OCILLA, Ga. -- An orange jack-o-lantern, illuminated by an electric bulb, still grins mockingly from Tara Grinstead's porch -- a Halloween adornment the beauty queen and promising young teacher put out just before she vanished more than three months ago.

Grinstead's disappearance on Oct. 22 has fueled lots of speculation and rumors on Web blogs and has been the fodder for national talk shows. Despite massive searches involving hundreds of volunteers and countless hours of investigative work by various agencies, no one can find her.

Authorities have never said they suspect the 30-year-old woman was a victim of foul play. A cell phone that she was known to always carry was found in her house, her unlocked car was in the driveway, but her purse and keys were gone.

A latex glove _ the type worn by police officers and medical workers _ was found in her front yard.

"There's a lot of speculation," Police Chief Billy Hancock said. "We certainly are still considering it a missing persons case and the possibility of abduction is not being ruled out. We don't have any evidence of that."

While Grinstead is just one of 2,300 missing adults and children in Georgia, she is easily the most well-known.

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"This is a teacher who significantly affected her students, not just in the classroom," said Wendy McFarland, a fellow teacher at Irwin County High School. "She was willing to help kids no matter what problems they had. If it was academic or personal, she was there for them."

Supporters plan to honor her in March with a "Miss Spirit of Tara" pageant in nearby Tifton, where Grinstead won the title of Miss Tifton in 1999. Money raised from the $75 entry fees will be used to increase the reward money.

Two rewards are being offered: $100,000 for Grinstead's safe return and $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for her disappearance. Half of the reward for her safe return is funded by Liberty National Insurance Co., where Grinstead's father is a vice president, while the other half is from donors in Ocilla and surrounding communities. An anonymous individual is funding the second reward.

Grinstead's sister, Anita Gattis, has made frequent appearances on nationally televised crime shows to appeal for information leading to her. People who before October had never heard of Ocilla, about 165 miles southeast of Atlanta, now ask about the Grinstead case when meet people from the town on their travels.

"It's put Ocilla on the map," said Linda Fletcher, command center director. "We've gotten thousands of e-mails from all over the world."

Gattis, who lives with her physician husband in nearby Hawkinsville, says Grinstead was too considerate and dedicated to simply leave town.

"She would not have done that to my mother," Gattis said. "She and my mom were very close. She would have never left her students without a teacher. She had too much respect of her students to leave them."

In addition, Grinstead was devoted to her dog, Dolly Madison, and her cat, Herman Talmadge, and wouldn't have abandoned them, Gattis said.

The sister believes Grinstead was abducted or worse. "I think someone she knew is involved," Gattis said. "I think something bad happened."

Before her disappearance, Grinstead was despondent over the end of a six-year relationship with a former Ocilla police officer, friends say. He joined the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and now works as a civilian security consultant in Iraq, with occasional visits to Ocilla.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation has questioned him and several of Grinstead's other male friends, but has made no arrests.

Grinstead lived in a small brick-and-frame house that is still surrounded by yellow crime-scene tape. The decorations she put out for Halloween remain on the front steps. Supporters have wrapped her mail box and several pine trees with yellow, black and red ribbons.

Yellow expresses their desire for her safe return, while red and black are the colors of Irwin County High.

A "Happy Birthday" banner hangs beneath a front window, commemorating the 31st birthday she would have celebrated on Nov. 14.

Friends say Grinstead competed in pageants to win scholarships, and she encouraged other young women to do the same.

She paid for most of her college education at Valdosta State University with beauty pageant scholarships, friends say. After receiving a master's degree, she continued her studies and was preparing to to enter a doctoral program, Gattis said.

On Oct. 22, the last day she was seen, Grinstead had helped contestants in a beauty pageant Miss Sweet Potato Festival in Fitzgerald and then attended a cookout with friends in Ocilla. She was reported missing two days later when she failed to report to work.

The GBI has assumed responsibility for the investigation, with help from the local police and sheriff's departments.

"There's nothing new. It's still under investigation and the search for Tara continues," said GBI spokeswoman Vicki Metz.

The case has frustrated the police chief and Irwin County Sheriff Donnie Youghn.

"I just wish there was some way ... we could come up with closure on this for the family and for us," the sheriff said.

Anyone with information about Grinstead's disappearance is asked to call Ocilla Police Department Detective Bill Barrs or Georgia Bureau of Information Agent Dominic Turner at (229) 468-7494.

Friends and family members have set up a Web site at FindTara.com.