Appeals court throws out pending charges for men convicted of hiding Georgia teacher's death

An appeals court has thrown out pending criminal charges against two men previously convicted of concealing the death of Georgia teacher Tara Grinstead, whose 2005 disappearance baffled her family and investigators for more than a decade.

The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the statute of limitations had expired when prosecutors in rural Ben Hill County charged the men with crimes stemming from the burning of Grinstead’s body in a rural pecan orchard two decades ago.

Prior convictions in the case weren’t affected. Ryan Duke was found guilty in 2022 in Irwin County, where Grinstead lived, of concealing her death. But a jury acquitted him of murder. His friend with a similar last name, Bo Dukes, was also convicted of covering up the killing in 2019. Both are serving prison sentences.