The second suspect in the Tara Grinstead murder investigation is accused of burning the teacher's body, according to an indictment signed Monday.
A Ben Hill County grand jury indicted Bo Dukes, who is charged with concealing a death, tampering with evidence, and hindering apprehension of a criminal in Grinstead’s death. Investigators believe Dukes helped a former classmate, Ryan Alexander Duke, remove Grinstead’s body from her Ocilla home.
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Grinstead, 30, was last seen on Oct. 22, 2005, when she left a cookout and said she was going straight home. Two days later, she was reported missing when she didn’t show up at Irwin County High School, where she taught history.
No arrests were made in the case until February, when a tipster contacted the GBI with information, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. Duke was arrested first, followed by Dukes several days later.
In April, Duke was indicted by an Irwin County grand jury on six counts, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, burglary and concealing the death of another.
In an emailed statement Monday, Grinstead’s sister, Anita Gattis, thanked the GBI detectives for their work in the case.
“Our family is breathing a sigh of relief this afternoon at the indictment of Bo Dukes,” Gattis said. “There was a deep concern due to his strong family, as well as political, ties to the community...My sister never, ever deserved what she endured at the hands of Ryan Duke and Bo Dukes.”
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