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Tara Grinstead mystery solved with former student’s arrest · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

• 0:08
  Speaker 1: On Saturday, October twenty two, and two thousand and five,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Tera Grinstead went missing from her residence. As the hours
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: turned into days, days in two weeks, weeks in two months,
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: and eventually months into years, the search efforts never ceased.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: This is crime stories with Nancy Grace. We always believe
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: that it would be solved. We just did not know when.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: A few days ago, an individual came forward and reported
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: that they had information into Terror's disappearance. Through these interviews,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: enough probable cause was discovered so we could swear out
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: and arrest warrant charging Ryan Alexander Duke with the murder
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: of Tera Grinstead. Duke was taken into custody yesterday afternoon
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: and the warrant was issued this morning. For eleven years,
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: she did not know what happened to her daughter, her
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: beautiful daughter, her daughter she raised, her daughter she watched
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: walk down the catwalk to become a beauty queen, a
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: daughter that went on to become a high school teacher
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: in a little town, who then disappeared without a trace.
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: But tonight bombshell an arrest and the murder of beauty
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: queen turn teacher murdered eleven years ago and yes I'm
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: talking about Tara Grinstead. I'm Nancy Grace and this is
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us in the
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: last hours and arrest goes down. In the case of
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: missing woman Tara Grinstead, authorities say they think they have
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: cracked the case of a teacher who has been missing
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: eleven years. G b I states a suspect is in
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: custody in connection with a two thousand five disappearance of
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: high school teacher Tara Grinstead. I will never forget when
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Tara went missing. I remember driving to Oscilla, a little town.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: It looks like it's straight out of a fairy tale.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: It's a beautiful Bucolic and talking to her mother with
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: the grief just under the surface, the grief of not
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: knowing where is my daughter, of touring TERA's home. It
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: was beautiful, like a little jewel box. Everything was there,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: everything was in place, just one thing missing. Tara right
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: now joining me, the Duke, Alan Duke. What went down today?
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: The gb I calls this news conference and we don't
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: know what it's about. There rumors going around that there
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: was a rest. They were very vague. Yes, an update. Well,
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: I knew immediately when they said there there was an update.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: They were not going to say, well we got nothing, Okay,
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna say something. Well, what they said was really something.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Special Agent in Charge J. T. Rickinson made the announcement.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: On Saturday, October twenty two, and two thousand five, Tera
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Grinstead went missing from her residence. The Ocello Police Department
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: responded to her residence immediately. They suspected foul play. Additional
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: law enforcement resources were requested. The Irwin County Sheriff's office
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: and the gb I came in and began a search
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: at Terra's house. The troubling thing when you're working an
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: investigation into a missing person's case is that there's generally
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: very little evidence. Terra's home was searched extensively for several days,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: which produced little physical evidence. As with all missing person cases,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: the investigation started focusing on Terra's close friends and associates.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Tera was very well known in this community and well
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: liked in her community, so she had many contacts and
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: friends in various parts of the community. As the hours
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: turned into days, days in two weeks, weeks in two months,
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: and eventually months into years, the search efforts never ceased.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: Through these eleven plus years, the GBI and other law
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: enforcement officers have received hundreds and hundreds of tips. The
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: gb I handles unsolved cases in the same manner we
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: handled our active investigations. All open files are reviewed every
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: couple of months. That way, we do not let we
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: do not have cold cases. Each and every tip that
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: came in was vetted and checked against what we had
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: already done in this investigation. Interviews were conducted, searches were executed,
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: multiple DNA samples were collected. Each lead was thoroughly exhausted. Unfortunately,
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: all of these leads ended with a dead end until
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: the last couple of days. A few days ago, an
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: individual came forward and reported that they had information into
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: terrorist disappearance. This information made it to my office. In
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: our case, agent Jason Shadel was sent out to conduct
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: an interview. This interview generated several more interviews, which was
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: followed up by the rest of our office. Here. Through
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: these interviews, enough probable cause was discovered so we could
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: swear out and arrest warrant charging Ryan Alexander Duke with
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: the murder of Tara Grinstead. Duke was taken into custody
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: yesterday afternoon and the warrant was issued. This morning. Wow. Okay,
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: that's an announcement. The breaking news is the arrest in
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: the murder of Tara Grinstead is no longer a missing
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: case a missing person's case. We now know that Tara
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: is dead. Who is the guy they arrested. What do
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: we know about him? Ryan Alexander Duke? And let me
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: first say, no relationship. Ryan Alexander Duke. He's thirty three now.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: He attended high school where Grinstead taught history. Was he
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: there when she was teaching? Yes, as we heard the
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: GBI agent Rickinson say, they're not revealing much about how
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: he knew her, if he was in her class, her
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: home room, or whatever. But he was a student there
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: when she was a teacher. He graduated three years before
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: the alleged murder. She's a high school history teacher. She's young,
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: she's beautiful. All the students love her. She does a
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: lot of extracurricular activities with them. I'm just you know,
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: projecting here. I bet he had a crush on her.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: There were students we do know who did. There was one.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: I'm not even gonna mention these names anymore because they
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: are off the off the p o I list. Of course,
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: they had a crush on her. She's beautiful, she's not
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: that much older than them. She was. There's no no, no, no,
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: no suggestion she ever had a relationship with any of
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: these students. They had a crush on her, and I'm
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: sure unrequitted. There was one a couple of years after
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: he graduated, was arrested for banging on her door. He
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: was infatuated with her, and he was on the po
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: I list. But now he's He was cleared after a
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: search and everything. He was cleared. But it turns out
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: let people do a lot of dumb things when they're
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: in high school, okay, including having a crush on a
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: teacher that is not a killer. Make now this guy,
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: what do they What exactly is he charged with. He's
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: charged with burglary. That means he is believed to have
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: broken into her home. He charged with assaulting her, which
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: is obvious. You mean a sex assault or killing her.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: I didn't say sexual assault. They said of sault, putting
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: his hands on her in a criminal way, murdering her,
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: and then illegally disposing of the body. Where do we
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: think the body is? They're not saying the gb I
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: was very careful not to even say if they knew. Wow, okay,
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: how did it all go down? So the case has
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: been simmering now for eleven years, So how do the
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: police How did g b I finally crack at Somebody
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: walks in their office and says what somebody walked into
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: the Irwin County Sheriff's department. It said I've got something
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: to tell you about Tara Grinstead. And that triggered a
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: trip to Scilla by the g v I who was
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: focusing on the case, and he interviewed a couple of folks.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: But how did the witness know that this is the guy?
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: That Duke is the guy? They're not telling us how,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: they're not telling us who this was, but it did,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: within a couple of weeks, lead to a warrant for
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: the arrest of Ryan Alexander Duke. And they're really not
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: saying if he's confessed or not. Hm hmm okay. So
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: somebody walks into the Irwin County Sheriff's Department says, I
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: got to tell you something about Tara Grinstead. In a
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: couple of weeks, this arrest goes damn pursuant to warrn
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: that quickly. And it's interesting to hear the g b I,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: saying that Duke was not on their radar. A lot
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: of people were on this radar, a lot of them.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: We've talked about him, You've talked about them in the
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: podcast recently, but not this guy. On Wednesday. They take
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: Duke into custody on Thursday and arrest warrant was issued.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: Through the interviews, enough probable cause was discovered so we
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: could swear out and arrest warrant charging Ryan Alexander Dick
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: with the murder of Arra Grinstead says, Richardson, listen to
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: Connie Grinstead, thank you for coming today on behalf of
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: Billy and myself. The first thing that I want to
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: do is to thank God for our answered prayers. We
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: would also like to thank the g b I for
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: all of their years of hard work and dedication to
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: terror investigation. We always believed in the gb I and
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: their dedication to her case. We always believe that it
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: would be solved. We just did not know when. We
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: would also like to thank all of the local law
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: enforcements for cooperating and working with the gb I through
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: the years, as well as many others in this community
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: and beyond. We lived in Oscilla for eight years. Tera
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: lived with us here for four of those years. When
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: we moved here, you welcomed us with open arms and
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: treated us as if we were one of your own.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: You did the same thing for Tera when she moved
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: in with us, and we are so grateful to you
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: for that. She was able to fulfill many of her
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: dreams white here in Oscilla. She loved being a teacher
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: and she was very good at it. So many people
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: have been hurt by this. We hope and pray that
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: with time, this community can finally have closure and start
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: to heal from us from this. For us, this just
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: starts another chapter in a very long and painful journey.
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: We us that you keep us in your prayers. Our
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: wounds are deep and our hearts are broken. We realized
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: that everybody is going to want answers. You'll have a
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: lot of questions and that will come in time, But
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: for now we ask of the media to please respect
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: our privacy and give us the chance to grieve and
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: the process all that has taken place. Thank you. Now,
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: it's very unclear what really sparked the new tip. Now
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: there has been the ongoing podcast about Terra's disappearance called
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: Up and vanished incredible and we have talked to pain
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: about it in depth. Now. Duke is pictured in his
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: high school annual. He graduated Urban County High School three
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: years before Grinstead goes missing. Now, Grinstead taught history to
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: ninth and tenth graders at Irwin County High that would
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: have included I believe Ryan Alexander Duke, and even if
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: he wasn't in her class, he could have seen her
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: and gotten a crush on her. He was coaching the cheerleaders.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: We don't know enough about this guy yet. Was he
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: on the football team or or what? Now we also
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: know that they said and I quote. The search for
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: Grinstead's remains continues. Now, this case has stumped the gb
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: I and local police for eleven years. And me, I've
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: been to the scene, I've been to the home. I've
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: gone all over Oscilla looking for clues, looking for evidence,
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: testing theories, and the theories never really got anywhere. Why
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: Because police and all of us were looking at the
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: usual suspects, boyfriends, x is, guys she worked with. There
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: were some high school students that police looked at, but
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: not this guy. Why not him? Why? Alan hindsight, that's
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: going to be interesting looking back, what was missed that
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: could have led to Ryan Duke earlier. And I think
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: examining that it's going to be an industry in itself.
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: You know, they've got the rubber glove DNA that was
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: found on the lawn. They just didn't know who to
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: compare it to because if you if you've not been
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: convicted of a crime, they don't have your DNA unless
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: you came forward and volunteered, as some people did. But
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: this guy, when he was years old, not have a
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: criminal record and stayed clean since then. He's now thirty
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: three because he knew that he didn't want to have
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: to give any d N A. But does the partial
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: fingerprint that they also have does that match? They're not
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: saying that it does now we know as far back
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: as two thousand six. For sister, Anita has always said
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: that Tara, her sister, left with somebody she knew. There
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: was no sign of a struggle. I could see this
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: guy getting Tara to come outside, and once she comes outside, bam,
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: it's over. He's got her. Yeah, I mean, I don't
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: think there was a struggle in the home. Let's talk
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: about what this guy looked like in court. Go ahead,
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: This tiny little courtroom had television cameras in it, so
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: we could really look really close at his face. He
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: hardly ever opened his eyes. He reminded me sort of
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: with the beard and everything, of like the UNI bomber,
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: you know, Ted Kaczynski had sort of that look, but
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: maybe not as smart. He just kept looking down at
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: the table in front of him, hardly speaking. He spoke
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: two times that I remember, and that was once, do
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: you want a court appointed attorney? And he says, yes,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: I want a court appointed attorney. Do you have any questions? No,
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: that's about all he said, and he just shuffled on
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: out after a fifteen minute appearance in the courtroom. But
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: he he looked like the last dozen years haven't done
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: him well. No, I imagine the stress of knowing what
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: he had done hung on him. I mean I think
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: that it did, but you know, it's always interesting to me.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: Her Mitsubishi three thousand g T was found unlocked in
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: her car, poard a hundred dollars cash in the console
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: and um there was clay on the tires. Her sister said,
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Tara would never have left her car unlocked and never
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: drove on dirt roads. So I always thought that somehow
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: he was in her car when she got into the car.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: Member she went to that cook out that night right before,
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: and I always wondered if he was not in the
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: car and took her somewhere and killed her. Well. One
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: of the interesting clues with that was people noted that
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: her she she was five three short, and that her
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: car seat was kind of back when they found it. Yep,
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: I remember that. So what now? Now we know that
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: there's been an arrest, but we don't have a body,
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: We don't know where the case is going, we don't
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: know if it's going to be a death penalty case.
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: We know very little more other than he's in custody.
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: Another issue is where does the family go now because
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: their whole last eleven years has been about seeking justice,
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: spinding the killer. Well, this arrest ends that. Now they've
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: got to start grieving. As as Connie Grinstead said, this
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: is just the beginning of a new phase. It's going
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: to be a lot of time sitting in that courtroom.
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: It's been moved up to Superior court of course, from
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: the magistrate. It's going to be a lot of time,
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: a lot of court hearings, The grueling, difficult phase that
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: is the prosecution, unless, of course, they come up with
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: a plea deal. But if they come up with a
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: police deal, Nancy, is there any chance there would be
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: the death penalty involved. I would not do a plea
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: on this guy. I would not take anything less than life.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: And depending on what happened to her, depending on did
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: he assault her, did he rape her, did he torture her,
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: did he feed his her body to the gators? Depending
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: on that, I it any kind of deal right now.
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: I mean no way. I would have to know what
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: happened to her body before I would even consider a
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: plate deal. I mean, they can get him for life
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: in prison at the very least if there's d NA.
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: Ryan Duke is from a family that has been in
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: Ocilla for a while, so I wouldn't I don't know
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: if you would call him prominent or whatever, but his
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: family is an important part of that community. So it's
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: not like he was some drifter that came out of town.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: He was not like some stranger. He was a member
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: of the community. And now this community, I think it's
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: important that it's able to move on. You know, a
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: Sila was hardly even on the map before Tara Grin's
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: dad disappeared. The fascination, the mystery, the interest in that
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: has caused people to actually veer off the interstate go
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: and look at Osilla. But it was always for a
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: dark reason. So there's the dark cloud that hovers over
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: these small towns when they have these crime mysteries. I mean,
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: we've seen this in We've seen this in Middle Lothian,
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: Texas with the Missy Beavers case, where it turns people
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: inside out, it makes people suspicious, and I think for
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: the town of Ostilla, there are a lot of people that,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: you know, did you notice what the other thing? Rickartson said.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: He was asked, are more arrest possible, and he said,
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: that's a very good question. Again, we have several more
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: interviews to do. I mean, if if somebody knew about
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: this and harbored him, but he wasn't a fugitive, so
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: they're not harboring a fugitive, but covering the concealment of
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: a body, that's a crime. He didn't run from the town,
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: he stayed in the town. What does that tell you,
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Nancy that this guy, if he murders somebody and it's
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: this hugely publicized case, intensely investigated the most investigated missing
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: person case ever in the state of Georgia. Huge file,
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: and you stick around the town, you must have some confidence,
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: some belief that you really covered your tracks. Right now,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: I want to pause and thank our sponsor, Simply Safe,
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: for making this podcast possible. So often we are looking
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: for missing people, are trying to solve unsolved homicides, and
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: today we bring some degree of closure. They will never
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: be complete closure for the Grinstead family to this chapter
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: and criminal justice, and that is the missing teacher from Oscilla,
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• 20:16
  Speaker 1: now Payne Lindsay, who has been on the Terra Grinstead
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: case for so long looking for answers and was in
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: court today. Payne, thank you for being with us. What
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: happened in court? The first part of the court session
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: was the press conference where the gb I announced that
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: they had arrested somebody, Ryan Duke, for the murder of
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: Terry Grinstead. They didn't give very many details. Um, they
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: were pretty tight lip about it. So once that ended,
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: about two hours later, they had a hearing where Ryan
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: Duke walked out in the courtroom and stood before the
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: judge with his state appointed attorney, and um, he didn't
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: say anything. He had his head down, was very quiet,
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: his eyes closed. For a lot of it. He was
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: kind of very uh, almost like he was limping and
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: kind of just very um MOPI and it was he
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: kept his head down. He was a very strange demeanor
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: and it um, it looked like he had been wearing
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: the weight of the world, is what the way I
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: can describe it. Paine, What do we know about Ryan Duke?
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: What have you been able to find out about him?
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: There in Ocella. I know that he was a former
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: student of Terris. I know that some of his friends
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: and Tara had I believe hung out before. And really
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: that's that's as far as definitively no, That's that's all
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: I can really say. Um, there's other things that have
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: been coming to me that I'm kind of trying to decipher.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: But the fact that I know is that he was
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: a former student and he is most likely the person
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: who killed tarat Grinstead, and I believe that there are
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: some other friends of his that I've been I've been
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: sort of looking into for the past couple of months,
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: just different things I'd heard and been investigating that also
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: knew about this, And we may hear about some of
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: this in the media in the next couple of days. Pain,
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: What do you think happened the night Tara was killed?
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: I think that Ryan Duke came to Terr. Grinstein's house,
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: either with somebody else or by himself, and he planned
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: to either hang out or just meet up late night,
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: and I think that she let him in because she
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: knew who he was, and things took a sour turn.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: There was something happened and he snapped and he strangled
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: her in the house, and then I believe that he
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: used himself and a buddy or two or three to
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: a dispose of the body, and a pecan orchard on
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: the other side of town that was very off the map, Pain,
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: who do you believe was a tip? Sir? I don't
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: know exactly who it is specifically, but um my, my
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: thinking is that the atmosphere that's been created over the
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: past six months to a year with the community of
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: Oscilla just talking again and you know, obviously rumors are flying,
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: but truth was flying too, and I think that there
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: was an open line of communication with people and for
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: the first time in eleven years, people were comfortable again
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: talking about it. And I think somebody felt the pressure
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: and somebody slipped up and said something, or somebody felt guilty,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: and somebody someone ever heard something, somebody knew something, and
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: then they told the g b I, and the g
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: b I did the right thing and went to investigate it.
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: And I believe they went and nabs Ryan Duke, who
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: then confessed for this, and that that's that's what I think, Pain.
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: Do you believe they'll cut a deal was Duke in
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: order to find terrors remained? I don't really know. I
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: feel like in general, the community wants answers, so I
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: can see why that option could be on the table.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: I don't really know that. I don't have any sources
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: that have told me that. I I don't know that
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: to be true. But I honestly think that he confessed
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: and just told him. But I mean, it's not unlike
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: the gb I or anybody else to offer something in
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: order to get information. And how is the family pain?
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: How is the Grinstead family. I never spoke to them,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: but I saw them in the courthouse today and her
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: mom was up there talking. You know, you could tell
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: that it's still heartbroken about this, and it's even though
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: there's a resolution, or the beginnings of one, it's still
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: very tough to to find out the truth, and the
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: truth isn't a pretty thing. You know, you can definitely
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: tell that they're still suffering. But there was a glimmer
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: of hope that I saw sort of an at ease
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: feeling in the courtroom with everybody that we had finally
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: come to some sort of conclusion and you know, for
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: the first time in eleven years, we're getting answers and
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: not just to another false lead. As an avid listener
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: to Up and Vanished, I'm looking forward to how you
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: deal with this in future episodes. I know you've got
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: a few left in the season. Again, thank you, Simply
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: Safe for making our podcast possible. What Alan, This is
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: something I've been wanting to do with Simply Safe because
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: I've watched the video several times and being a techie,
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: I'm impressed. Imagine if your home is being broken into,
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: you don't have neighbors really really close, what happens. The
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: siren that sounds is incredible. It is ear shattering. If
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: your neighbors don't hear that and know something is going on,
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: they're gonna hear it at the police station. Like, can
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: I play that for you right now? Cover up your ears, Nancy, Okay,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: I'm a believer. I could hear that loud and clear.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: If your neighbor doesn't hear it, they'll hear it at
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: the police station. Repeat, Thank you, Simply Now back to
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: Tara Grinstead. Um. You know. Grinstead competed in Miss Georgia pageants.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: She was crowned Miss Tiffton absolutely gorgeous. The day she
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: goes missing, she spent the day helping contestants and a
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: Miss Sweet Potato pageant in nearby Fitzgerald, and then she vanished.
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: You know, I got a theory did this guy have
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: a crush on her all these years and finally act
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: on it and was rejected? What do you think? I
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: think that's a pretty good theory. And we don't know
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: enough about this guy to know his personality other than
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: the fact that the the g b I says he's
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: a killer, and that gives us about all we need
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: to know. Well, I'm also happy for the g b
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: I because this is something they've been trying to crack
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: for so long. They've taken a lot of heat for
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: not cracking it. But you know, I understand why this
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: guy was not on their radar. He had never made
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: any moves on Tera Grinstead, hadn't stalked her, hadn't showed
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: up in her house, nothing like that. There's no reason
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: to suspect him. But if they can match up the
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: inn or the fingerprint, it's over. Plus, I got a
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: pretty good, pretty strong feeling he confessed or made some
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: kind of admission to the tipster. Looking at his face
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: in court, I kind of got that idea that he
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: was resigned to his fate. The the other people who
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: were really relieved, of course they knew they were innocent,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: but other people would look at them with the SINI
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: and talk about them on Well, yeah, you know, because
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: the boyfriend was the boyfriend that's always the first person
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: to look at is the lover, the sweetheart. But they
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: never had enough to arrest him, and this is why
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: he's innocent. And there was the principle at the school
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: who she was at his house along with his family
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: and other teachers. The principle of the superncis and you
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: know that was unfounded. There was never a rest because
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: there was nothing to it. And down in Perry, Georgia,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: the police officer who was a longtime family friend who
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: came to the house to check on her at the
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: request of her mom, that I who left his business
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: card in the door, just got all kinds of suspicion
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: because he had checked on her. I think, in hindsight
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: we all learn some lessons from this, and the lesson
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: is the lesson is let's be open minded about it,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: and let's remember the only that not everybody can be guilty,
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: and that why are you looking at me because you're
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: not guilty. I think you're right. I think you're right.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: And that's got to be balanced with the fact that statistically,
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: murders are committed by people, you know, and that's true
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: in this case, police just didn't know which way to turn.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: All I know is this she can finally rest in peace. Okay,
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: That's what I know, and I hope the same for
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: her family tonight. Our prayers go on for the family
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: of Tara Grinstead and a major major break in the
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: case today. Thank you g B. I. You know, Nancy,
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: we've been doing this podcast for about a month and
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: a half. How many podcast if we've done we're a
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: couple of days so later there was a huge break
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: in the case. Corina Patronto, Corina Patranto, Jara Grinstad, Sara
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: dun Sarah Duncy. You're right. That's why we do this.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: That's why we do it. That is why we do it.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Nancy Grace signing off from Crime Stories. Goodbye friend.