Up and Vanished - Up and Vanished | Episode 1 | Re-Narrated

Episode Date: February 15, 2025

Every Up and Vanished case reopens today… leading up to all-new episodes of In the Midnight Sun. How did we get here? What did we miss? And what still doesn’t add up? Before we step into the Midnight Sun, we have to go back to where it all began. 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. From the Fox News Podcast Network. I'm Emily Campagno and this is the Fox True Crime Podcast. And I had nothing to do with her disappearance, but people still accuse me of it. I sit down with the people who lived the nightmares. I was in shock. I was just devastated. The investigators who tirelessly worked on the case.

I feel for their families and I really hope that they can catch this guy. Bringing you closer to the story than you ever thought possible. Listen and follow now at FoxNewsPodcasts.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Ten years ago today marked the last time anybody had said or said anything about Tara Grinsdale. Officially police are calling this a missing person case. TBI officials say investigators are being exposed. A $80,000 reward is being offered for the contribution. Where is Tara Grinsdale?

From Tinderfoot TV in Atlanta, this is up and vanished. It's weird listening back to this. I was just some guy in his apartment, sitting in front of a microphone I just bought at Best Buy, thinking, yeah, I'll just go solve a murder mystery real quick. Like no big deal. I had no journalism background, no investigative training, just a Google search bar, a fascination with the podcast serial, and, well, a lot of misplaced confidence. I said from Tinderfoot TV in Atlanta, what I really meant was from my apartment in Kennesaw,

where I was living with my younger brother at the time. Saying from Tinderfoot TV felt more official, like I was some organization or a team. But at that time, it was just me. I came up with the name Tenderfoot because it's the lowest rank in Boy Scouts. My dad was an Eagle Scout. He made me join Boy Scouts in middle school and I didn't like it. And the furthest I got was Tenderfoot. But hey, they don't hand that badge out. You still have to earn it. Crazy to think that all these years later, saying TinderfootTV means something completely different. Like a lot of people, I have been pretty obsessed with the podcast Serial and the Netflix series

Making a Murderer. And I thought to myself, what if I made one of those? So I literally just went to Google and started searching. There it is. That's me. F fully committing to this. Like I had a single clue what I was about to uncover. Spoiler alert, I didn't. But somehow, that might have been my greatest advantage.

God, this part still cracks me up. It either makes you think this guy's absolutely ridiculous, or wow, how cool, an average Joe can go make a true crime podcast. But it's what I did. I literally went to Google and started searching. Mind you I did this for weeks like I was some detective on the case. Meanwhile my only real investigative tool was web sluice and a weird gut feeling. And so I made this post on the website Websleuths that said, Hey guys, I'm a filmmaker from Atlanta thinking about doing a documentary. Anyone have any theories?

Real professional, right? And then boom, I got a voicemail out of nowhere from this guy named Maurice Godwin, a real investigator. pain. Uh, just Dr. Maurice Godwin, I saw your post about the Tara Greenstead case on web sluice. Uh, I worked this case, uh, from March of those six to over, uh, past Oh nine, 2009, uh, for her family. And, uh, uh, probably other than the GBI there's no one knows no more about the Tara Greenstein case than myself so you know if you want to give me a call I can give you a rundown the straight-up truth about what's happening or and everything about the case I'm in North Carolina so I'm on eight scripts

time okay you take care bye bye I'm in North Carolina, so I'm on eight scripts time. Okay, you take care, bye bye. I'm not gonna lie. When I first heard his voicemail, my stomach dropped. I actually thought it was the police, and I was somehow in trouble for trying to investigate this case. Turns out he was a private investigator,

an actual expert who had worked this case for years. And suddenly, I had my first lead. Hey, this is Payne Lindsay. You called me yesterday? Oh, yes, Payne. I saw your post on Websleuths. I've been working for Tara Grunstein case since March of 06. The largest case file in Georgia history,

is the Tara Grunstein case. Maurice tells me I should go to Ocilla, but he gives me a weird little warning. If you go to Ocilla and never have a thing like that, take somebody else with you now. Take somebody with you. It's a weird place. Okay. At the time, I kind of brushed it off.

Now? Yeah, I get it. There were things in that town people did not want me looking into. And trust me, I tried to get my younger brother to go with me. He thought I was nuts. And so my first trip to Osola was by myself. We're sorry. You have reached a number that is no longer in service.

Your call has been forwarded to an automated voice. The number you dialed is not a working number. No one is going to be able to take your call. Okay, I had a pretty rough start. I was literally getting every type of non-working number message in existence. And when I finally reached some people, it went like this. My name is Payne Lindsay. I wanted to talk to you about the Tarek Rinsdake case. The Tarek Grinstead case.

The Tarek Grinstead case? A podcast. Documentary series. Do you have questions about the Tarek Grinstead? Do you have a school of terror? I'd like to talk to you about Tarek Grinstead. Nothing. Not a single person would talk to me. It was beginning to seem impossible.

Everyone surrounding this case had their guard up. Okay, pause. This moment? This was the first time I realized it wasn't just a cool podcast project. This was real. I had no idea that this case, this small-town mystery, was about to take over my entire life. This small town in South Georgia had become this impenetrable community that just refused to rehash the old wounds. Ocilla had become this impenetrable community that refused to rehash old wounds. Impenetrable community.

Wow. Listen to me. This is where I was still in documentary mode, thinking people were just hesitant to talk. What I didn't realize yet was that some people weren't just hesitant, they were scared. And then there was a phone call. You know the one. The moment someone called me back after I reached out to a friend of Tara's, I couldn't record it at the time, but I'll never forget what the voice on the other end said.

Why are you asking about Tara Grinstead? It was almost like he was investigating me now. I told him about the podcast and the documentary and his tone changed a bit. Then he said, why did you call Susan? I didn't really have an answer for him. Then he said, do not call her again. Click that. That was my first real taste of something isn't right here.

That wasn't just someone looking out for a friend. That was someone trying to make sure I stopped looking. Here she is ladies and gentlemen. I call her your royal highness because I think it is a very nice honor. Tara Grinstead, how are you doing? I'm doing great. Miss Tifton getting ready to go over to Columbus and represent Tifton over there. Are you excited?

Oh yes, very excited. Well you are well into your career already too, weren't you? Yes. What kind of work do you do? I'm an 11th grade history teacher at Erwin County High School and I also have a cheerleading squad of junior varsity cheerleaders, 9th and 10th graders. I just completed my first year teaching and I loved every bit of it. That's a local news interview from 1999 when Tara won the beauty pageant for Miss Tifton,

the biggest city near Osilla, and she was moving on to compete for Miss Georgia. She seemed to have everything going for her. She was popular among her students, all the teachers loved her, but in October of 2005, she would disappear without a trace, and never be seen again. Who would want to hurt Tara? Let's recap the night of October 22nd, when Tara just completely vanished. I'll have my friend Rob describe the scene. Saturday, October 22nd, 2005.

Tara went to a beauty pageant during the day, and then she attended a friend's barbecue later that night, just a couple blocks away from her home. She arrived around 8pm and stayed for a few hours. Friends at the party said she was acting normal, nothing out of the ordinary. Around 11pm, Tara told a friend at the party she was going home to watch the videotape from the pageant that day. She said her goodbyes and drove off. She was never seen again. Monday came and Tara didn't show up for work. When the bell rang for class to start and Tara wasn't there, students informed the faculty

and they called the local police department. The chief of Osilla Police, Bill Hancock, was the first to arrive on the scene. Her car was parked in her driveway and the front door was locked. As he approached her front door, Hancock discovered a blue latex glove just feet from her doorstep. Even more puzzling, he found a business card wedged in the front door. The neighbors, an elderly couple, had a spare key to Tara's house. They were really close to Tara, and they kept watch on her house at night. They had a little system going. Every night when Tara came home, she turned on the lamp by the window in her room facing

their house. That night, Tara's lamp was never turned on. Hancock used the neighbor's key to gain entry to Tara's home. The house was in near perfect condition, but there were a few subtle things that seemed a little off. The lampshade on her bed was knocked askew, tilted in an odd position as if maybe it had been knocked over. The clock, normally on her nightstand, was found on the floor by her bed.

Her cell phone was found sitting in its charger on the nightstand. Hancock quickly realized the severity of this case. He made a call to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for backup, and official investigation was underway. A few miles from the glass spires of midtown Atlanta lies the South River Forest. In 2021 and 2022, the woods became a home to activists from all over the country, who gathered to stop the nearby construction of a massive new police training facility,

nicknamed Cop City. At approximately nine o'clock this morning, as law enforcement was moving through various sectors of the property, an individual, without warning, shot a Georgia State Patrol trooper. This is We Came to the property, an individual without warning shot a Georgia State Patrol trooper. This is We Came to the Forest, a story about resistance. The abolitionist mission isn't done

until every prison is empty and shut down. Love and fellowship. It was probably the happiest I've ever been in my life. And the lengths will go to protect the things we hold closest to our hearts. Follow We Came to the Forest on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of We Came to the Forest early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+.

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. Come on in, man. How you doing, man? Come on in.

All right. Come on in. I decided to visit the private investigator in person. I told him I wanted to ask him some preliminary questions about the case for my documentary, and he was more than happy to help. He lives in a small town in North Carolina, and I drove up from Atlanta one afternoon. He had this thick notebook. It was filled with hundreds of notes, thoughts, names, all related to the Tara Grinstead case.

He started thumbing through it, reminiscing about the case. Maurice is an older man, gray hair, glasses. You get the sense that this case and many others like it have taken a toll on him, and even he'll tell you, it's exhausting. To Maurice, this is not a hobby. It's always every note. And then in the back here are some updates and stuff. this is not a hobby. It's always ever known. February and I went down in March and then I worked on the case. I spent two whole days in the house. We searched a lot of places. There was nothing that ever come of anything.

And this case is cold as Alaska. So Tara's sister, Anita, hired Maurice to help with the investigation and he wasn't involved until March of 2006, almost five whole months after she went missing. So one of the things that I did when I was there is I talked to some of the local. A lot of people clammed up and wouldn't talk. So you think most people will clam up and don't talk in this case? Oh yeah, it's still today It appeared that um to to GBI and some others that were there didn't appear to be a struggle So they said there's no show why GBI has admitted that what do you think?

Well, this is what I found see she had the old timey wooden floors with the gaps in between them So I got on my you know knees and stuff and crawled around I found a clasp from a necklace. A lesser known fact in this case that I actually learned through Maurice is a broken necklace that was found by police inside her home. The beads were scattered about on the floor and they bagged it up as evidence. But it was still unclear to police if the necklace was broken on accident or if it meant that there was a struggle inside the home. Almost

five months later when Maurice went to visit Tara's house, he found a clasp on the floor that looked like a match. And you can see on the clasp it had been pulled apart. So based on what you know about the necklace and that clasp, in your opinion, did that necklace come off in a struggle? That clasp was pulled apart by force. You can take that for what it's worth. Then I found some pieces of broken plastic

of the headboard in the master bedroom. The bed post was split in two and broken and was found lying under the middle of the bed. You had to get up there and find it. Then I also found a box with dust on it underneath the bed. So that was never retrieved by the GBI Then one thing that I noticed is she had a Rug beside the bed. I moved I pulled that rug up and the rubber came off on the back of it

So the rug had never been lifted So in your opinion to the GBI do a good job investigating? Absolutely not. On a scale of 1 to 10, what would you rate the GBI's performance? Probably 3. 3 out of 10? 3 out of 10. Five months later, he finds a whole slew of evidence inside Tara's house that the GBI completely missed.

You could sense his frustration still today. But what did any of it mean? I asked him to recap that Saturday terror went missing. I wanted to know his account. So walk me through the day. My understanding is that during the daytime, she had girls at her house and stuff, helping girls with the pageants and the makeup, the hair,

preparing for the sweet potato pageant in Fitzgerald that afternoon. I think the pageant started about three o'clock, is what I was told. So then she went to the Paget, stayed at the Paget, and then she left the Paget around 725 to 730. One of her Paget girls, named Dana Wilder, walked with Tara to Tara's car,

and she said that she had to go to her superintendent's barbecue. So she left the pageant in Fitzgerald and drove back to the cellar. I was told that her landlord, the son of her landlord, Rhett Robbers, I was told that she talked to Rhett out at the curb of the road, about probably quarter to eight then. Again, another lesser known fact about this case, that you can't find anywhere in news articles. Between leaving the pageant and going to the barbecue that night, Tara made a brief stop

at a friend's house, a man named Rhett Roberts, who was actually her landlord's son, and they talked briefly at the curb of the road. And then she proceeded on to the barbecue, and arrived about eight o'clock. And then at 11 o'clock she left the barbecue on the notion that she had to go back and watch a video. What video is that? That would be no video because so far there's never been one that existed that we know of. Remember Tara told her friends at the barbecue that night that she was going home to watch the tape from the pageant that day? The police could never find it.

And as far as they knew, no video ever even existed. There's two types of crime scenes. There's a primary crime scene. That's where the most actions occur between the victim and the attacker. And then there's a secondary crime scene, say where a car was left. The problem with this case is you don't have any secondary crime scene, and you don't have any really primary crime scene You don't even know for sure if the house is a crime. That's right

The answer lies in the GBI G case files in Prairie, Georgia The answer to this case lies there. Why can't they solve it? I don't know Listening back to this now I can hear how naive I was. But I also hear something else too. My curiosity. Despite my lack of experience, I was determined to find answers, even if I didn't know what I was stepping into. Because back then, Tara Grinstead was still a name on a missing persons report. A decade-long investigation that led nowhere. Sarah Grinstead was still a name on a missing persons report, a decade long investigation

that led nowhere. But soon, she became someone I thought about every single day. And her case, her story, was all about to crack wide open. On my drive back to Atlanta, I played her interview on repeat, analyzing every detail. And when I got home, I caught my first lucky break. Someone was finally willing to talk to me Hey, how are you? I'm good. How you doing? Well, I had a little problem with my back, but thanks the Lord is getting better. Awesome. Are you still walking every day? Yeah That's my grandma Awesome, are you still walking every day? Yeah, I've... Wait a minute, I gotta take something. What's the other?

That's my grandma. That's my bell. But she's lived in Tifton, which is only a half hour from Osilla, for nearly half her life. Maybe she knew something. So, I'm looking forward to seeing y'all. We're gonna bring pound cake and some cowboy cookies. Yes, I need some more cowboy cookies ASAP.

Okay. That's what I'm baking right now. You heard the bell go off. Oh perfect. Fresh ones. Fresh ones. Fresh. Okey dokey doll. Alright. Well I wanted to ask you something. So I'm working on this new documentary and it's actually about this girl who went missing about 10 years ago in the town of Osila. Her name was Tara Grinstead. Do you remember hearing about that? I do. I certainly do. And you know, Osila is only about 25 to 30 minutes from here. What do you remember about that as far as like what were people saying when that happened? I'll ask around a few a few people that might remember in fact

I'll call my friend who lived in Ocilla. Okay, I asked her she'll know I'll call right now Okay, that sounds great, okay And sure enough ten minutes later, all right friend's name, her first name is Melba. M-E-L-B-A. That is her first name. Okay. Let me tell you what she did tell me. I'll tell you right quick.

She was a school teacher. And on the Saturday that this happened, there was a beauty pageant in Fitzgerald, Georgia. Now Fitzgerald is like 15 minutes away. And there was a beauty pageant on that Saturday at, you might know this, at like three o'clock. She went to help the girls put their makeup on and that sort of thing. Right. help the girls put their makeup on and that sort of thing. When the pageant was over, my friend that I just talked to, Melby, she talked to her at 6 p.m. at the theater. Really?

Melby said when she left the theater, Tara was still at the back of the theater with a friend. Tara did leave and went to visit a friend in Fitzgerald. In fact, it was a student that she had taught for just a short time. And then from there, she went back to Ocella, to her principal's house because he had a cook up that night. Man, I could have never imagined that my actual grandma would be the one to drop a bombshell on me on an unsolved missing persons case I was investigating for my True Crime Podcast. But sure enough, she did. I'm pretty sure she had no idea I was recording our conversation. I did eventually tell her.

But seriously, listening back to the very first episode of Up and Vanished, the very first cliffhanger ever, and it's my grandma, it's kind of surreal. That was episode one of Up and Vanished season one, the very beginning. And now, I'm going to take you through every single season, revisiting everything. What I got right, what I got wrong, what's changed since then. And here's the deal, a lot has changed since then. What you don't know, and you're about to find out, is that in every single case of Up and Vanished, we've always continued investigating.

I've been talking to the CBI, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, in Crystal Risinger's case for over four years. And I recorded all of it with their permission. I've talked to the FBI in Ashley Loring Heavy Runner's case. There are major new leads, tape I've previously recorded that didn't make sense back then, but makes a whole lot of sense now. In a brand new sense of urgency, in a call to the public,

you guys, even as listeners, to help us solve these cases. There's a lot of things about Ryan Duke's trial that I never told you, just from my personal experience. At the time, I truly did not want to get in the way of the justice system doing its job. That's why the only time I ever appeared in the actual courtroom was on the very last day when they read the verdict. But wow, do I have some stories for you. So each week we're diving back into every season, starting with season one. And look, I know it's a whole lot of information, so I'm going to make it easy for you. Whether you've binged all these seasons recently, or you heard them years ago, or you're hearing all this for the first time, we're going to recap everything in a very clean way

so I can give you a real update and call to action to help us solve these cases. This is eight years of work, audio you've never heard, and insights from me that I've never shared. And all of this is leading up back to season four in the midnight sun. I've also spent several months ever shared, and all of this is leading up back to season four in The Midnight Sun. I've also spent several months going through all my old phones, hard drives, everything I could find, and dug up old footage of me and the team investigating these cases over

the years. We've also filmed a whole bunch of new stuff that shows you exactly where we are in our investigations into the disappearance of Florence Okpialik and Joseph Balderas in season four. So I encourage you to go check out my Instagram, which is at painlensie and at upandvanished. If you wanna see some visuals with what you're hearing, it'll be worth your while.

And to dispel the mystery, I'm going to give you the release schedule of every episode coming up right now. So you know exactly what to expect. The season recaps begin today. Next Friday, February 21st, we're releasing a very robust episode that recaps you on the entire season one, gives you all brand new information, catches you up on everything, so it's not confusing, and I'll give you my real insights on what I think actually happened to Terragrinstead. And play for you tons of tape I've never aired that I think you'll find very compelling.

Then the following Tuesday, February 25th, we dive back into season 2. And on Friday, February 28th, we have a second episode on season 2. Because there's so much content and so much tape with the suspects, the persons of interest, and hour-long conversations with the CBI that have spanned over four years and are as recent as of two days ago. Then, on Tuesday, March 4th, we're diving into season three.

Same immersive recap, new information. We're doing all the hard work for you. And these aren't some throwaway episodes. This is everything that's happened since the last episode we posted. And finally, on Friday, March 7th, we continue season 4, In the Midnight Sun, with brand new episodes.