Ryan Duke found not guilty of murder in Tara Grinstead disappearance, killing

Justin Baxley
·1 min read

The man accused of killing Tara Grinstead was acquitted on all but one charge in a nine-day trial.

Ryan Alexander Duke was found not guilty of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and burglary. The jury found him guilty of concealing a death.

The Irwin County jury reconvened this morning and reached a verdict just before 11:30 a.m. on Friday.

Duke was charged with murder in February 2017 in the disappearance of Grinstead, a Middle Georgia high school history teacher and former beauty queen who went missing nearly 17 years ago.

Duke was a student at Irwin County High School and graduated about three years before Grinstead went missing.

Shortly after he was arrested, Duke confessed to murdering Grinstead but on Tuesday he took the stand and testified that he gave a false confession to investigators.

Duke instead claims his friend Bo Dukes killed Grinstead. Dukes was sentenced to 25 years in prison after a jury convicted him in 2019 of helping Duke remove Grinstead’s body from the house and burn it in a pecan orchard.

Sentencing for Duke will be held Monday morning.

Grinstead’s disappearance and death made national headlines after being featured on the “Up and Vanished” podcast.

Anita Gattis wears a ribbon and her sister Tara Grinstead’s picture on her jacket in this 2005 file photo.
Anita Gattis wears a ribbon and her sister Tara Grinstead’s picture on her jacket in this 2005 file photo.
Irwin County High School teacher Tara Grinstead, who disappeared in 2005, in an undated photo.
Irwin County High School teacher Tara Grinstead, who disappeared in 2005, in an undated photo.