At the time, he said he had an accomplice who helped carry her body and . He had been a student at Irwin County High School in Ocilla . A second man arrested in the case, Bo Dukes, was a friend of Duke. He's . At the time, the officer searched her home and found that her keys and purse were missing, but her cellphone was still plugged into her bed by a charger, according to Fox5. He has been charged with concealing a death . Police. On Friday, Duke's defense team pushed for doubt in the DNA testing of a key piece of evidence found in Grinstead's backyard the weekend she vanished in 2005: a latex glove dropped in the landscaping. Additionally, officers found $100 cash in an envelope on Grinstead's dashboard. The man who was acquitted of murdering Tara Grinstead has been sentenced after being found guilty of concealing the beloved beauty queen's death. Her body has never been recovered. 2 min read The man accused of murdering a former Georgia beauty queen and teacher revealed gruesome details about her murder and blamed his friend, who is also facing. Divers spent much of the day in an Irwin County creek looking for the remains of a school teacher who disappeared five and a half years ago. The latex glove was tested for DNA; Tara's DNA was found on it, along with the DNA of an unknown male.Investigators compared the DNA of 150 men to the DNA on glove, but there were no matches.Teams with cadaver dogs and divers searched the area, but also found nothing. Source: Vimbuzz.com Tara Grinstead The Georgia man found guilty of concealing Tara Grinstead's death is sentenced to 10 years behind bars. It took 11 years for two men to be . WSB-TV Ryan Alexander Duke, a former student of Tara Grinstead, was convicted of her murder in April 2017. By Danielle Haynes. A jury in Georgia cleared Duke on all charges but convicted him of concealing … Today marks 10 years since the last time Tara Grinstead was seen alive. Sources 'I was a coward:' Accused Grinstead killer's alleged confession describes what . Her house was locked, her purse and keys inside and her car was parked in the carport. In 2005, Tara Grinstead, a former Miss Georgia contestant, and history teacher at the local high school in Ocilla, Georgia,… Published on 15 days ago 1 min read In 2005, the disappearance of beloved high-school teacher Tara Grinstead sent shockwaves through the town of Ocilla, Georgia. Ryan Duke was found guilty of concealing a death in May 2022 in connection to the . She vanished from her home after returning from a dinner party . Tara's car was found parked in the driveway, although the driver's seat had been moved back to accommodate someone much taller. Ryan Duke was found not guilty of murder . Tara Grinstead was a teacher and former beauty queen when she disappeared in October 2005. Grinstead, a 30-year-old Irwin County High School history teacher and . A jury in Georgia found Ryan Duke not guilty of murder in the 2005 death of school teacher and beauty pageant contestant Tara Grinstead. Tara Grinstead's home in Ocilla, Ga., still has yellow crime scene tape around it on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006, about three months after the popular beauty queen and teacher disappeared. Duke was charged with the 2005 death and disappearance of Tara . Last Friday, a Georgia jury acquitted Ryan Duke of the 2005 killing of popular high school teacher Tara Grinstead — a crime he confessed to in 2017 within 90 seconds of walking into the Ocilla. The circumstances of Tara Grinstead's disappearance remain unclear and her case is currently classified as a . The podcast's success revived the public interest in Tara's disappearance and eventually, a breakthrough came in 2017. Shockingly, a few days after I published the post, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation made an announcement that changed … Duke later showed Dukes the body and they spent two days burning Grinstead's remains, which is why she was never found, though some small bone fragments were eventually unearthed at the pecan orchard. Ryan Duke, 36, received the maximum sentence of 10 years behind bars on Monday after being found guilty of concealing Grinstead's murder, according to Fox Atlanta affiliate WAGA-TV. The incineration of Tara Grinstead's remains in a pecan orchard after she vanished in October 2005 would help keep her death a mystery . Channel 2′s Tony Thomas is in south Georgia following the trial for the suspect accused of murdering Tara Grinstead. Prosecutors in Wilcox County charged 34-year-old Dukes with covering up Tara Grinstead's death by lying to police in a 2016 interview about the case. The man found not guilty for the murder of Georgia teacher and beauty queen Tara Grinstead is facing new charges. It remains unclear how long Duke's trial will last or when a verdict will be reached. Ryan Duke faces the penalty of life in prison with parole. Late last month, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation held a press conference . Day four of testimony in the Ryan Duke murder trial focused on video from 2017 where Ryan Duke confessed to investigators that he killed missing Ocilla teacher, Tara Grinstead. Grinstead, circa 2005; Ryan Duke in 2017; Bo Dukes in 2017. . Ryan Duke was found guilty of concealing a death in May 2022 in connection to the . DNA identified the remains as Colleen's in 2011. . Donations are accepted but not expected; the site remains free . Cell phone clue According to the report, Grinstead's cellphone was found in her bedroom on her nightstand. This woman disappeared off the face of the earth and, 10 years later, police are no closer to knowing what happened to her than they were in 2005. Ryan Duke's attorney argued that her client didn't kill Tara Grinstead, 30, but instead, it was another man, who has already been convicted of concealing her death. . Eventually, an anonymous tip came around and two men were arrested in . FILE - An image of Tara Grinstead is displayed on a billboard in Ocilla, Ga. Duke was acquitted in May 2022 of murdering a high school teacher in 2005, but was indicted on new charges related to . Grinstead disappeared in 2005, as . Ryan Duke attended the same high school Tara taught at, at the time she was teaching there. IRWIN COUNTY, Ga. (Court TV) — The man who confessed to killing Tara Grinstead in 2005 is now pleading not guilty as he prepares for trial five years after his indictment. By Tony Thomas, WSB-TV February 28, 2017 at 7:15 pm EST BEN HILL COUNTY, Ga. — Dozens of Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents searched a pecan farm in a south Georgia town for Tara Grinstead's. Online court records confirm that Duke, 36, was found not guilty of malice and felony murder. Though she was declared legally dead in 2010 at her father's request. . Fitzgerald. By. RYAN Duke has been found not guilty on all but one count connected to beauty queen Tara Grinstead's 2005 murder. A tip line and website were soon set up by volunteers, and hundreds of tips about the case came in. OCILLA, Ga. (AP) — A jury has found a man accused of killing a popular high school teacher who vanished from her rural Georgia hometown . Alberto Luperon May 20th, 2022, 12:36 pm. Murder defendant Ryan Duke is set for a 2-day hearing ahead of his upcoming trial for allegedly murdering teacher Tara Grinstead, 30.Co-defendant Bo Dukes, who claimed to have burned the body, was . It was not immediately clear if her remains were found. "I said, 'You need to confess. She used her . looking for her back in October 2005, he was asked about the latex glove found near Grinstead's home . At the time, agents did not say what they were looking for or what was found. Jurors have acquitted Ryan Duke of murdering 30-year-old teacher and beauty queen Tara Grinstead. Graduated 3 years prior to disappearance. Mom referring to Tara in past tense, thanks community for their support. Remains of Missouri Teen Identified 10 Years After Disappearance: 'We Can Finally Put Her to Rest'. In 2016, the remains of 21-year-old Jessica Runions were found 20 to 30 yards away from where . The disappearance of 30-year-old Tara Grinstead, a history teacher and former beauty queen, after she left an evening cookout in October 2005 lingered as an unsolved mystery for more than a decade. The latex glove was tested for DNA; Tara's DNA was found on it, along with the DNA of an unknown male.Investigators compared the DNA of 150 men to the DNA on glove, but there were no matches.Teams with cadaver dogs and divers searched the area, but also found nothing. Duke's . Status: Remains found in 1984; officially identified in 2011. On Friday, two key witnesses took the stand: the forensic biologist who tested the glove found at Tara Grinstead's home and the forensic anthropologist brought in who helped find Grinstead's buried. Published: May. Ryan Duke, 36, told local authorities just moments after entering the police station in 2017 that he had killed high school teacher Tara Grinstead back in 2005. RYAN Duke has been found not guilty on all but one count connected to beauty queen Tara Grinstead's 2005 murder. Were Tara Grinstead's remains ever found? Thomas worked for two days to confirm. Authorities checked Grinstead's house and found it locked. Her white Mitsubishi 3000, the clothes she was last seen wearing, and her cellular phone were at her home, as were her cat and dog. The state said a translucent glove was discovered and blood was found on Grinstead's bed comforter. Bo Dukes was ultimately found guilty of lying to the GBI, hindering the arrest of Ryan Duke, and further concealing the death of Tara Grinstead. Duke is accused of killing Tara Grinstead, who vanished from her home in Ocilla in 2005. Advertisement Connie Grinstead, Tara's stepmother, thanked authorities for their efforts in the investigation and remembered her . After spending the . There were very few known leads in the missing persons case for 11 years, until last week when the GBI announced that an arrest had been made in Grinstead's apparent murde r. Ryan Alexander Duke was charged with murdering the then-30-year-old teacher at her Ocilla, Georgia, home. Ryan Duke is known as a former Irwin County High School student and was accused of murdering Grinstead. Foul play is strongly suspected in Tara Grinstead's disappearance and authorities believe she was the victim of a homicide, though her remains have not been found. Pic credit: Irwin County Sheriff's Office and Georgia Dept . Last Friday, a Georgia jury acquitted Ryan Duke of the 2005 killing of popular high school teacher Tara Grinstead — a crime he confessed to in 2017 within 90 seconds of walking into the Ocilla police station, only to recant the confession. But nearly 12 years would pass before investigators finally learned what happened -- and now recent. May 20 (UPI) -- A Georgia jury on Friday acquitted a man who confessed to killing a high school teacher in 2005 then later recanted. Jim Connell sent a drone up Wednesday over a pecan farm the GBI was combing for the remains of Tara Grinstead. Duke was only convicted Friday of concealing death of another for keeping Grinstead's whereabouts in the 2005 incident a secret. Enough probable cause was discovered to charge a Ryan Alexander Duke with Tara's presumed murder. However, an Irwin County jury acquitted him on May 20 of the murder charge but found him guilty of concealing her death instead, which could send him to prison for a maximum of ten years. Dukes was last seen . John McCullough, a buddy from Army basic training, told the Wilcox County jury Dukes opened up to him about what happened to Tara Grinstead, wiping away tears on the stand. Teacher, Tara Grinstead, is displayed on a billboard in Ocilla, Ga. New court documents suggest that within weeks of a south Georgia teacher's disappearance, two of her ex-students told friends . Man found not guilty of murdering teacher Tara Grinstead. Unresolved Disappearance. Investigation Discovery Ryan Alexander Duke's mugshot after his arrest for Tara Grinstead's murder Tara Grinstead was a former pageant queen and local Ocilla, Georgia, high school history teacher. In 2010, she was declared legally dead at her father's request. But Dukes's defense attorney said they failed. 23, 2022 at 6:33 AM PDT. Since Dykes had been at Tara's home late Sunday night and early Monday morning at 1a.m. In his 2017 confession, Ryan Duke claimed he broke into Tara Grinstead's house for . By Jerry Brown Leave a Comment. Ryan Alexander Duke, 36, is charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, burglary, and concealing a death in connection with Grinstead's death. The man found not guilty for the murder of Georgia teacher and beauty queen Tara Grinstead is facing new charges. Duke was acquitted of malice murder, felony murder . Duke was acquitted of malice murder, two counts of felony murder . 30 year old Tara Grinstead was last seen in Ocilla, Georgia on October 22, 2005. FOX 29 Philadelphia OCILLA, Ga. (AP) - A man charged with killing a high school teacher who vanished in 2005 from her rural Georgia home confessed more than a decade later to authorities, who found. Grinstead's Remains Were Burned and Only Fragments Recovered On October 22, 2005, Grinstead, a 30-year-old former Miss Georgia contestant, was last seen helping some local contestants in the Miss. A judge sentenced him to the maximum penalty of 25 . Up and Vanished Bonus: Payne Lindsey Talks to First Amendment Attorney Derek Bauer Tara Grinstead, a teacher and three-time winner of the Miss Tifton beauty pageant, went missing almost exactly 13 years ago from her small town of Ocilla in southern Georgia — and her remains have never been discovered. Now the first of two men charged in . Updates on Tara's case and the upcoming TV special Learn more about . Feb. 28, 2017: GBI searched a Ben Hill County pecan farm for Grinstead's remains. Was Tara Grinstead Remains Found? Brooke Sheridan ultimately decided to come forward about her boyfriend because she believed that Tara Grinstead family's "peace to me was more important than his freedom." Sheridan confronted Bo Dukes as well. FILE - An image of Tara Grinstead is displayed on a billboard in Ocilla, Ga. Ryan Duke, charged with murdering Grinstead, a popular high school teacher who vanished in 2005, went on trial Monday . Ryan Duke, a man on trial for the death of Georgia teacher, Tara Grinsted, has been found not guilty of murder by an Irwin County jury. Ryan Duke and Bo Dukes finally admitted to the murder of Tara Grinstead. Real Name: Tara Faye Grinstead Nicknames: No known nicknames Location: Ocilla, Georgia Date: October 22, 2005 Occupation: High School Teacher Date of Birth: November 14, 1974 Height: 5'3 Weight: 125 Marital Status: Single Characteristics: Brown hair, brown eyes Details: Tara Grinstead was involved in several beauty pageants, winning "Miss Tifton" in 1999 when she was twenty-five. (ELLIOTT . The alleged confession,. He had been a student at Irwin County High School in Ocilla . A jury in Georgia cleared Duke on all charges but convicted him of concealing … According to NBC News, he previously told investigators in 2017 that he had killed her after breaking into her home to steal drugs, but he later recanted his statement. Tara's remains have never been recovered. Duke further took his friend, Bo Dukes' pickup truck to transport Grinstead's body to the Dukes' family pecan orchard, where they spent two days burning Grinstead's remains. Remains were found near Orange County Lake a few days after Colleen went missing. 1 of 5 FILE - An image of Tara Grinstead is displayed on a billboard in Ocilla, Ga. Duke was acquitted in May 2022 of murdering a high school teacher in 2005, but was indicted on new charges . Was Tara Grinstead Remains Found? Duke was not arrested until 2017. Tara Faye Grinstead. While Duke stands trial, Grinstead's family was able to get some closer in 2019, when the alleged murderer's friend Bo Dukes confessed to helping move and burn . OCILLA, Ga. (WALB) - Ryan Duke was sentenced Monday in Irwin County Superior Court. The incineration of Tara Grinstead's remains in a pecan orchard after she vanished in October 2005 would help keep her death a mystery for more than a decade. Ryan Duke was acquitted of ex-beauty queen Tara Grinstead's murder Friday despite confessing to it in 2017. There were very few known leads in the missing persons case for 11 years, until last week when the GBI announced that an arrest had been made in Grinstead's apparent murde r. Ryan Alexander Duke was charged with murdering the then-30-year-old teacher at her Ocilla, Georgia, home. SUSPECT IN GRINSTEAD'S DEATH SOUGHT FOR NEW YEAR'S DAY RAPE IN GEORGIA, POLICE SAY. Shortly after Ryan was arrested, a gag order was placed on law enforcement while police began a three-day search of a nearby pecan farm. It could be the final chapter in a 16-year murder mystery when the man accused of killing Tara Grinstead goes on trial May 2. ABBEVILLE, Ga. — On day three of Bo Dukes' trial, a GBI officer took the stand and played a nearly hour-long confession in which Dukes talked about how Tara Grinstead, a former beauty queen and. He said that he had helped bury her body, and it was his friend, Ryan Duke, who had murdered her. Thursday marked 15 years since the disappearance of the high school teacher and one-time Miss Tifton — a disappearance which achieved national attention. ABBEVILLE, Ga. (WITI/AP) -- Jurors watched a videotaped confession Wednesday of a Georgia man admitting he helped a friend burn the body of a slain high school teacher until "it looked like it was all ash.". October 22, 2005 was the last time anyone saw Tara alive. An anonymous tip led GBI to a man named Bo Dukes who confessed that he had played a part in Grinstead's disappearance. On October 24, 2005, Grinstead failed to show up to the work which led to a welfare check and missing person report. For twelve years, the cops and private investigators tried to uncover the truth and bring the case to its deserved conclusion, but nothing came of it. Bo Dukes (left), who is accused of helping conceal the body of murdered Georgia beauty queen Tara Grinstead (right), is now wanted on charges of rape, sodomy, and kidnapping. What happened to Tara Grinstead? $100 in cash was found stuffed into an envelope in the car's center console. A tip line and website were soon set up by volunteers, and hundreds of tips about the case came in. That's coming up Saturday night at 10 p.m. on 48 Hours on 13WMAZ. Tara Faye Grinstead (born November 14, 1974) was an American high school history teacher from Ocilla, Georgia, who went missing on October 22, 2005, and was declared dead in 2010.. On February 23, 2017, a press conference was held by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) formally announcing that a tip had been received that led to the arrest of Ryan Alexander Duke for Grinstead's murder . Tara Grinstead had been missing for 12 years when a podcast about her case helped bing in a new suspect in her murder. Grinstead's remains were never found. Sun Sep 12, 2021 at 7:52am ET. At the time, agents did not say what . To this day, the mystery behind the Irwin County school teacher's disappearance remains unsolved. Now, over a decade later, Peter Van Sant takes an in-depth look at the disappearance of Tara Grinstead and where the case stands now.