Tara Grinstead’s parents are Billy and Faye Grinstead both of them are not the same after they lost their dearest child years ago.
A jury on Friday found a man accused of killing a popular high school teacher who vanished from her rural Georgia hometown in 2005 not guilty of murder.
Ryan Duke had told investigators he killed Tara Grinstead and helped burn her body. But when he took the witness stand during his trial, he insisted he was innocent.
The jury acquitted Duke of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and burglary but found him guilty of concealing a death, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Tara Grinstead had been missing since October 2005. She was an Irwin County High School history teacher. Public Safety and Crime The Atlanta Journal-Alexis Constitution’s Stevens contributed to this article.
Ryan Alexander Duke admitted to the GBI that he murdered an Irwin County teacher and assisted in the burning of her remains.
Ryan Duke had told investigators he killed Tara Grinstead and helped burn her body. But when he took the witness stand during his trial, he insisted he was innocent. https://t.co/uBqGiw1JBr
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) May 20, 2022
Grinstead’s disappearance in rural Irwin County remained a mystery for more than a decade until Duke’s 2017 confession.
He told Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents that he broke into Grinstead’s home in October 2005 hoping to find money to steal to buy drugs. He was startled when Grinstead appeared behind him and he hit and killed her, he said.
Duke led investigators to a pecan orchard where he said he and a friend, Bo Dukes, burned her body. GBI agents testified at trial that Duke knew things about the case that had never been made public.
Duke’s defense attorney, John Merchant, told jurors it was Dukes who killed Grinstead. Dukes was convicted in 2019 of helping move and burn Grinstead’s body but was never charged with murder.
Duke testified that his confession was false. He said Dukes woke him up at the mobile home where they lived together in 2005 and said he had killed Grinstead and showed Duke the teacher’s purse and wallet. Duke lied to investigators because Dukes had already killed one person and he was afraid, he testified
Tara Grinstead Parents – Meet Billy and Faye Grinstead
Grinstead was born November 14, 1974, in Hawkinsville, Georgia to Bill and Faye (nee Bennett) Grinstead.[6] She had one sibling, Anita Grinstead. A native of Hawkinsville, Georgia, Grinstead won the title of Miss Tifton in 1999 and competed in the Miss Georgia beauty pageant.
Her winnings from this pageant and many others that she had entered helped her pay for college.[8] Grinstead graduated from Middle Georgia College in Cochran and in 2003 earned a master’s degree in education at Valdosta State University. In 1998, she began teaching history at Irwin County High School in Ocilla.
Today when Ryan Duke was convicted guilty of concealing the death of Tara Grinstead, we could see her father Billy breaking down in the court. It was heartbreaking to see the 79-year-old fighting in that manner.
Tara Grinstead’s Relationship With Ryan Duke
Duke’s murder trial opened last week, more than 16 years after Grinstead was last seen leaving an evening cookout in rural south Georgia. Grinstead, who taught history and was a former beauty queen, was just 30 when she disappeared.
Before Duke’s confession, her family held out hope that she might return home safe.
Tara Grinstead and Ryan Duke had a teacher-student relationship and he has been arrested for the past five years for murdering her.
According to prosecutors, Ryan Duke broke into Tara Grinstead’s home, killed her, and then burned her corpse in a pecan grove.
The state intends to bring as witnesses GBI agents, Tara Grinstead’s relatives and friends, and specialists. Duke had previously confessed to the murder in 2017, according to the state.
Duke’s confession was made under the influence of medicine, according to the defense, and the prosecution has no proof linking him to the residence that night. The issue, according to the defense, is about power and influence, which their client lacks.
TONIGHT: #ChandlerHalderson stands trial charged with murdering and disremembering his parents.
Plus, #RyanDuke awaits trial for his alleged role in the murder of former beauty queen, #TaraGrinstead.
Watch closing arguments on #CourtTVUK on #Sky179 / #Freesat177 tonight at 1am. pic.twitter.com/9GKjCSVe06
— CourtTVUK (@CourtTVUK) January 11, 2022
Though her body was never found, investigators matched Grinstead’s DNA to bone fragments recovered in the area where Duke told investigators he and his friend had burned her.
The jury deliberated Thursday afternoon and for about two hours Friday morning before delivering a verdict, the Journal-Constitution reported.
Duke is to be sentenced Monday. Grinstead’s family asked for more time to prepare statements to read at the sentencing.
Where Is Tara Grinstead’s Mother In 2022?
Tara Grinstead’s mother passed away after several years of grieving her daughter’s disappearance as per her friend Barabara Woodward.
Faye’s health began to deteriorate a short time afterward. Her cancer returned in full force after being in remission for several years and she died of her illness without ever learning what had happened to Tara, and Woodward lost her dearest friend.
Woodward’s family now finds solace in their own memories of Faye and Tara, particularly Tara’s special attachment with Woodward’s son, Tracey, who was born with Down syndrome. Woodward expressed his relief at the prospect of his mother and daughter reuniting.
