Up and Vanished - Payne Tells All: The Tara Grinstead Case

Episode Date: February 21, 2025

Payne Lindsey revisits the case that started it all—the disappearance of Tara Grinstead. He reflects on the early days of Up and Vanished, how the podcast reignited a cold case, and the shocking arrests that followed. Payne also re-examines key moments from the investigation, including Ryan Duke’s confession, the trial, and lingering questions that remain unanswered. As the recap series begins, new details emerge, setting the stage for the final episodes of In the Midnight Sun. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to a Tenderfoot TV podcast. Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun is released every Friday and brought to you absolutely free. But for ad-free listening, exclusive bonuses, and early access starting next week, subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus at tenderfootPlus.com or on Apple podcasts. The names of survivors have been changed for anonymity purposes. Testimony shared by guests of the show is their own, and does not reflect the views of Tenderfoot TV or Odyssey. Thank you so much for listening. Since Up and Vanished first came out in 2016, it's grown into something I never could have

imagined. When I started, I was just a guy with a microphone, diving into an unsolved case, feeling like an absolute imposter in the world of investigative journalism. I wasn't a detective. I wasn't a lawyer. I was just obsessed with finding the truth. And yet somehow this crazy idea caught fire. It created pressure in communities, reopened old cases, and brought long forgotten disappearances

back into the spotlight. What happened in season one was lightning in a bottle, but it wasn't an accident. It was the result of pure pressure. The podcast gave a voice to Tara Grinstead's loved ones. It turned whispers into conversations, and conversations into headlines. And before I knew it, I was standing right in the middle of something that was much bigger than me. I remember the first anonymous tip I ever got. It was only three weeks into the podcast. Someone told me Tara might be buried under a house in Osila. It

sounded insane. But I thought, what the hell, and drove down there. I crawled under the house with a flashlight in one hand and my little podcast recorder in the other. The whole time I was thinking, what am I doing? This is insane. What am I looking for here? A body evidence? I truly didn't know, but I knew I had to look. It was scary in there. By the time I drove back to Atlanta, I already had voicemails from neighbors. That's because the Georgia Bureau of Investigation had just been there too, searching the exact same spot. Hmm. That's weird. Did I beat them to the tip Or were they tracking what I was doing? Either way, it was a moment of realization for me.

This was the moment I realized that Up and Vanished wasn't just a podcast, it was a lightning rod. Three episodes in, and law enforcement was on my tail. Whether the community or law enforcement liked it or not, they were all paying attention. Then something else happened. A local news station in South Georgia reached out to me. At this point, I had never talked to a real reporter before, but I was eager to tell them what had happened.

The story about the crawlspace was supposed to air on Monday. Then three hours later, the same reporter called me back. Angry, he accused me of making the whole thing up, just to get media attention. What? It didn't make any sense. How could I have faked something that the police themselves took seriously and responded to? Were they making it up too?

I realized that Osila and South Georgia as a whole was a tight-knit place, and anything I said or did would always be found out eventually. This was my first taste of the double-edged sword of investigative podcasting, and it made me realize something. Law enforcement didn't want someone like me poking around in their case. Maybe they were just worried I'd interfere, or maybe they didn't have anything new to go on. And this podcast had just forced them back into the investigation after years of silence. Either way, I wasn't going to stop.

I started from square one. I went through every person of interest ever named in Tara's case. Every ex-boyfriend, every acquaintance, every lead, all people and things that had been discussed for a decade well before I came into the picture. And I also called people who had never spoken to the media before. I spent hours watching old news footage, looking for things that connected

or things that were inconsistent. Then something happened that I never could have been prepared for. The arrest of two former students of Tarrot-Renstead. Suddenly attorneys were calling me. Investigators were following up on my work and I found myself carrying a gun in my backpack for two months. I'm not kidding about that. I was worried that one of these suspects, who had nothing left to lose, might decide to take me down with them. What I uncovered wasn't just about Tara Grinstead.

It was about small town politics, fear, and a decade-long silence that had allowed this case to go unsolved. Since then, Up and Vanished has taken me from South Georgia to the mountains of Colorado, from an Indian reservation in Montana to the Arctic Circle of Alaska. Every case we've covered has been an active, ongoing investigation, unfolding in real time. Every new episode, every new lead, all created pressure while being under pressure. But for every piece of information that actually made it into the podcast, there was an enormous amount of evidence that didn't. Leads that I never had time to fully investigate. Clues that seemed insignificant at the time, but now years later mean something

totally different. And I've been recording all of it. Even though the season may have ended, I never stopped investigating and I never stopped recording it. And now, it's time to let some of these secrets out. For the next month, I'm taking you through every case we've covered in Up and Vanished. Every week, we'll revisit a past season, tightening the narrative, filling in the gaps, and revealing new information that's never been made public. And then, on the fourth week, Up and Vanished and The Midnight Sun will return. And not just one episode, a real finale.

And here's my message to those who know something but have stayed silent all these years. Now is the time to come forward. This isn't just a plea for new tips. It's also a warning to those who are sitting on the truth, because I know you are. We know a lot more than you think we do. And so does law enforcement. Law enforcement is still investigating, and we know how it works. They always go a little easier on those who come forward first. So if you have the knowledge, don't be the last one to speak. Because arrests are coming. Justice will be served. I won't be the one putting

the cuffs on you, but I've talked to the guys who will. I don't control the timeline, but I do control what I report. And after years of waiting, I'm beyond ready to tell you what I know. So get ready. Up and Vanished, the recap series, starts now. And then the final chapter of Season four will begin. ...specially police are calling this a missing person case......GVI officials say... ...that they have not been investigated... ...at a time this week... ...and $80,000 will be offered for...

Where... ...is Tara Grinstead? From Tinderfoot TV in Atlanta, this is Up and Vanished. I'm your host, Payne Lindsay. It's been a long time since season one. A lot happened. Or maybe you haven't heard it before. Either way, let's break it all down.

And get back up to speed. Osila, Georgia. A small, quiet town with just over 3,000 residents. It's the kind of place where life moves slowly. Neighbors greet each other by name, and the biggest events of the year are local football games and beauty pageants. But in October 2005, Ocylla's sense of peace was shattered. Tara Grinstead, a 30-year-old high school teacher and former beauty queen, disappeared from her home without a trace. Tara wasn't just another face in Ocylla.

She was a beloved figure, a history teacher at Irwin County High School, a mentor to young women competing in beauty pageants, and a warm, familiar presence in the community. She was the kind of person everyone looked up to. Saturday, October 22nd, 2005, began like any other day for Tara. She attended a beauty pageant to support her students, then spent the evening at a barbecue with friends.

Around 11 p.m., she left the gathering and drove home. It was an ordinary night, but by Monday morning, Tara's life and the life of Osila had changed forever. When Tara didn't show up for work, her coworkers knew immediately that something was wrong. Tara was dependable, responsible, and deeply dedicated to her students. She never missed school without calling.

Concerned neighbors went to check on her. What they found raised even more questions. Tara's car was in the driveway, but the house was locked. Inside her purse and keys were missing. And in the yard, there was a single latex glove, a strange and chilling clue. Tara Grinstead had vanished. Osila quickly rallied around Terra's family. The town organized searches, volunteers combed through woods and fields, and investigators

followed every tip they received. For weeks Terra's face was everywhere, billboards and in the news. But no answers came. As the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months, hope began to fade. Despite their efforts, investigators were left with no solid leads. The latex glove, which was sent for DNA testing, didn't match anyone in their database. And as the case grew colder, theories and rumors began to take over. Some people believed Tara had been abducted. Others speculated that someone close to her was involved. But without evidence, the case stalled. For Tara's family, the pain of not knowing was

unbearable. Her stepmother later described those years as a living nightmare. Every day they woke up with the same question, where is Tara? And then more than a decade later something happened. The case grew cold but years later Tara's story piques the interest of Atlanta filmmaker Payne Lindsay. The question that has haunted this small South Georgia town for more than a decade and a question podcaster and Atlanta filmmaker Payne Lindsay set out to answer, what happened to Tara Grinstead? In 2016, a podcast called Up and Vanish brought Terrace Case back into the spotlight.

The podcast dove deep into Terrace's story, revisiting old leads and uncovering forgotten details. The podcast wasn't just entertainment. It was an investigation. By regularly keeping a case in the public's eye, whether it be on television, radio, podcasts, social media, etc., you never know who's eye, whether it be on television, radio, podcasts, social media, et cetera. You never know who's going to see it. Up and Vanished has gained the attention of millions

as people learned about the arrest of Ryan Alexander Duke. In February 2017, after 12 years of mystery, there was breakthrough. Ryan Duke, a former student of Tara's, confessed to her murder. More than 40 GBI agents swarmed a pecan orchard in Ben Hill County this afternoon. They were digging for clues to help solve one of the state's most notorious missing persons cases.

Anthropologists used specialized equipment to sort through the dirt, hoping to find skeletal remains of the missing former beauty queen. In 2005, investigators received a tip about a burned body in the Pecan Orchard, but nothing came of it. The report was buried in a case file for over a decade. over a decade. that I passed there every day right by where she was at. But you don't know. Somebody knew all along, but just with nobody talking. I think if somebody went to the police and told them to search their arches up there

and then they didn't let nobody else know about it, that was wrong. I think something very, very peculiar going on. They will definitely protect their own. That's the way these people have always been. I'm from Erwin County. I went to school there. This has been going on for ever since I was a teenager.

It's nothing new. That's corruption in Erwin County, that's what you get. I feel like there's even more people than I even suspect that's involved in it. I'm glad that some of it's finally coming out and people are actually knowing part of the truth. It was pathetic walking into that courtroom that day, walking up those steps. How did you know Tara?

He held his head down the whole time. Anything you want to say, Ryan? Why'd you kill Tara? America wants to know. Did you think you'd get away with it? How he could walk around every day in that little town and know what you have done for all those years, I don't know how someone can live with that. I wouldn't have one minute of peace every day. I don't know if I could survive it.

To lose a child like that has to be the worst thing in the world. The idea of him going to rob her of what? She's a school teacher, small little house. I always felt he was a person that maybe had a crush on her for a long time. Being a nice person, she just spoke with him, and he just might have taken it the wrong way. I think his intent that night was not to rob anything. Will you keep hanging in there with it?

I love you. I love you, too. Ha ha ha. I hope it will soon end. With the FIZ loyalty program, you get rewarded just for having a mobile plan. You know, for texting and stuff. And if you're not getting rewards like extra data and dollars off with your mobile plan, you're not with FIZ. Switch today.

Conditions apply. Details at fiz.ca. Want to own part of the company that makes your favorite burger? Now you can. With partial shares from TD Direct Investing, you can own less than one full share, so expensive stocks are within reach. Learn more at td.com slash partial shares. TD, ready for you. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Tara Greenstead's family. I'd like to recognize the local community here as you can see this courtroom is packed.

I also want to take a moment to thank the media. You guys have been just phenomenal in this whole endeavor. The disappearance of Tara has caused not only state and local news coverage, but this has also hit our national news. Please know that you have had an impact, a significant role in this investigation, and I am confident that today we have reached the point where we are in this investigation because of that involvement. As with all missing person cases, the investigation started focusing on terrorist close friends and associates. Terror was very well known in this community and well liked. Through these 11 plus years the GBI and other law enforcement officers

have received hundreds and hundreds of tips. A few days ago an individual came forward and reported that they had information in a terrorist disappearance. Enough probable cause was discovered so we could swear out an arrest warrant charging Ryan Alexander Duke with the murder of Tara Grinstead. Ryan Alexander Duke did in the County of Fort Smith commit the offense of burglary to Edmonds-Sect County October 23rd, 2005, when he did notably, intentionally, and willfully enter the residence of Karen Rinspeth amid a felony daredevil, that being aggravated assault and murder. I think they might have both been in it

from the very beginning together. I've always felt like that. That's just my opinion. Who am I to know? like that. That's just my opinion. Who am I to know? If it's all right, can I just talk? Okay. So is it okay to say my name Bo Dukes? Yeah, okay. So what I hear is that he's involved too. I knew Bo was crazy. I knew he was off. There's another kid.

His name is Bo Dukes with an S. This group of people had engaged in quite a bit of bad behavior over the years, and they were used to covering for each other. Dukes, Bo Dukes, is the grandson of a former state representative from Irwin County. I grew up in Irwin County since the second grade. Ryan, he was a good friend of mine. There wasn't a grade that we can't remember. I think they're very confused. I think everyone's very anxious.

I think everyone's asking why. I don't think anybody saw it coming in this direction at all. I know I never would have. He wasn't a dumb guy, but he wasn't sophisticated. So for the things that I've heard that happen, that's sophisticated. He's not a resourceful guy. I never thought of him as resourceful. So I can imagine him.

You had some supposedly just to meet the GBI and they couldn't crack Ryan Duke? That doesn't make sense on its own. I heard both names first. These two guys are involved. How do you know Ryan? Ryan and I went to school together. We still kept in touch over the years. A good bit, you know, like phone calls. How would you describe Ryan? A very calm, individual, non-confrontational guy. Was there a dark side to Ryan? Not really. Not that I ever know of.

I don't know. I mean, the Ryan you know, is that guy capable of murder? The Ryan Duke I know is not capable of murder, no. I do think Ryan had a hand afterwards. In going along with Bo's story, I think Ryan bought it hook, line, and sinker, honestly. Why would he do that? Ryan's that type of guy.

You've heard stories about him being a loyal friend, and all that's true. If he liked you and he knew that you was in need. That's a little more than loyalty, right? Well, small towns, there ain't many people. You got to stay pretty close to your friends, you know? So you think Ryan would knowingly take the rap for a murder that he didn't commit?

I don't think he's going to take the rap. I think that's where that not guilty comes into play. We have breaking news today in the case of Tara Grinstead, the teacher that went missing from Irwin County in 2005. 32-year-old Bo Dukes has been arrested by the Vent Hill County Sheriff's Office. Now he has already bonded out, but he is charged with three charges. The hunt continues for convicted felon Bo Dukes. So far he is still on the run. Zach Merchant is live at the scene of Dukes' latest alleged crimes.

We join him now live. It was here on the 300 block of Charlestown Way that Bo Dukes took two women to his home, threatened them with a gun, raped one of them, and now is on the loose. We still consider him armed, so anytime we're hunting somebody that's armed, he's running, he doesn't want to go to jail, yes, we consider him dangerous. The man they're hunting is Bow Dukes, one of the two suspects in the Tara Grinstead murder case. He's accused of helping hide her body, and now a new slew of allegations of violent crimes.

Up and Vanished reignited public interest in Tara's case, sparking new tips and new theories. One of those listening was criminal defense attorney Ashley Merchant. She was captivated by the story and after speaking with Payne Lindsay in 2017, decided to dig even deeper. What Ashley didn't know at the time was that she would later go on to represent the man accused of killing Tara. Believe me, if I started murdering people, there'd be none of you left. True crime has always captivated us.

But what if there's more to these stories than what we're told? The headlines, the verdicts, the familiar narratives, what if that's just the beginning? I created Truer Crime to dig deeper, to uncover the stories that go beyond the surface. We're diving into mysteries you think you know. The Manson murders, Jonestown, the assassination of Dr. King,

and the ones you've never heard. They would have thought he was the sweetest thing in the world because he portrayed that. He portrayed the happy family. He haunts me. He's with me every day. We were robbed, all of us. If it takes me 20 years and I can live that long. I'll be working on this case.

We're not just telling stories. We're uncovering hidden truths. Truer Crime is available now. Listen for free wherever you get your podcasts. So, what really happened to Tara Grinstead? That's a question I get asked a lot, a question I've thought a lot about, one I've lost plenty of nights of sleep over. After Ryan Duke was found not guilty, I remember sitting outside in my car, just sort of shell-shocked, a little bit numb. How on earth was he found not guilty? But at the same time, was he guilty?

There was so much conflicting evidence on both sides, the whole thing was a mess. And what I felt the most upset about, to be honest, was how weak the prosecution was. And I mean that sincerely. I know it's a hard job. I'm not saying that I'd be any better at it. I probably wouldn't be. But the facts are the facts. And what I do know is that they spent so much time bringing me and the podcast back into the narrative. This is about a murder. This is about Tara Grinstead, not about up and vanished. But they just couldn't help themselves. They were so worried that the

podcast had overly influenced people. Look, if it influenced anyone's opinion at all, then maybe there was some merit to it. Maybe in the five years that this trial was delayed, you'd come up with something better than I did. But you didn't. I felt very conflicted. I didn't know what happened to Tara, but it seemed like they didn't either. And there were some basic pieces of evidence that needed to be explained and connected. And that's what I'll hang my hat on.

So what do I think? I'll tell you, and I'm going to do it very carefully. We know that Bo Dukes and Ryan Duke were close friends. That's a fact, but they had very different personalities. Bo was controlling, manipulative, and had a history of deception. Like, actually, it's on his record. While Ryan, on the other hand, was seen as quiet, easily influenced, and struggling with personal issues. Their roles in Tara's disappearance have been debated for years, but one thing is clear. Tara was murdered, her body was burned, and both of them were involved in covering it

up. The official story, based on Ryan's 2017 confession and Bo's statements, is that Ryan killed Tara after breaking into her home to steal money. He allegedly strangled her when she confronted him and then turned to Bo for help disposing of her body. Together, they burned her remains in a pecan orchard over the course of two days, ensuring that no physical evidence was left behind.

But here's where things don't quite add up. Ryan eventually recanted his confession, claiming he falsely admitted to the crime after being pressured by law enforcement and misled by Bo. On the witness stand, he flipped the story, saying that Bo was actually the one who killed Tara while Ryan was passed out drunk,

and that Bo later dragged him into it, covering it up. And according to Ryan, Bo was disturbingly calm and even excited while burning Tara's body, even going so far as to touch her lifeless body in a perverse way before setting her on fire. Ryan claims he was terrified and went along with it out of fear. So who's telling the truth here? Let's break it down. The evidence.

Number one, the glove and DNA. The random latex glove found in Tara's yard contained Ryan's DNA inside of it. That's a pretty big deal. If he never went to her house, well then how'd that get there? But there's something interesting about this glove that was never talked about enough. The fact that it was found right-side out. As in, if you put on a latex glove and you take it off, it's going to be inside out. Unless you carefully pull it off.

But that's not how it was found. It was found like you would take it fresh out of the box. Or carefully removed. So did Ryan carefully remove it? To me, that seems to conflict with the idea that he accidentally dropped it. And if you were using gloves to move Tara's body, wouldn't you keep them on throughout the entire process?

You never noticed that there was only one glove on your hand? So did Ryan carefully remove it and accidentally drop it or was it planted? This is the strongest piece of evidence tying Ryan to the crime scene, which makes it very hard to dismiss. And the last thing I'll say about the glove is the place it was found. If Ryan Duke, by himself, removed Tara's body from her house and into her car, wearing

these gloves, and then accidentally dropped one, it would make logical sense that you'd find it somewhere along the pathway between the front door of the house and the car, right? Wrong. It was found in her yard, way off the path he would have allegedly taken. So while the DNA evidence is very strong here, these other questions must be answered, or else they start undermining its credibility. Number 2.

The Confessions Ryan's confession included details only the killer would know, like making a call to Tara's phone from a payphone the next day, something the GBI never released to the public. This suggests that he had first-hand knowledge of the crime. At the same time, his confession was vague and riddled with inconsistencies, possibly pointing to a false confession. You have to make all the other things make sense too. Number three, Bo's credibility, which is none.

Bo Dukes is a proven liar and a proven piece of shit. I don't know if you can listen to podcasts in jail, but I hope you heard that. He denied everything for over a decade and then suddenly confessed when he realized the walls were closing in. He had told multiple people over the years different versions of this story, sometimes even shifting the blame onto a boyfriend instead of Ryan. On top of that, Bo has since been convicted of violent crimes, completely unrelated to Tara's case, showing that he was capable of aggression and deceit.

Number 4. The Jury's Verdict In Ryan Duke's trial, the jury did not convict him of murder. They only found him guilty of concealing a death, meaning they weren't convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that he was the actual killer. That's significant. It means that after hearing Ryan's confession, they were still unsure whether he was the one who actually killed Terra. So where does that leave us? Here's what I think. Ryan Duke was undoubtedly involved.

Whether he killed Terra or not, he played a role in disposing her body, and keeping it a secret for over a decade. Bo Dukes knows more than he's admitted. He crafted a story that made him look like the good guy, like a helpless accomplice, but he had every reason in the world to lie to protect himself. Given his history, it's not far-fetched to believe that Bo himself may have been the one responsible

for Tara's death. Again, I said, it's not far-fetched. The reality is, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle, between their two stories. Maybe Ryan really did break into Tara's house, but Bo got more involved than he let on. Or maybe Bo was the killer all along, and Ryan was just his pawn in the cover-up. At the end of the day, no one has been convicted for the murder of Tara Grinstead. Today, no one has been convicted for the murder of Tara Grinstead. Ryan is serving time for hiding her body, and Bo is in prison for covering it up. But the actual crime itself remains legally unsolved.

And this is the most haunting part of the entire story. Up and Vanished in the Midnight Sun is a production of Tenderfoot TV in association with Odyssey. Your host is Payne Lindsay. The show is written by Payne Lindsay with additional assistance from Mike Rooney. Executive producers are Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay. Lead producer is Mike Rooney along with producers Dylan Harrington and Cooper Skinner. Editing by Mike Rooney and Cooper Skinner with additional editing by Dylan Harrington. Supervising producer is Tracy Kaplan. Additional production by Victoria McKenzie, Alice Konick Glenn, and Eric Quintana. Artwork by Rob Sheridan. Original music by Makeupenzie, Alice Knieck Glenn, and Eric Kintana. Artwork by Rob Sheridan. Original music by Makeup and Vanity Set. Mix and Mastered by

Cooper Skinner. Thank you to Orin Rosenbaum and the team at UTA, Beck Media and Marketing, and the Nord Group. Special thanks to all of the families and community members that spoke to the team. Additional information and resources can be found in our show notes. For more podcasts like Up and Vanished, search Tenderfoot TV on your favorite podcast app, or visit us at tenderfoot.tv. Thanks for listening.