Duke and Dukes

Duke and Dukes

  4:28 AM    Unknown

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 Pictured: At right, Bo Dukes leaves the Ben Hill County Sheriff's Office Friday, March 3, 2017.

Duke and Dukes.

Dukes and Duke.

I never heard the names of Ryan Duke and Bo Dukes before the few hours before the February 23, 2017 press conference announcing Ryan Duke was charged with murder in the death of Tara Grinstead. I heard both names from more than one source, but one story I was told made those names unforgettable.

A source told me these two names when he told me that he heard Tara was killed and taken to a pecan orchard owned by Bo Dukes' family in Ben Hill County. He said he heard her body was burned. He later told me this secret was known and reported to someone in law enforcement no later than six weeks after Tara went missing in October 2005.

Remember, I was told this hours before the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced even that Ryan Duke was arrested.

Of course, we don't know that Tara's body was burned, although as I'll reveal later, Dukes is accused of "destroying" her body. We don't know that law enforcement was told about the possible involvement of Duke or Dukes in 2005. We don't even know if Duke or Dukes are guilty, because they are innocent until proven so.

But other than those things we don't know, the facts I was told on that fateful Thursday I dubbed the Day Ocilla Stood Still, have all come to light as the alleged truth.

On that day we learned Ryan Duke is alleged to have murdered Tara.

On the last day of February, we learned that Tara's remains were allegedly deposited at a pecan orchard owned by Bo Dukes' family.

On March 3, we learned that Bo Dukes was arrested and charged in relation to the alleged disposal of Grinstead's body.

Of course, this wasn't the last time I heard the names Duke and Dukes together. Virtually every rumor seemed to include allegations about the pecan orchard, Duke and Dukes. I heard parts of very similar stories to the one I was told on February 23. An interview on the "Up and Vanished" podcast Monday even included some of a similar, though different story.

And every day, I heard Bo Dukes' name. Rumors said he was in custody but not charged. Some rumors said he was on the run. Payne Lindsey posted a topic called "Bo" on the "Up and Vanished" discussion page and that may have led to the strangest exchanges about Dukes.

A person on the discussion page claimed to be Dukes' girlfriend and argued with people throughout the day. Predictably, other posters challenged her to prove who she was. She claimed Dukes was sitting beside her, so someone asked her to take a photo with the day's date on a piece of paper.

Later, through a Twitter account I believe, two photos were posted, one showed a man who certainly looked like Bo Dukes, and the other had the day's date, 2/25/17, written in the man's palm.

I heard that Bo himself participated in the discussions, but I didn't see that myself, but later during an interview with WGXA in Atlanta, Payne said Dukes was posting on his site. I was told he even posted on the "Up and Vanished" discussion page on March 3, after he was released on bond, but I couldn't wade through the thousands of posts on that eventful day to find out.

Of course, there's nothing illegal about participating in an internet discussion board.

But on Thursday, March 2, the rumors were percolating with particular fervor about Bo Dukes possibly being arrested. When I got a seemingly credible tip that there would be a press conference that day, my heart started pounding, because I was just sure there would be another arrest announced, but I made some phone calls and learned there was nothing to it.

Still, I thought there might be something to it, and I thought it might be a good idea to check in Ben Hill and Irwin counties to see if an arrest was made. I thought that an arrest could have been made without an announcement due to the gag order in place in Ryan Duke's case.

Between 11 a.m. and noon Friday, March 3, I arrived at the Ben Hill County Law Enforcement Complex and entered the sheriff's office. I asked the receptionist if any arrest had been made, and I was told I would need to fill out a request form, so I scrawled a generic request for any information on the arrest of Ryan Duke or Bo Dukes or the search for Tara Grinstead. Moments later, and frankly to my surprise, the lady said, "Dusty, he has been arrested but the booking report won't be ready until probably after lunch."

My eyes widened. I hadn't really expected an arrest, despite all the rumors I had heard about an arrest. I had to clarify.

"Bo Dukes was arrested?" And yes he was. What I later learned was that he was booked less than an hour before I arrived.

And yes, if it matters for some journalistic style points for some reason, your intrepid reporter was the first on the scene, though word quickly spread obviously as three news stations later joined me.

I should note that I saw both Special Agent Jason Shoudel, the lead investigator on Tara's case, Ocilla Police Chief Billy Hancock, and Tifton Judicial Circuit District Attorney Paul Bowden at the Ben Hill complex, so if I didn't already know Dukes was arrested, I would have known something was afoot.

Waiting for the booking report, I wasn't sure what to do. I struck up a conversation with some of the employees outside of the nearby magistrate court. One of them recognized me from my song "Irwinvillain" which I thought was humorous.

Then, a receptionist walked outside with the booking report and I read it. More on that in a minute.

A lady I suspected was a reporter went inside the magistrate office, and I had an idea. Would Bo Dukes have a first appearance before a magistrate judge, just as Ryan Duke had before him, and would the arrest warrants against him be read?

I went inside, and let me just go ahead and say for anyone who ever has trouble in Ben Hill County, the staff at the magistrate court is very helpful and friendly. They told me Bo Dukes waived his right to a first appearance, probably to prevent the media circus that accompanied Ryan Duke's similar appearance.

They also gave me copies of the Bo Dukes arrest warrants, and they are a bit less vague than those used to arrest Ryan Duke, although they still leave the puzzle incomplete.

Dukes was charged with concealing death. The warrant alleges that Dukes unlawfully concealed the death of Tara Grinstead at the location known to the property owner as Fitzgerald Farms, off Bowens Mill Highway 129, in Ben Hill County, which hindered the discovery of and unlawful killing of Grinstead by Ryan Alexander Duke, who faces the same charge in Irwin County, along with murder, aggravated assault and burglary.

Dukes was charged with hindering the apprehension of a criminal. The warrant alleges he unlawfully concealed and destroyed Tara's body, which was evidence of the crime of murder. The warrant says the accused knew or had reasonable grounds to believe Ryan Alexander Duke committed the crime. The location was again given as Fitzgerald Farms.

Dukes was charged with tampering with evidence. The warrant alleges he destroyed physical evidence in the form of Tara's body at Fitzgerald Farms. The warrant says the evidence involved the prosecution of murder with the intent to obstruct the prosecution of Ryan Alexander Duke.

All three warrants say the statute of limitations was tolled because the crime was unknown. Tolling means the statute of limitations was legally suspended since the crime was unknown. Normally, a crime must be prosecuted within a certain number of years, but that limit was suspended.

The bond for each charge was $5,000, for a total of $15,000. I've heard the bond was actually higher than that, but $5,000 three times is what my documents say.

Fitzgerald Farms seems to be the large pecan orchard searched by the GBI for Tara's remains this same week. The property belongs to Randy Hudson, who had nothing to do with this horrible crime. I am stating this unequivocally. Regardless of the charges against Bo Dukes, I don't believe any other member of the Hudson family had anything to do with what happened to Tara.

Earlier I said that I knew Mr. Randy most of my life, so I didn't think he had any involvement. Someone asked me why I would trust someone just because I have known them all my life. The simple answer is that I wouldn't necessarily. But when I know someone well enough to doubt that they would do something so heinous, and when the GBI is saying he was not involved, and when none of the rumors I hear implicate him in any way, and when the idea of him working with the two people accused in this crime seems unfathomable, I think the preponderance of evidence suggests that Mr. Randy had nothing to do with Tara's disappearance.

I asked him for a comment, since his property was being searched, and I could tell the emotional toll this terrible situation has cost this man. He said, as the GBI did, that he is fully cooperating with authorities. I was told separately by others that the Hudson family installed a gate and posted no trespassing signs at the pecan orchard at the GBI's request, and that they offered to let the property be searched without a warrant.

Without offering any defense of Dukes, Mr. Randy said he and the rest of his family had nothing to do with the crime being investigated. Importantly, he offered his prayers to the Grinstead family.

Knowing this was someone who was striving to help bring those responsible for Tara's death to justice, it infuriated me to find later that someone used my own Facebook page to bash the Hudson family. If Bo Dukes was involved in this crime, it was his actions as a grown man, not that of his family. If we were all held accountable for the crimes of our family members, we'd likely all share a very large jail cell.

The lady denigrating the family said they were accountable for pampering him and putting up his bail money. There are a Titanic boatload of assumptions there.

How do we know Dukes was pampered? Although the Hudsons are successful, I'm sure they got that way with a lot of work on farms, and whether it's pumpkins or pecans, working on a farm is hard work.

The other assumption is that he would need family money for bail money. A bail bondsman usually only charges 10 percent of the overall bond. Even I could come up with $1,500 if needed.

But so what if a family member did put up the money? I would hope that most of our mothers and fathers would be willing to bail us out of jail, that they would be willing to consider us innocent until proven guilty.

Shouldn't we all, to some extent at least, extend the courtesy of "innocent until proven guilty" to anyone after all we've learned? Through 11 years of mud-slinging and character assassination of those the public condemned in Tara's case, haven't we learned our lesson? I know it's difficult with so much emotion crackling around the edges of this case, and we're only human, but we need to endeavor to be better humans than we have been in our accusatory past.

Back to my time at the Ben Hill County Law Enforcement Complex...

I asked the chief magistrate judge if there would be an opportunity for photos, and she didn't answer, citing the gag order in place, but even though I don't think she intended to give anything away, it was like a no comment. No comments rarely mean no.

So I went outside and waited along with the rest of the crews. I saw someone I thought was a direct relative of Dukes', and I tried to approach her. I even managed to say "Excuse me, ma'am," but she either didn't hear or ignored me. I don't blame her. I don't know what I even would have said. I shut up and turned around realizing that whatever kind of journalist I am, it's not the kind that hounds grieving family members.

And then after a relatively short wait, I took photos as Bo Dukes emerged, dressed to something close to the nines, along with a man I assume was his attorney. I was lucky to be in the best position to get photos of him, and as he walked past, I shouted, "Bo, any comment for the local paper?"

In retrospect that was a lame question on two fronts. First, any comment? Way to ask a direct question, Dusty. Second, local paper? Technically, since I was in Fitzgerald, Georgia rather than Ocilla, where I actually work, it wouldn't have been a comment for the local paper at all.

Regardless, he didn't answer. He didn't say a word.

I couldn't help contrasting the two men who were classmates, friends, and even, I've heard, roommates, the two men alleged to be associated with Tara's death.

Ryan Duke appeared as a broken man crushed by the weight of the world on his shoulders. Wearing shackles and green striped jail coveralls, remorse or even darker emotions seemed to be gnawing a hole through him from the inside. His bushy, disheveled head and facial hair, his hollow eyes betrayed a person who seemed to have passed desperation for even less wholesome locales.

Bo Dukes strode along in a three-piece suit, expressionless but unfazed. Clean shaven and well manicured, he looked like someone on the way to a business interview rather than stepping away from charges that allege he helped cover-up one of the most famous murders in Georgia history.

Ryan Duke seemed to be a man slowly disintegrating over the years since Tara was murdered in 2005. I've heard rumors of self harm. He had two DUI arrests and became reclusive. I've heard he suffers from serious medical problems as well.

Bo Dukes got married, and I've heard he joined the military. He had his own legal problems, though his crime seemed more selfish than self destructive, as he and his wife pleaded guilty to stealing more than $150,000 worth of property from the Army. Even though he divorced or separated, he supposedly had a girlfriend at the time of his arrest.

Ryan Duke was described universally as a peaceful guy. Even an article sent to me by someone from Green County included an account by a friend from middle school who described Duke as someone who would walk away from an argument. If he had a fault, I heard, it was that he tried too hard to make friends. A friend described him as the kind of friend who would come help you if you broke down at 3 in the morning.

Meanwhile, I've talked to a lot of people about Bo Dukes, too. The only thing I heard that was positive is that he was highly intelligent.

I believe the GBI is confident they got their guys. I believe they're confident of their charges against Duke and Dukes. But if they are guilty, it is disturbing that someone can sleep in his own bed after callously disposing of a human body and leaving people's hearts to break slowly over more than a decade.

Lots of rumors, and a few credible sources, have told me that Dukes may be working with investigators in this case, and he certainly seemed to know there was a possibility he would be arrested. People probably do not normally walk into sheriff's offices in a suit with a lawyer unless they are lawyers themselves. And while the charges against him are serious, I believe that there are more serious charges someone can face if they are alleged to be an accessory after the fact in a heinous crime, though I'm certainly not a lawyer myself.

Much of my limited knowledge of the law comes from covering trials. In one trial I covered, a member of the Mexican Mafia was accused of kidnapping for participating in snatching a woman and taking her to Atlanta in an attempt to recover drug money owed to his gang. This man stayed loyal to his gang and refused to accept a deal, but his partner took a deal and got only 20 years. The man on trial, despite the victim asserting that he was the only one who treated her kindly and with respect, he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

With Duke and Dukes, I cannot help but wonder deeply if there is some sort of plea deal promised or in place. If so, I just hope the right person was given the deal because as bad as it is to imagine that someone who covered up Tara's murder might be walking around free, it is even worse to imagine her killer might be among us.

But then again, for 11 years, I guess he was all along.