UGA’s professor’s poetry may yield clues to his location

As the search for triple murder suspect George M. Zinkhan heads into its fifth day, significant clues to his whereabouts may exist in the former UGA professor’s poetry.

While police have publicly speculated that Zinkhan may have fled to Amsterdam, where he has a home, they haven’t said much about another possible destination, one the academic seems to know well.

Enlarge this image

Elissa Eubanks

Investigator Higgins with Oconee County follows up a lede from a neighbor on Plantation Drive in a Bogart neighborhood Tuesday. No sign of Zinkhan or his vehicle was found, police said.

Related George Zinkhan news:

• Photos: Zinkhan's body found
• Fellow professor sent into hiding
• Details of suicide
• Dog finds body
• Reaction in Athens
• Timeline of events
• Audio: 911 call
• FBI: Zinkhan's wife had sought divorce

“Appalachian Trail, Southern Terminus,” written by Zinkhan and published six years ago on the American Marketing Association’s web site, reads like a travelogue from an experienced hiker.

“Far-sighted trail planners have provided a safer place to camp — away from the peak — in a sheltered lee of the mountain,” Zinkhan wrote in describing the rocky, “formidable trudge” from Amicalola Falls to the peak of Springer Mountain in Gilmer County — the shortest approach to the beginning of the 2,172 mile Appalachian Trail.

The trail’s official web site now features the 57-year-old’s professor’s wanted poster forwarded by Athens-Clarke County Police. Zinkhan’s physical appearance — 6’3, 240 pounds, with a scruffy beard — betrays most professorial stereotypes.

According to the bulletin, “[p]olice are unsure of his whereabouts but say that Zinkhan is an avid hiker and has spent time on the Appalachian Trail in the past.”

“He apparently knows the area well,” said U.S. Park Ranger Eric Barron, who posted the notice.

Closer to home, investigators on Tuesday checked out a tip that Zinkhan’s 2005 red Jeep Liberty was spotted between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday just eight miles from his home. Zinkhan is accused of gunning down his wife, Marie Bruce, and two men earlier that afternoon outside an Athens theatre.

A half-dozen Oconee County deputies followed that lead to a large metal shed late Tuesday afternoon, but the Associated Press reports they found no sign of Zinkhan or his Jeep.

Athens-Clarke County Police provided no updates on their search Tuesday, but they’ve likely studied Zinkhan’s ode to the Appalachian, which concludes:

“After Brasstown Bald,the trail takes a sudden turn on the map, enters a mysterious dotted zone, and then abruptly terminates in Maine.”

Chip Towers contributed to this report.