Friday, September 19, 2008

ARTICLE #103) DNA tests in Foster case: City woman vanished in 2006


Wednesday, January 23, 2008
DNA tests in Foster case: City woman vanished in 2006
Kamloops This Week by Cassidy Olivier

It’s already been a long week for Glendene Grant, one filled with late nights and long hopes.

In response to the latest developments in the case of her missing daughter, Jessie Foster, Grant, a mother of three, has been busy updating files and web pages as well as doing the customary round of media interviews.

It has bee the same ever since Foster, then 21, went missing from Las Vegas in March 2006.

The newest development came earlier this week when Grant learned American authorities had agreed to send a DNA kit to the Kamloops RCMP detachment as part of an ongoing investigation into an unidentified body found in late 2006 in Kilgore, Tex., east of Dallas.

The Kilgore case had been featured on Fox’s America’s Most Wanted a few weeks ago and Grant followed up, contacting local Mounties, then the North Las Vegas Police Department, believing it was worth looking into.

While the remains of the female body were badly burned, investigators have been able to construct a rough composite that bore some resemblance to Foster – most notable the age and estimated date of death.

But even though Grant doesn’t think the body is that of her missing daughter, the pending DNA results will provide further weight to her ongoing search.

Both Grant and her ex-husband, Dwight Foster, will provide samples.

“I really don’t think it is her,” said Foster. “I really looked at [the composite] with scrutiny. We saw some similarities, but we saw a lot of great differences.”

Foster, who always maintained regular contact with her family, suddenly stopped calling in March 2006 while living in Las Vegas with her boyfriend, Peter Todd, a man authorities have labeled a pimp.

While many have feared the worst, Grant has always maintained the belief her daughter had fallen victim to a human trafficking ring and is currently being held against her will.

Since her disappearance, Foster’s story has been told nationally, being the subject of prominent television programs, including The Montel Williams and The Maury Povich Show.

For updates, visit http://www.jessiefoster.ca. Information regarding the Texas case can be found at http://doenetwork.org/hot/hotcase539.html.

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