2005 student held in teacher’s vanishing

Teacher and former beauty queen Tara Grinstead vanished from her south Georgia home in 2005, leaving a mystery that had stumped investigators for nearly 12 years — until a tip led to an unexpected arrest.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Thursday that a former student at Irwin County High School, where Grinstead taught history, has been charged with murder in the case.

The suspect, 33-year-old Ryan Alexander Duke, was being held at the Irwin County jail in Ocilla, about 165 miles southeast of Atlanta.

Duke burglarized the 30-year-old teacher’s home and used his hands to kill her inside the residence, according to warrants that were read at a late Thursday court hearing, area news outlets reported. He then removed her body from the home with the intent of concealing her death, the warrants state.