Up and Vanished Podcast

Up and Vanished Podcast

The lowdown on Up and Vanished

Atlanta filmmaker Payne Lindsey of Tenderfoot TV originally envisioned Up and Vanished as a true-crime documentary. Lindsey selected a missing-person case from his home state, Georgia, and embarked on a journey as an amateur investigator. After starting his research and initial interviews, he decided to present the project in audio form as a podcast.

Season 1 of Up and Vanished explored the 2005 disappearance of beauty queen and high school teacher Tara Grinstead from her home in Ocilla, Georgia. The cold case was the largest case file in the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s history, with no arrests in 11 years. The podcast quickly drew attention, both in South Georgia and nationwide. Reviewing old leads and uncovering new ones, Up and Vanished quickly expanded from a planned six-episode season to a final count of 24 episodes with numerous bonus episodes. As the people of Ocilla began talking about the case again, new leads and stories emerged. In February 2017, the GBI arrested two suspects for Grinstead’s murder. Up and Vanished will continue to provide updates on this no-longer-cold case as the criminal trial proceeds in 2018. A second season of Up and Vanished, covering a completely different true crime story, will debut in early 2018.

Up and Vanished Podcast

I am Really Into True Crime. Give me my Dateline Friday (and Saturdays if I’m lucky), 48 Hours, City Confidential, American Justice, you get it, right? I love it.

What I love most about true crime is that journalists, reporters & common folk like you & me can make all the difference in a case. Often facts are forgotten, the evidence is lost, but if you get with the right person, a case can crack wide open. That’s exactly what Payne Lindsey & Donald Albright do with the Up and Vanished Podcast.

Tara Grinstead

Tara is a beauty queen & high-school teacher in the small town of Ocilla, Georgia. Out of nowhere, Tara goes missing from her home. Quickly, it seems the case goes cold.

Eleven years later, in comes Payne Lindsey. As Payne unravels the story, listeners learn more about Tara. We meet Dr. Maurice Godwin, who was hired as a Private Investigator hired by Tara’s family. He & Payne make contact after meeting on a True Crime web forum. For real. Luckily, Dr. Godwin knows a TON about this case & he offers his information as Payne takes a new look at the case.

Arrests, a Grand Jury Indictment & a Pending Trial

What initially begins as a television documentary, turns into a podcast. While certain episodes explain the backstory, the series as a whole moves pretty fast.  It gets crazy. There’s a latex glove found in Tara’s yard, a bizarre Facebook encounter that targets Payne & the podcast & a discussion with none other than Nancy Grace.

Not to spoil the podcast, but since it began two arrests were made along with a murder charge. Even the Georgia Bureau of Investigation credits the media with helping solve this case & the Up & Vanished Podcast plays a huge role.

THE VERDICT

I am Really Into This Up and Vanished Podcast. I’m so thankful my friend, Marybeth Whalen told me all about it. Similar to the Someone Knows Something Podcast, Up and Vanished is meaningful & not sensationalized.  The story moves pretty fast, so it’s thrilling & captivating like the Dirty John Podcast.

Tenderfoot TV also created the Atlanta Monster podcast & you can check out our review soon!

What podcasts are you Really Into?

About the Up & Vanished Podcast Creators

PAYNE LINDSEY

Host + Executive Producer

Payne Lindsey is an Atlanta-based director, award-winning documentary filmmaker, and the co-creator and host of the hit podcast “Up and Vanished.” Driven by a new found passion for both the true crime genre and investigative journalism, Lindsey decided to investigate the disappearance of beauty queen and school teacher Tara Grinstead, a notorious decade-old cold case from South Georgia. At the time, he hoped to develop Tara’s story into his own documentary film project. As Lindsey chronicled his investigation in real-time, week by week, in audio form, he ventured into a new field, podcasting.

The events of the next 12 months turned Tara Grinstead’s case into one of the biggest crime stories of the year. With over 150 million downloads, “Up and Vanished” propelled Grinstead’s case into the mainstream media, uncovering new evidence that helped to crack the 11-year-old cold case in early 2017 and lead to two arrests. On the strength of the podcast’s success, Lindsey launched Atlanta-based content creation company Tenderfoot TV, along with his business partner Donald Albright. Under Tenderfoot TV, Lindsey will take on a new case in “Up and Vanished: Season 2,” take his documentary skillset to the TV screen with a docu-series for “Up and Vanished” in development with Oxygen, as well as investigate the infamous Atlanta Child Murders in a brand-new podcast “Atlanta Monster.” The core of Lindsey’s work, whether it is investigating, podcasting, or directing, continues to be storytelling that serves as a catalyst for change.

DONALD ALBRIGHT

Executive Producer

California native Donald Albright is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Atlanta-based content creation company, Tenderfoot TV. Albright has spent the last 20 years working on a variety of entertainment projects with notable artists including, Jay-Z, OutKast, Usher, DJ Khaled, and many more. In 2016, Albright joined friend and music video director, Payne Lindsey, to document a true crime story — the result was the hit podcast “Up and Vanished,” which has since passed over 150 million downloads and helped crack the decade-old South Georgia cold case of missing person Tara Grinstead. Albright teamed with Lindsey to launch Tenderfoot TV, a content creation company that works with fellow creators to bring stories to life through an array of entertainment media — including podcasts, live shows, television, film, and other digital platforms.