News Conference Held Today

Highway patrol officials talk about their role in a missing persons case. In a news conference today, members of the Missouri Highway Patrol spoke out about the course of events surrounding the death of Diamond School Superinentedent Dr. Greg Smith. One of the questions raised is why it took the highway patrol almost a week to search the pond and raise the car. Now you`ll remember, we reported earlier that a call came into authorities November 2nd about a downed mailbox near the pond, north of Diamond, but the car belonging to Dr. Smith wasn`t discovered until a week later. The highway patrol responds by saying an officer did go to the site, but the connection wasn`t made because the property owner estimated the damage had been done earlier that day. Plus, there was no mention of tire tracks leading to the pond until much later in the week. Another question facing the highway patrol is why the family of Dr. Smith wasn`t notified immediately that the car could have been Smith`s. Officer Terry Moore says families aren`t notified until a positive identification has been made. Officer Moore also says had the family not arrived at the scene, an officer would have gone to their home as soon as a positive identification had been made.