Duke indicted of murder in Grinstead case

Published 2:07 pm Wednesday, April 12, 2017

OCILLA — A man has been indicted on a murder charge and other felony counts in the death of a South Georgia teacher who disappeared more than a decade ago.

An Irwin County Grand Jury indicted Ryan Alexander Duke Wednesday on charges of malice murder, two counts felony murder, aggravated assault, burglary and concealing the death of another in the death of teacher Tara Grinstead, according to court documents.

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Grinstead vanished from her hometown of Ocilla in 2005, and the case was cold for more than 11 years. As time passed, hundreds of leads poured in, and her disappearance became the largest case file in Georgia history.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Ryan Duke, a former student of Grinstead, at the end of February, saying it had enough probable cause to charge him with Grinstead’s murder. A week later, Bo Dukes was arrested and charged with helping to concealing Grinstead’s body.

There have been no public announcements regarding the location of Grinstead’s body; the case is under a court-mandated gag order barring officials from commenting.