Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Tara Grinstead, a 30-year-old history teacher at the Irwin County High School, was reported missing on Monday, October 24, 2005. Her case went cold immediately after the disappearance until 2017 when her former student Bo Dukes and his roommate Ryan Duke were charged with concealing the murder and killing Grinstead. However, the two men claimed that the other one was responsible for the Tara Grinstead murder. Both Dukes and Duke claimed that they had only helped in concealing the death, making the facts of the case further complicated.
When Tara Grinstead didn’t show up to school on October 24, 2005, her friends reported her missing. Following this, the police initiated an investigation and searched her home, where she lived alone. The crime scene led to the discovery of a broken bedside lamp in the house, with her keys and wallet missing. Apart from that, the crime scene barely suggested any signs of apparent struggle, according to CBS News. The outlet reported that the 30-year-old teacher went to a barbecue on Saturday, October 22. She returned home around 11 p.m., after which her whereabouts were unknown.
In 2017, Brooke Sheridan, Bo Dukes’ girlfriend at the time, proved to be crucial to the case as she shared details about the murder with the authorities. It was then discovered that Bo Dukes and Ryan Duke went to the pecan orchard that the former’s family owned. They reportedly burned the body to ensure the evidence wasn’t found. Ryan Duke was charged with the murder and confessed to murdering Tara Grinstead, who caught him stealing from her purse.
Bo Dukes was convicted of concealing the murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. However, during Ryan Duke’s trial in 2022, he denied killing Tara Grinstead and claimed that he lied because he feared Bo Dukes.
Tara Grinstead Murder: Where are Bo Dukes and Ryan Duke Now?
Ryan Duke testified for over a week in court, claiming that Bo Dukes was responsible for the Tara Grinstead murder and made him help Dukes to conceal the evidence, per CBS News. Duke was later acquitted of Grinstead’s murder. However, he was convicted of concealing Grinstead’s death, hindering Bo Dukes’ arrest, tampering with evidence, and lying to the investigators about the murder. He was then sentenced to 10 years in prison. Duke is currently serving his sentence.
Meanwhile, Bo Dukes continues to serve his 25-year sentence in prison. Neither of the two have been convicted of the Tara Grinstead murder so far. According to Fox 5, Ryan Dukes led authorities to the pecan orchard in Ben Hill County. That was the location where they allegedly burned Tara Grinstead’s body in a fire pit. However, the DNA analysis of the remains found in bone fragments was inconclusive. A latex glove that was found at the site had the DNA of Ryan Duke and Grinstead. There was also the DNA of another adult whose identity remains unknown.
In 2017, Brooke Sheridan, who was dating Bo Dukes at the time, told the police that he claimed to have helped Ryan Duke conceal the Tara Grinstead murder. According to his statement, Duke woke him up one morning and informed him that he had killed Grinstead. He claimed it was during a robbery at her home. He then said he transported her body in Bo Dukes’ truck. The two convicts claimed to have dumped her in a pecan orchard owned by Dukes’ family.
“The Tara Grinstead Mystery” is an episode of 48 Hours that first aired on December 30, 2020. The episode re-aired on ID on March 2, 2024, at 7 a.m. ET.
