9: At 9:50 a.m., Zinkhan's body is found not far from where his Jeep was located a week earlier.

• May 12: In a concluding press conference, police say Zinkhan and his wife, Marie Bruce, were having "marital difficulties," that Tom Tanner appeared to be his "specific target" in the shootings and that Ben Teague was "at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Police also confirm they found a map to the home of Barbara Carroll, a UGA marketing colleague with whom Zinkhan had work-related problems, inside Zinkhan's abandoned vehicle. It was printed the day before the murders.

• May 13: Town & Gown Players members issue a statement saying they will continue their season on an adjusted schedule because "Marie, Ben and Tom would not have it any other way."

• May 14: Authorities say nobody has claimed Zinkhan's body, which remains in a cooler at the GBI medical examiner's office in Decatur.

-- Staff writer Larry Hartstein contributed to this article.