Opinion: Justice for Tara Grinstead

Tara Grinstead has been missing for over eleven years. Last week the Ben Hill/ Irwin county area of south Georgia was shocked to hear that an arrest had been made, and now today we find out that a second arrest has been made.

The two men arrested are Ryan Duke and Bo Dukes. These two men are not family members. They were classmates at Irwin County High School where Tara Grinstead taught. These new developments leave the local area with even more questions. Why did Ryan Duke kill Tara? Why did his friend, Bo Dukes, help him conceal and destroy her body?

As of today Ryan Dukes is the only person who has been charged with 'murder'. Bo Dukes has been charged for concealing a death, hindering the apprehension of a criminal, and tampering with evidence.

The question that seems to be swirling around the area today is this: Why was Bo Dukes allowed to bond out of jail for only $16,700 while Ryan Duke is being held without bond? Bo Dukes apparently led Ryan Duke to his uncles' pecan orchard north of Fitzgerald on highway 129. It was there that Tara's body was most likely disposed of. Randy Hudson is the uncle of Bo Dukes and the owner of the pecan orchard. The GBI has stated that the owners of the pecan orchard are not connected to the murder.

Law enforcement is currently under gag order, and cannot discuss the case. We can only hope that Bo Dukes is not going to be let off easily if he actually helped with this heinous crime. Every party to this crime, no matter how many that ends up being, deserves the maximum penalty. No question about it.

If you allow someone to go onto your family's land and help them dispose of a body, you better be doing serious time for it. The one thing everyone in this community wants is justice. A person's social status or last name should have nothing to do with how they are treated in a case like this, and neither should it determine how much their bond is. We sincerely hope this has nothing to do with Bo Dukes being able to spend only two hours in jail today, before leaving in a suit.

#justiceforTaraGrinstead

We would like to take the time to thank Payne Lindsey for the work he has done with his podcast, Up and Vanished. Up and Vanished has focused solely on the Tara Grinstead case, and Payne Lindsey has brought many details of this case to light. Be sure to tune in to the podcast at www.upandvanished.com