The Tara Bottle and Other Stories

The Tara Bottle and Other Stories

  6:22 AM    Unknown

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Photo: A Coca-Cola bottle with the name "Tara" sits in The Ocilla Star office during my interview with "Oscar."

The Tara Bottle and Other Stories

Warning: This report contains graphic details that most will find disturbing, so read with caution.

When I started writing about recent events last week, I knew exactly how I was going to write it. I was going to start by talking about my friend Daniel, who is one of those people who wants explanations to be simple. For instance, he thinks that what happened to Tara Grinstead must be very close to what the Georgia Bureau of Investigation alleges.

Daniel thinks that many people don't want the story of Tara's disappearance to end, so they entertain wild, even weird stories that seem at least improbable. There's probably some truth to that.

He told me to write a blog post with the weirdest stories I've heard just to show how ridiculous some of the theories are. I said something like, "But Daniel, I don't know that the weirdest stories I've heard aren't true."

And that's true enough.

From there, I would have told about various strange stories I've been told in recent weeks, and why they might be believable, and why they might not be. Then, I would have tried to create a scenario that closely fit the GBI allegations and the stories I believe have been told by Bo Dukes and Ryan Duke. Then, I would have shown the flaws or weaknesses in that scenario, such as trying to explain how a small man like Ryan could put a body in the back of a truck by himself. No one seems to think that would be very easy, and some seem to think it would be impossible.

But I ran into problems last week in the midst of writing my story. An apparent carpal tunnel issue caused my thumb to go numb. Then, a sudden loss meant I spent time with grieving friends, family and extended family rather than writing. And in the midst, certain events made me consider ending or changing my coverage of Tara's death and disappearance.

And then, as with most weeks, a lot happened this week in regard to the case, so my writing plans I had last week are pretty much shot. So, instead, I'll just start from the beginning, or where I left off, which really starts with my blog post "The Stories of Ryan and Bo?" which was published almost a month ago.

I thought it might be my last blog post about Tara's case, at least for a while, because I felt like I had learned what I was trying to figure out for months: What Ryan and Bo were telling the cops. But it also proved to be my second most popular post with more than 30,000 views, and suddenly people were coming to me with stories like never before.

One guy who called me had several stories to tell, and I'll call him Oscar, ironically because he was a nice guy, not a grouch. I could tell Oscar really cared about sharing his story and hoped it would lead to the truth of what happened to Tara. He had already shared his stories with the GBI, but I don't think he was confident the truth was known. I share that sentiment.

Some of the things Oscar had to share were about the man the Up and Vanished community has taken to calling "Buddy," a man who claimed to know who killed Tara and who later committed suicide.

This is a touchy subject for me because Buddy's brother, whom I will call Angelo, is one of my oldest and best friends, so I especially don't in any way want to harm their family, but Angelo also seems to want to clear Buddy's name, in a way, so I've decided to tell Buddy's story, as I know it.

It was 2008, I believe, and I was the city editor for The Tifton Gazette working by myself late one night, when a mutual friend of mine and Angelo's called me. The mutual friend told me Angelo's brother was freaking out because the people who killed Tara Grinstead were out to get him. I told our friend that if Buddy knew who killed Tara that law enforcement needed to know, so I called the Irwin County Sheriff's Office.

Later that night, Angelo called me and told me that deputies showed up, questioned Buddy, and determined he was just mentally disturbed.

Warning: This is about to get graphic.

Later, Angelo told me more of what his brother believed. Buddy told him that he and a friend encountered the killer or killers on a dirt road. Buddy said the killer or killers had a "black girl" with them in the trunk of a car, and he and his friend were forced to carve their initials in her flesh and rub their DNA on her, so that if they ratted the killer(s) out, they too would be implicated.

I know that story sounds hard to believe, and one reason I personally found it hard to believe is that I did some research and could not find any missing black women or unsolved murders of black women in Georgia from around the time Tara went missing. Then, once I started hearing rumors that Tara's body was burned, I came to a horrendous idea.

What if it wasn't an African-American girl? What if it was a charred female body? What if it truly was a "black" girl?

According to his brother, Buddy was warned to leave the state so he went to Tennessee, but after he still received threats, he fatally shot himself about a week after arriving in the other state.

I was told the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation investigated and turned Buddy's suicide note over to the GBI. Somehow, Dr. Maurice Godwin obtained a list of names of people mentioned in the suicide note. I've heard varying numbers, but the list I've seen has 16 names. Some, probably all of these people were interviewed by the GBI, and the fact that none of them are in jail indicates to me that they probably had nothing to do with Tara's death.

Ryan Duke and Bo Dukes are not among the 16 names.

That is one reason to doubt the veracity of Buddy's claims, but there are others as well. Buddy supposedly went to show Angelo a message he received on a cell phone, but no message was there, and this was in the days before Snapchat and disappearing text messages. The guy who was supposedly with Buddy reportedly denied the story. And while I think his word might not count for much more than Monopoly money, Bo Dukes seems to have said that Buddy did not know anything, at least according to communications I've seen that allegedly originated with Bo.

Payne Lindsey devoted a lot of time in the early days of the Up and Vanished podcast to Buddy's story. He explored the possibility that a car wreck may have caused a head injury that made Buddy delusional. While Payne seemed to find that scenario was possible, the experts he talked to also seemed to express that it was highly unlikely. While it could be that Buddy really did have some mental issues, it could be that he was sane and his claims were real. And certain things I've learned recently at least make his stories seem plausible.

And it started with Oscar.

One of the first things Oscar told me was that Buddy died only a few days after Ryan Duke was arrested and charged with DUI, and Oscar was right. Ryan was arrested twice on suspicion of DUI, according to arrest reports. He was arrested once in Tifton in 2008 and again in Ocilla in 2010.

Shortly after one of those arrests, less than a week later, Buddy died. That's a pretty big coincidence. It could also just be a coincidence, but it makes you wonder if someone was afraid that Ryan was arrested for reasons other than DUI and was afraid of what he might say to the police.

Of course, Angelo said Buddy was being threatened and with Ryan in jail at least part of the time and since I believe Bo was in the Army at the time, it makes me wonder who could have been threatening him.

Angelo said Buddy mostly talked about people from Wilcox County when he spoke about Tara Grinstead. In particular, he spoke of fearing a drug dealer from Wilcox County.

For those not from the area, Irwin County is where Tara lived and taught school. Ocilla is the county seat. Ben Hill County is directly north of Irwin, and that is where a pecan orchard was searched in February for Tara's remains. Fitzgerald is the county seat. Wilcox is a county north of Ben Hill, not too far from the location of the pecan orchard. Abbeville is the county seat.

Bo Dukes, from what I understand, has lived in Wilcox County at different points in his life and probably has social ties there. One of the key pieces of information we've been trying to figure out lately is where exactly Bo and Ryan lived as roommates in 2005. There's a possibility they lived in Wilcox County, but even if they did, that may have nothing to do with Buddy or his claims. With the exception of the possibility of Bo and Ryan, I had never heard of anyone who lived in Wilcox County being possibly involved in Tara's disappearance.

But then Oscar told me another story.

If you're from around the area, you've seen some of the many missing posters featuring Tara. Oscar told me that he saw a man from Wilcox County, a guy about the same age as Ryan and Bo, back away from one of those missing posters "as if a rattlesnake bit him," Oscar said. He said the man exclaimed something like, "I saw that girl burned down there!"

Oscar wasn't sure of the exact details of what was said next, but he said the man mentioned something about two men in a Ford Ranger. The man's father seemed to try to shut the man up, and the father said something about the man witnessing a fiery car wreck, but I don't think Oscar believed him. This was in approximately 2014, Oscar said.

This is morbidly thought-provoking because there are persistent rumors that Tara's body might have been burned in front of other people, particularly at a party maybe a week after she disappeared. If so, some of the people might not have known, although Oscar's story of the "snake bit" man makes it seem at least possible that some others did know what was happening.

Oscar also told me another story about how someone told him Buddy and another man were involved in the disappearance of a woman. Now, the word "involved" can mean a lot of things. When I go to cover a football game for the newspaper, you could say I was involved in the football game, but that doesn't mean I played quarterback. I think that what Buddy claimed about knowing who killed Tara could be construed as "involvement" without him actually being involved in killing her.

My point about all this is that the other man who was said to be "involved" was also from Wilcox County.

Finally, Oscar also told me a story that had nothing to do with Buddy. He told about how a relative of his, who is now deceased, gave a drunk young man a ride home from the White Horse Saloon in Fitzgerald one night in, he believes, late 2005. The drunk man said that sometimes he blacked out from getting drunk. The drunk man said that one night he blacked out and someone told him he killed someone.

Oscar's relative didn't know the man's name, and he's no longer around to identify him, but Oscar clearly wondered if the drunk man his relative met was Ryan Duke.

Even more than the strange stories Oscar told me, what happened in the midst of our conversation may have been weirder and was definitely spookier.

Oscar arrived at my place of work, The Ocilla Star office, drinking a bottle of Coca Cola. As he told his stories and I contemplated their meaning, I found myself staring at his bottle. And then I realized what it said:

"Tara."

My arms erupted in goose pimples so badly it looked like flesh-colored bubble wrap. I pointed the bottle out to Oscar and his arms did the same thing. He lowered his head and hid his eyes from me. He later told me he was nearly in tears. He refused to drink another drop from the bottle.

I don't believe in signs or portents or ghosts or spirits. I don't believe in anything supernatural, but I'm also not so arrogant in my beliefs to completely ignore what could be a message. Although that was likely a coincidence or even a subliminal choice of the "Tara" bottle by a man with Tara on his mind, that doesn't mean I ignored it. In fact, I kept the bottle.

But like so much about this case, I don't know what to make of it either.

So, that night, after talking to Oscar, I was intrigued by the leads he gave me. So, without revealing the stories I was told, I asked the members of a private discussion group if they knew anything about Buddy. A friend set me up with a phone call with a woman who seemed to have information about him. I will call this woman Naomi.

I won't go into the specifics of how Naomi obtained her story, but if what she said is true, the original source of the story is the GBI. It's a doozy though.

She said "They tortured that poor girl," and moved her body three times. She was unsure of who went to Tara's house, but she said whoever it was propositioned her and she refused. She said the person or persons got offended by the refusal, and that led to her murder.

I've heard other versions of the culprit or culprits getting offended and angry, but sometimes the details vary. It's one of the few plausible motives I've heard.

Naomi said that first Tara's body was taken to a pond where a cinder block was tied to her feet and they tried to submerge her in the pond. A pond was searched in 2015 that was just north of Fitzgerald, just a few miles from the pecan orchard which was believed to be her resting place for the past 11 years. I was told by multiple sources at the time that all they found was a block with a rope tied to it, which could have been used as an anchor for a Jon boat, but if this story is true it could have been used for a more nefarious purpose.

She said that after 3 or 4 days, they removed the body from the water and moved it to an unoccupied house on Snapdragon Road in Irwin County. This house is infamous in the community devoted to solving this case. The house burnt down only 2 weeks after Tara went missing, and the GBI did an extensive search of the husk of a building. Reportedly, cadaver dogs hit on some locations at the house, and although some were explained away as sewer lines which can confuse cadaver dogs, I've never heard an explanation for why the back glass of a burned SUV parked there supposedly was hit on by a dog.

Naomi said they tried to burn the body at Snapdragon but just charred it. She said they moved the body and then encountered two guys on a dirt road. And now we're back to Buddy's story.

Naomi said the two guys were riding four-wheelers, and although Buddy's brother Angelo did not know that detail, he said it made sense. He said Buddy and his friends often rode four-wheelers, and the guy who was supposedly riding with Buddy has family in the area, but that reminds me that I haven't told the area, at least, where we believe this happened, if it happened at all.

Angelo said the encounter happened on a bridge on a dirt road. There are not many bridges on dirt roads in Irwin County, but one such bridge is on Daisy Road in eastern Irwin County, only a few miles from the house on Snapdragon Road. The bridge covers Little Brushy Creek, a wide, swampy bit of brown water that flows east eventually into the Atlantic Ocean.

The bridge area and the creek there were searched by the Irwin County Sheriff's Office 13 months after Buddy died. However, the source of the tip did not seem to be Buddy. Sheriff Donnie Youghn told me at the time that he could not reveal the source of the tip because it would put the tipster in danger, which obviously would not apply to Buddy. The local television station, WALB, reported that the tip came from a neighbor who witnessed two men acting suspiciously on the bridge a few days after Tara went missing.

Warning: Things are about to get graphic again.

Naomi said the reason Buddy said it was a black girl was because her body was charred. She said the killer or killers made Buddy and the other man carve their initials in her flesh. 

She said that from there, they took her body to the pecan orchard, where a wood chipper was used. She said that afterward, they burnt the remains repeatedly and then covered them with pine straw. I've heard independently that the remains that were found were not really buried, so that sounds like it could be true, even if horrifyingly gruesome.

Could all that be true? I think it's possible, but I admit that it sounds like someone took every story they've heard and put them all together. But that doesn't mean it's not true. All these stories had to originate somewhere and some of them seem to resonate.

So, about the same time I was learning all these stories, I also went through the ordeal with the Grand Jury investigation, which I won't rehash since I already wrote about it in "I Hope This Doesn't Land Me in Jail." Nothing else has happened with that, so maybe I was being paranoid, but when the GBI and the district attorney tell you not to do something you've already done and you damn well know you're going to do again, you get a little nervous.

Then, last week, on top of everything else from my numb thumb to the Dave Prater Music Festival, I finally bought a car! I've been meaning to write more about that to thank the people who helped me buy it, but the thumb and other circumstances have conspired against me. My description of the car is coming soon.

But another thing happened last week which also affected my urgency to write. You know how I mentioned that Buddy left a suicide note and 16 names were mentioned in it? Someone released those 16 names last week. While I disagreed with that choice, it was the reaction to the release of the list that really distressed me.

I first learned about the release of the list when a friend contacted me and told me that several people on the list had received a copy of it. They were understandably not happy. Then, I saw some reactions that made me question the morality of the fervor that surrounds this case.

Someone said that all the names on the list were fair game for investigating. I disagree. Maybe for the GBI. Maybe for a private investigator like Dr. Godwin. Maybe even for a journalist like me or Payne, although I've had the list for months and only did the scantest of unintrusive investigations. Basically I just asked a friend who the people on the list were, or at least, the ones I didn't know.

But what seemed wrong to me was to hand over the list to dozens of people who would pore through these other people's lives without regard for their privacy or how it affects them. I've been interviewed by the GBI twice. I've had Godwin reveal information about me that made me feel like he had investigated me. It's not a good feeling to feel like your life is being scrutinized.

Remember, we don't know the context of how these names appeared in the suicide note. For all we know, he was saying goodbye to friends. I saw someone say "We NEED to know this information," in regard to the list, and I thought, no, you just want to. But in the feverish fervor that has risen in certain circles about this case, it feels like a need.

And I asked myself, am I contributing to this? Am I just as guilty?

And I really don't know. I worry about it often. Am I doing the right thing? Am I doing it the right way? I don't know.

I just wrote extensively about someone who committed suicide. Is that wrong? I included details that are horrifying and I'm sure would deeply disturb some people. Is that wrong? Is my entire coverage of this story, feeding people's desire to understand this bewildering mystery? Is that wrong?

I really don't know. I feel like I'm trying to be respectful. I don't use people's names or include identifying information unless they are public figures or publicly related to the case already. I include details in the hopes they will spark someone else's memory or connections or even their logic to help better understand what really happened. And details are important. While it may be going too far to mention something like a wood chipper, it could explain how a body could be burning at a party and people might not realize it was happening.

All I can do is ask people to try to put themselves in others' shoes, to try and empathize with them and consider their feelings. And I ask that you put yourself in my shoes and understand that I make mistakes.

But thinking about all this left me at a crossroads. I thought about quitting writing about the case on my blog, although I still would have written the book I'm planning because I feel committed to it. I think part of me wanted to quit because it is a lot of stress, a lot of pressure, covering this story. But then, I don't think I really could quit.

People come to me with their stories. They post questions for me. And furthermore, it's also my day job. Even if I stopped posting my more speculative, opinionated pieces on my blog, I would still be writing about the latest events in the case in the newspaper.

I feel like I have a responsibility to write about Tara and her story, to point out what went wrong so it can be fixed and possibly to help solve the case. And honestly, I think we're getting closer. Maybe even close.

I'll be honest, too. Although most of the decisions I make are based on balancing journalistic interest with human morality, I have a fear that the public will turn against me. So far, the overwhelming response I have gotten for my coverage of the case has been positive, and I'm thankful, but I know how easy opinions can change. Already I've had people I defended at the cost of my own reputation turn on me.

I've seen it happen to Payne, too. Since the GBI made an arrest, I've seen a select few people turn on him like rabid dogs. Some people who loved the podcast suddenly think he should shut up or blame him for being successful due to his hard work. People who live and breathe the case get angry when he doesn't have new information on new episodes, even though 99 percent of the million or so listeners have never heard the information before. People blame him for posts other people make on the Up and Vanished discussion board, even though, in my experience he's been willing to take down offensive or even borderline offensive posts if asked.

Those sort of sentiments mean people either love or hate Payne around Ocilla. He's got plenty of fans, but he also has people who wish he would leave our small town alone, even if he may have indirectly contributed to solving a murder case that haunted the town for more than a decade.

Tuesday, we had what is called Legislative Appreciation Day, which is a yearly event where the local state senator and state representative are honored and politicians from across the state come to visit Ocilla to play golf and shop. This year, a tour of local places of interest was added with the tour to start after lunch.

Just after lunch, I was looking for the guy leading the tour when I turned and saw, of all people, Payne Lindsey walk in the door. I had no idea Payne was coming to the event, but I was glad to see him, although immediately I detected that I would be in an awkward situation. The first stop of the tour was Hudson Pecan Company.

Payne said he was recording for a follow-up podcast similar to a previous segment about "Tara and Ocilla," in which he planned to interview me and the mayor and update people on how the arrests of Ryan Duke and Bo Dukes affected the town. He went to each event unobtrusively recording with his hand-held recorder clearly visible, and he even offered to help one of the places we visited to promote their products.

Later, I received criticism because I didn't tell people Payne was there, but I don't think it is my duty to warn everyone about his presence. It never even occurred to me to warn people about him, and even if it had, I wouldn't have done it because it would be a rude thing to do to a friend, or anyone really.

I was not the only one there who knew who he was. His photo has been in the newspaper multiple times, and whenever I'm with him, people recognize him and approach us, usually to give compliments and tell him to keep up the good work. 

I know that to some extent I have divided loyalties, probably in part because I'm trying to keep everyone happy, but just to show that I'm not choosing one side over the other, Payne asked me for my notes about Hudson Pecan, and I didn't share, even though he assures me that the part he planned to broadcast about the company would be entirely positive. I'm not even sure if he's going to broadcast anything about the company now after we talked, but if he does, that's his decision. I didn't try to sway him one way or another.

Not that Payne isn't above putting some pressure to sway me! Throughout the day, he repeatedly tried to get me to reveal my sources for information about the search at the pecan orchard in 2005. I held strong, but I said something like, "Payne, you try harder to get my sources than the GBI!"

We had an interesting debate about journalistic ethics. We didn't really agree, but it wasn't an argument either. I can tell he puts a lot of thought into his decisions, which is all you can ask of anyone. He's a far better investigator than me, and he's trying to be a big-time journalist, and I'm trying to, well, I'm still figuring it out. If he had my attitude, he wouldn't have gotten as far as he has. If I had his attitude, I would get run out of town, so we have different considerations.

Speaking of that 2005 search, it may turn out to be sadly important. I learned that the tip that led to the search could jeopardize the charges against Bo Dukes. In each of the three arrest warrants against Bo, the text states that the statute of limitations is tolled because the alleged crime was not known at the time. That means that the statute of limitations does not apply because the alleged crime was unknown.

But because someone reported, at least to some extent, details about the alleged crimes, it could mean the statute of limitations does apply, and obviously the statute of limitations would already be passed or nearly so if the warrants specified that the statute of limitations was tolled.

This could mean that Bo Dukes ends up with no charges against him, even without an immunity deal.

In other news related to the case, or at least of interest to those who follow the case, Wendy Floyd was arrested this week. I mean no ill will toward Miss Floyd, but I've seen people talking about it or asking about it, so this is the record, as straight as it can be.

Miss Floyd pressed charges against another woman for simple assault, and they had a hearing before Chief Magistrate Judge Heather Culpepper. At the conclusion of the hearing, the other woman was arrested and charged with simple assault, but Miss Floyd was also arrested and charged with harassing communications. Both were released on bond. The charges are misdemeanors, but both women were banned from social media until the end of the case, unless the judge changes her orders.

In other news, Brooke Sheridan, Bo Dukes' girlfriend, appeared on CBS's 48 Hours. I haven't seen the full interview, but I've gotten a lot of questions about it, particularly if she is under the gag order in the Ryan Duke case. She is not.

The original gag order might have applied to her, as it affected potential witnesses in the case, but the newer, modified gag order only affects current and former law enforcement officers and office personnel who participated in the investigation of the case, the attorneys involved and their personnel, and Bo Dukes.

I'm admittedly suspicious of the story that is being told by Brooke and Bo. While the story seems to mostly be consistent, I'm wary that they have seemed to try so aggressively to tell their side of the story, almost as if they want to drown out any competing narratives.

Time will tell. And I am starting to believe it will. For a while now, I've been worried we won't know the truth, but I've found hope again. If you want to help, tell me where Bo and Ryan lived in October 2005 and what they were driving. And if you've heard anything about a party in which a body was burned, please let me know.

Ryan Duke and Bo Dukes are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.