Abducted! Holly Bobo aged 20 dragged from her home by a man wearing camouflage/Possible RSO Involvement?/Body NOT Found In Parsons. Alabama Sheriff allegedly reports false information!/Holly missing one year/Reward is now $250,000

Holly Bobo and Karen Swift: Are These Women Connected by a Rapist?

Last week the Holly Bobo case took another strange turn when it was reported that remains were discovered along Bible Hill road in Parsons, Tennessee. However TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm stated that this simply isn't true, and said that a sheriff in Alabama had released false information. This has only added more wood to the fire, so to speak, and it's easy to understand why some people are questioning the honesty of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Perhaps, if there is any truth to the rumors of a body being found, the TBI are being tightlipped for a reason. P.I. Bill Warner has released some interesting analysis regarding the disappearance of Holly Bobo and the case of missing/slain Tennessee woman Karen Swift.

Bill Warner mentions violent rapist Terry Britt, who was recently apprehended by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation—which caused immediate stir regarding the Holly Bobo disappearance. It seems that Bill has landed upon a very credible theory in these two cases, and with their locations being so close to one another, it really seems more suspicious.

The thought that a serial predator could be responsible for either the disappearance of Holly or the murder of Karen Johnson Swift seems outlandish to some—for the environments in which these women lived require that someone would have to know the region well. Terry Britt would know, and since his arrest not much has been said about him. In fact, investigators refuse to answer questions regarding a potential connection between this man and the aforementioned women. What gives?

Keep up the good work, Bill Warner. With your help, these cases may end up solved yet. It seems that while the TBI agents are busy keeping mum on the details, there could just very well be something sinister going on in this region of the South. Whether or not Terry Britt is involved could be anyone's guess, but it certainly seems like detectives have had interest in him for some reason and his place of residence is awful close to Holly Bobo, which is about an hour (or less) from the residence of Karen Johnson Swift.
http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981164147

Holly Bobo Still Missing, Reward for Safe Return Raised to $250K

Holly Bobo’s family is still hopeful that they will find her alive. The now 21-year-old nursing student — who’s a cousin of country singer Whitney Duncan — was kidnapped from outside of her Decatur County, Tenn. home last April as she was preparing to leave for school. As no significant strides have been made in the case since her disappearance, the Bobo family has raised the reward money from $85,000 to $250,000 and are anxious that the incentive will help bring her home.

Kevin Bromley, a spokesperson for the family of the missing girl, said Wednesday that the source of the nearly $200k additional funds will remain private, though a rep for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation did clarify that the money is not from law enforcement.

Information about the case has been widespread thanks to Holly Bobo’s country music-singing cousin. Duncan, who appeared on ‘Survivor: South Pacific’ last season, first spoke out about the ordeal on the day of the kidnapping and has maintained her status as a public figure in the case since.

Bobo was last seen on the morning of April 13 by her brother, who watched her be brought into the woods by an unidentified man in camouflage. She is 5 ft., 3 in. tall and was 110 pounds with shoulder-length blonde hair at the time of her disappearance. Anyone who might have information concerning Holly Bobo’s whereabouts is urged to call the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

http://tasteofcountry.com/holly-bobo-missing-reward/

TBI Gets High Number Of Psychic Tips In Holly Bobo Case

by Jennifer Kraus

Investigative Reporter

PARSONS, Tenn. - Holly Bobo vanished last April supposedly after she was led into the woods behind her home in Decatur County.

Many have been involved in the search to bring the missing nursing student home, including many psychics.

For more than 10 months now, they have searched for Holly Bobo.

Yet, as the one-year anniversary of her disappearance draws nearer, the pink ribbons still line the streets of Parsons, right next to the missing posters with her smiling face.

Long-time family friend Tammy White says, "We just want her back."

And while it's understandable that those who know and love Holly are focused on finding her, interestingly, we found, many psychics have also been caught up in the search.

The TBI's Kristin Helm told NewsChannel5 Investigates, "We've received psychic leads from all across the country and even from out of the country, from as far away as Belgium or Hungary."

Helm says the TBI has gotten more than 150 tips from psychics or people who have consulted with them. Many more than most cases.

"They call and say, 'I know where she's at,'" Tammy White shared with NewsChannel5 Investigates.

White says the Bobos themselves regularly hear from psychics who claim to know what happened.

"They get excited because they think, 'Well, maybe this will be the tip that I need to find Holly.'"

Holly's case, we also found, has generated a lot of interest on websites like PsychicCrimefighter.com where people who claim to have psychic powers share their visions of Holly and theories about her disappearance.

NewsChannel5 Investigates asked the TBI's Helm, "So all of these psychics have tried to help. Have any of their tips panned out?"

Helm's response, "No one."

Helm makes it clear the TBI does not work with psychics, but agents do end up spending a lot of time checking out leads from them, leads, she says, that don't give investigators much to work with.

"They're very cryptic. They're full of visions, dreams, thoughts, strange places. And, it's always very vague," Helm says.

Nashville psychic Wendy Higheagle did not call in a tip to the TBI. But, someone who asked for her read on the Bobo case did. And, when NewsChannel5 Investigates handed Higheagle Holly's picture, she said it all suddenly came back to her.

"She got sold into human trafficking. That's what it was," Higheagle recalled.

Higheagle says she gets her information from tarot cards and claims her readings are 97% accurate. She then offered to see what her cards said about Holly. But the information she shared with NewsChannel5 Investigates was probably not what investigators would consider very useful.

After she spread her cards on the table in front of her, she pointed to one card, "This is the world card. Usually when you get this card, it means the person has been taken out of the country."

Later, when asked why many psychics such as herself couldn't provide any specifics, she explained, "I have to tell you, in 20 years, I've only met three that could tell me anything accurate or useful. And the others, I'm sure, they're nice people. But, I really don't think they're genuine psychics."

Bobo family friend Tammy White says, "There's not been anything that a psychic's given them that's panned out."

White says the psychic leads have been nothing but wild goose chases and more heartache for the family.

"It just really takes your attention off the main focus which is finding Holly."

NewsChannel5 Investigates asked the TBI spokeswoman, "What are they after?"

Helm responded, "Money usually. A lot of times they'll want law enforcement to fly them into the area so they can help. They'll want to charge people in the community or charge the victim's family for their services."

NewsChannel5 Investigates asked Tammy White, "Do you believe Holly will come home?"

"I do," she replied.

"Do you think a psychic will help bring her home?"

"No," she said emphatically. "It'll be our God."

White says Holly's family has stopped taking calls from psychics, but they still keep hoping someone with real information will make the call that finally brings Holly home.

She adds, "Her being out there and not knowing where she's at, it's really hard. And we just don't want people to forget til she gets home."

The TBI really can't do much with the tips they get from visions and dreams. But they are still very interested in getting any credible, factual information that any one has that will lead to either evidence in the case or, of course, Holly herself.

The family just had flyers printed up with pictures of Holly, the reward amount which just recently was increased to 250-thousand dollars. And, the number to call if you have information. That's 1-800-TBI-FIND.

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/17005963/police-using-psychics-in-search-for-holly-bobo

Tennessee investigators say Arkansas woman's death not connected to other killings in the area
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: March 24, 2012 - 5:13 pm
Last Updated: March 24, 2012 - 5:14 pm

JONESBORO, Ark. — Investigators don't believe the death of an Arkansas woman found in western Tennessee last year is connected to other unsolved killings in the area.

Dyer County Sheriff Jeff Box told the Jonesboro Sun (http://bit.ly/GKcKzO) that police are waiting for laboratory and DNA test results in the case of 44-year-old Karen Swift, who was found Dec. 10 in underbrush near Bledsoe Cemetery. Investigators aren't releasing the result of an autopsy report.

Dyer County Sheriff Jeff Box told the Jonesboro Sun that police are waiting for laboratory and DNA test results in the case of 44-year-old Karen Swift, who was found Dec. 10 in underbrush near Bledsoe Cemetery.

Box says there's no link between Swift's death and the deaths of 20-year-old Holly Bobo or other women. According to authorities, both had blond hair and blue eyes, characteristics similar to women killed in southern Missouri.

Swift was last seen by her husband, David, on Oct. 30. Her vehicle was found with a flat tire near the couple's home.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/4f0ad1e15c4a4a9d9436d56d941565e0/AR--Tennessee-Slaying-Investigation/

I know! I complained to them.

Good for you. I can't imagine being the family and reading that.

Neither can I!! And, I got NO response from them!

That is horrible considering the sensitive nature of Holly being missing so long and such a drastic mistake like they made!

That's basically what I told them. I didn't see it or realize what they said when I first posted it..then when I checked the post (I usually do that to make sure it went through) I saw it and immediately emailed them.

Posted on: 9:31 pm, April 9, 2012, by Natasha Chen, updated on: 11:21pm, April 9, 2012

(Darden, TN) Almost one year after a 20-year-old nursing student was abducted from her rural Decatur County home, still no leads have been strong enough to find her.

Karen Bobo, her mother, has not returned to her teaching job at a local elementary school. Instead, she works on mailing flyers to churches, asking for prayers.

“The whole year has just been one continuous nightmare, that you go to bed with every night and wake up with every day,” Bobo said.

On Friday, April 13, there will be a motorcycle ride, prayer vigil and balloon release in Holly’s honor.
April 13 marks one full year since the abduction. In thinking back, Bobo recalls the chaos of the search and how the family felt overwhelmed.

She asks that people who gave tips to authorities in those few days call their tips back in again to 1-800-TBI-FIND. Bobo worries that in the struggle to make sense of what happened that day, some people wrote their tips on paper or merely told a passing police officer, but never called in an official tip.

In addition to TBI’s $85,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible, there is also a $250,000 reward raised by private donations.

The quarter million dollar award is for information leading to Holly’s safe return.

“I’ll have a dream that’ll seem real, like Holly’s here. And I”ll wake up and realize she’s not,” Bobo said.
Karen Bobo showed News Channel 3 the exact spots in their garage where blood was found by Holly’s parked Mustang. She also pointed out the area where Holly was last seen being led into the woods by a man in camouflage.

Holly’s brother Clint had seen the two from the window in the back door. It was too far to clearly identify who was with his sister.

Thinking of that day, Bobo said, “All of us took off running into the woods.” They followed the path, maybe 15 minutes after Holly was last seen.

But that chase, and the searches that followed, turned up only Holly’s lunchbag and a few other pieces of evidence, which TBI did not want to describe.

It’s unbelievable to the Bobos that one year later, they’re in the same spot, still feeling no closer to reuniting with their daughter.

But Karen Bobo said she cannot give up, because Holly would never give up on them.

Sometimes Bobo watches old home videos to see Holly singing at church or dancing at a school recital.
“Hearing her voice again, and just seeing a smile on her face. It was like renewed hope,” she said.
But when the video ends, the real person is still gone. It takes strength not to fall into pessimistic thinking, like how much longer they might wait without knowing where Holly is.

All the Bobos can do is ask for the public’s support in calling in any information about unusual activity around the date of April 13, 2011. With that, and prayers, they continue to hope they’ll see Holly’s smiling face in person again.

http://wreg.com/2012/04/09/one-year-since-holly-bobo-vanished-has-been-a-nightmare/

Case still open as search for missing nursing student hits one year mark

PARSONS, Tenn. – West Tennessee nursing student Holly Bobo has been missing for a year and police say they still get information on the case almost daily.
It was on April 13, 2011, that the 20-year-old woman disappeared from her rural home in Parsons. Her brother said he saw her being led into the woods by a man in hunting gear.
[b]The reward fund for information has grown to $250,000.[/b]
The Jackson Sun reports that District Attorney Hansel McCadams said not all of the information received by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation amounts to new leads in the disappearance, but they are working on the case every day.
"Holly's investigation is still ongoing," he said. "As long as investigators receive new information a case stays open, and the TBI receives new information on the case almost daily."
Corinth Baptist Church pastor Don Franks continues to raise publicity for the young woman who used to sing in his church in Darden.
"We are as determined as ever to find Holly," he said. "Every day we work on trying to locate the new pieces of information we need."
Church members have distributed flyers about the case written in Spanish during mission trips to Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and other countries. Commercial truck drivers have carried Bobo's picture all across the United States. Cards with similar pictures sit beside convenience store cash registers across Tennessee and other states.
In Decatur County, pink ribbons hang on trees, mail boxes and fence posts to signify the community's mourning over the missing woman.
"We have done everything we can to bring Holly home," Franks said. "We are a year closer than we were last year. And law enforcement is determined to solve this case."
On Friday, several events will be held in Bobo's honor, starting with a speaker from the TBI at Riverside High School. The "Take 25 Campaign" is designed to teach children safety tips, Franks said, and has been implemented in all of the county's public schools. He said Riverside will be the final school in the county to fingerprint children in case of an emergency.
A prayer vigil will be held at 6 p.m. and will be followed by a motorcycle ride from the Corinth Baptist Church to Scotts Hill High School, which Bobo had attended. At 6:55 p.m., balloons will be released at the school in her honor.
"We just ask people to keep the pictures going out and the prayers going up," Franks said. "We want to bring Holly home."
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/04/13/missing-holly-bobo-case-still-open-after-year/#ixzz1rwitcWZx

In this day and age - no one goes missing without a trace. There is information and/or witnesses out there. We just haven't found them yet.

Holly Bobo Case: How many times has Clint's story changed?

Parsons : TN : USA | Jun 14, 2012 at 1:13 PM PDT BY ChelseaHoffman

Whitney Duncan is the cousin of missing woman Holly Bobo.

Whitney Duncan, the cousin of missing woman Holly Bobo, addressed the media yesterday in an attempt to garner more attention. Unfortunately, some of her comments tend to make it harder on her cousin's case than they should, and this is something that has happened before with Duncan. She's probably better off sitting back quietly while the investigation continues, but it doesn't look like she's going to.

The Twitter hashtag #HollyBobo has been used to share awareness of the missing Tennessee nursing student since April of 2011 when she was allegedly abducted from her own yard while her brother watched. Over the course of the young woman's disappearance, Clint Bobo's story has changed several times and the behavior of his family members certainly do not mirror the standard behavior expressed by parents of high-profile missing persons.

Whitney Duncan has falsely claimed that her family was "cleared of all suspicion" by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in the past, only for the TBI to do damage control and correct her claims. Now she is accusing the media of twisting her cousin's words, but it's more than apparent that it's her family who have changed the stories, not the media or the police. So why is she insisting on covering for those who aren't being 100% truthful when it's probably not very good for her career or the young woman who is still missing? One would figure they'd be more interested in having their missing loved one return home than in covering for dishonest family members. Unfortunately, it seems that people have differing priorities.

"You can say bad things about me. I don’t care. It doesn’t bother me at all, but to say something about my family then we got problems," said Whitney Duncan.

While her grammar could use some improvement, it's really not the point of the matter. What begs to be acknowledged is her behavior of twisting this case into some issue pertaining to her more than her missing cousin, Holly Bobo.

This isn't about Whitney Duncan or her bad grammar and "charming" country way of protecting her family. This is about the disappearance of a promising young nursing student who vanished under very suspicious circumstances. Clint Bobo, her brother who was 25-years old at the time, has made several changes to his claims regarding her disappearance. First she was "dragged" from the property by a man in camo gear while he watched. Then she was led under duress and then the story evolved to something else. There are tons of resources that can be searched online that document the constant evolution of Clint Bobo's story, as well as the stories told by his mother Karen Bobo.
So is the media to blame for Clint Bobo not being completely honest in the first place?

http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/12381696-holly-bobo-case-how-many-times-has-clints-story-changed

Holly Bobo Update: Search for Evidence Continues

30 volunteers combed the area of Holladay, Tennessee in hopes of uncovering more evidence in the disappearance of the missing nursing student. It isn't known whether or not these individuals found anything, as there have been no other updates, but it doesn't seem like they did. This is a disappointment, but it's becoming the norm since Holly vanished well over a year ago and the updates just keep spacing farther and farther apart.

Holly Bobo vanished on the morning of April 13, 2011. Her older brother Clint Bobo claims to have watched her being "dragged" away from their property by man in camouflage hunting gear. However, it was after drag marks weren't found that the story changed to the missing Darden woman being "led away," by the man who took her. It's unknown what happened exactly as many details have been changed and re-stated with differences, but one thing is for certain; she's gone. Her case has been compared to many other missing women's cases, and it's even been speculated that a serial predator could be responsible for her disappearance. It's unlikely, though, unless it was someone who was extremely familiar with the rural area surrounding her home.

Recently a woman by the name of Megan Sharpton (also reported as Ericka Megan Sharpton or Ericka Sharpton) was found murdered and partially burned on the side of a country road. The location of her body was just a couple of hours from the home of Holly's family, and coincidentally it's been reported that she, too, was a nursing student in the area. She was also in her early 20s. Is it really a coincidence or could there be any connections to the murder of Megan Sharpton and the disappearance of Holly?

As for the searches for the still-missing nursing student, her father Dana Bobo says that there will be more searches planned for the end of this month. They are hoping to at least eliminate places where she is not, so as to narrow down the possibility of where she could be. However, with the time that has passed, the chances of finding her are becoming slimmer. This is pretty much a cold case with it almost being a year and a half since that fateful morning.

http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981540825

5:15 AM, Aug 22, 2012 | Comments

Written by
Tajuana Cheshier

Kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart and her father will join Holly Bobo’s family on Monday night at Scotts Hill High School in an effort to keep the issue of abduction in the public eye and to encourage Bobo’s safe return.

The event is free, open to the public and is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. in the school’s gymnasium.

Elizabeth Smart and her father, Ed Smart, will share their story, said Kevin Bromley, a spokesman for the Bobo family.

“The Smarts have been in contact with the Bobo family since Holly’s disappearance, and this is something that they wanted to do for them,” Bromley said.

Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped in June 2002 from her bedroom in Salt Lake City, Utah, when she was 14 years old. She was held against her will until a tip from the public led to her rescue nine months later. She was found less than 20 miles from her home.

Her kidnapper, Brian David Mitchell, was sentenced to life in a federal prison in May 2011. Mitchell’s wife, Wanda Barzee, was sentenced to 15 years for her role in the kidnapping.

Smart, now 24 and married, is an advocate for the prevention of crimes against children.

In an interview last week with the Des Moines Register in Iowa, where two girls have gone missing, Smart told the family, “Miracles do happen.”

Bobo, a 2009 graduate of Scotts Hill High, was kidnapped from outside the house where she lived with her parents and brother in the Darden area of Decatur County in April 2011.

Law enforcement and concerned members of the community have continued to search for Bobo, who was 20 years old at the time of her abduction. She was last seen being led by a man wearing camouflage into the woods near her home.

“The family wants to keep Holly’s story in the public,” Bromley said on Tuesday.

Dana Bobo, Holly’s dad, said searches for her have taken place every two weekends on Saturdays and Sundays. Volunteers plan to search again from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday.

http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/20120822/NEWS01/308220011

by Chelsea Hoffman

Holly Bobo Garners Elizabeth Smart's Attention

August 22, 2012 05:05 PM EDT

Holly Bobo vanished over a year ago, but it's never too late for Elizabeth Smart to offer her two cents. Armed with virtually no knowledge of statistics in missing cases like these, (How does she know?) Smart has made a name for herself based solely on the fact that she survived a nine-month-long kidnapping. ("Solely on the fact"? This author, IMO, is One Cold Person!) Now she's going to be speaking for the missing Darden nursing student at an event at the town's high school on Monday. What will she say?

If the event is going to be anything at all like everything else Elizabeth Smart says and does, it's going to be chock-full of false hope and claims that "there's hope she's alive," even though the evidence in the case flat-out proves against this. This appears to be the only thing Smart knows to say in these cases as a non-expert in missing cases. Some people may feel that this is mean, but it's simply the truth.

When Holly Bobo vanished, a substantial amount of blood was found on the family property indicating a struggle. Months later, it was revealed that the blood belonged to Holly and she was most likely no longer alive. In the first days of her alleged abduction, items like duct tape with blonde hairs stuck on it were found littered along the sides of the road in the area. For months the searches for her have been recovery missions.

It should be interesting to see how Elizabeth Smart spins her normal rhetoric about how virtually every single missing persons case around right now is like hers -- even though they most certainly are not.

For those of you who actually care about the Bobo case, there have been no investigative updates. There have been no new pieces of evidence found and no clues leading the TBI to her whereabouts. This case, by definition, appears to be going cold.

http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474981571492

In the first days of her alleged abduction, items like duct tape with blonde hairs stuck on it were found littered along the sides of the road in the area.

First time I'd heard that...

It should be interesting to see how Elizabeth Smart spins her normal rhetoric about how virtually every single missing persons case around right now is like hers -- even though they most certainly are not.

OMG, what does this woman have against Elizabeth Smart? The girl is just trying to help. What is the writer's problem?

I can't believe what I just read! This Chelsea Hoffman usually is pretty right on with what she says but I say she's one cold b**** in this and whatever did Elizabeth Smart do to her? JMO.

Wow, that is cold. Elizabeth Smart is a great advocate for the missing.

I've never heard about the duct tape with blonde hairs on it either, lisette.

I have problems with this author frequently. She likes to spin the facts w/nothing to back them up.

Smart speaks to supporters of missing Tenn. woman

ADRIAN SAINZ, Associated Press
Updated 9:44 p.m., Monday, August 27, 2012

Elizabeth Smart makes a speech at Scotts Hill High School, where missing Tennessee woman Holly Bobo graduated from, on Monday, Aug. 27, 2012 in Scotts Hill, Tenn. Smart, now 24, was abducted in 2002 at age 14 and was held for nine months before she was found just miles from her Utah home. She told Bobo's friends and family Monday night to keep searching for Bobo and don't give up hope she is alive. Bobo was abducted from her home in Parsons, Tenn. 16 months ago and has not been found. Photo: Adrian Sainz / AP

SCOTTS HILL, Tenn. (AP) — Elizabeth Smart, the Utah woman kidnapped and held captive for nine months when she was 14, told family and friends of a missing West Tennessee nursing student Monday to continue searching for her and not to give up hope that she is alive.

Smart spoke to about 1,000 friends and relatives of Holly Bobo on Monday night at Scotts Hill High School, in the area where searchers have been looking for the 20-year-old woman since she was abducted 16 months ago. Smart also told those in attendance a story about her kidnapping and how she survived her ordeal.

Bobo's brother said he saw her being led into the woods by a man in hunting gear near the family's rural home in Parsons, about 100 miles northeast of Memphis, in April 2011. Since then, authorities and volunteers have been using search dogs to look for Bobo, hoping that she is still alive.

Smart, who is 24 and married, told Bobo's supporters that she was being held just a few miles from where her family lived in Utah before she eventually was found by motorists who spotted her as she walked with her captors, nine months after her abduction.

"It is not impossible for Holly to come home," said Smart, who was joined by her father, Ed Smart, at Bobo's former high school. "Never give up. I was just three miles from my family and I was found. Holly could have the very same ending."

Smart was 14 when she was kidnapped at knifepoint in June 2002 in Utah by a handyman who knew her family. Brian David Mitchell, a former itinerant street preacher, was convicted in 2010 of Smart's 2002 kidnapping and sexual assault. He is serving a life prison sentence.

Smart has become increasingly involved in advocacy work for crime victims since her rescue. She formed the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, aimed largely at protecting children from abuse through prevention and education.

Smart told the audience about how her abductor took her into the mountains behind her home in the hours after she was kidnapped. Smart said the man performed a marriage ceremony in a tent, and then she was raped.

"I remember feeling like, 'Who could ever love me again?'" Smart said. "Could my parents love me again? Would they keep looking for me if they knew what had happened to me? Would people accept me as a normal person again?"

As she sat in the tent, Smart thought about the love she had for her parents and her siblings, and their love for her.

"I made the decision right then and there that no matter what happened, that I would survive," Smart said.

Smart's visit was welcomed by Bobo's mother, Karen, who said it could serve as encouragement for residents to keep the search active.

"Sometimes I drive by a house and I think, 'Can Holly be in there?'" Karen Bobo said. "We're never giving up the hope that she's out there."

Karen Bobo said Holly was wearing a pink shirt and had a pink purse when she disappeared. Many of those in attendance Monday wore pink T-shirts and white buttons with a picture of the blond-haired Bobo on them.

In Parsons, Scotts Hill, and other small towns in Henderson and Decatur counties, pink bows decorate lampposts, street signs, and the fronts of homes, businesses, churches and schools. A graduation photo in the front lobby of the high school has a pink ribbon pinned next to Bobo's photo.

"As my dad and I were driven into town and we saw all the pink ribbons and the "Pray for Holly" signs, that's one of the best things that you could be doing, continuing to pray for Holly, continuing to search for Holly," Smart said.

The search has reached far outside the small towns of West Tennessee. Fliers and cards with her picture and description can still be found throughout Tennessee and in neighboring states. Truckers with cross-country routes have affixed decals with Bobo's picture on them on their vehicles.

Lois Alexander, of Bloodhound Search and Rescue, said a team of dogs and human searchers have scoured 68 square miles and 57 miles of road in their hunt for Bobo. Investigators have said that whoever took Bobo must have been familiar with the rugged woodlands surrounding the family's home.

The reward fund for information has grown to $250,000.

"We all think somebody is holding her somewhere," said Dana Bobo, Holly's father. "We don't have a clue where."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Smart-speaks-to-supporters-of-missing-Tenn-woman-3818893.php#ixzz24rnlR2nt

Holly Bobo Missing: Student's Family Hopeful Renewed Efforts Will Bring New Tips

Posted: 09/05/2012 4:22 pm

The family of Holly Bobo, a young Tennessee nursing student who disappeared in 2011, is hoping a new tip box at the county fair will help garner new leads.

The tip box is inside an unmanned booth at the Decatur County Fairgrounds, according to Chris Williams, director of operations for Southeast Canine Search and Rescue.

"They put it in an area where there is not a whole lot of foot traffic so if somebody wants to put a tip in, they can do so [anonymously]," Williams told The Huffington Post. "The thought is that if somebody has some information and they are afraid to come forward, maybe they will put a tip in the box."

The fairgrounds are about 10 miles from the community where Bobo disappeared. Her family has placed similar boxes at fairs in Harry, Chester and Huntington counties. The boxes have resulted in some tips, but the value of that information is unknown, Williams said.

Authorities in western Tennessee have been searching for Bobo, the cousin of country music singer Whitney Duncan, since April 13, 2011. Then 20, Bobo was last seen that morning outside her one-story, ranch-style house in Darden, a small community about 100 miles northeast of Memphis.

A neighbor called 911 when she heard a woman screaming shortly after 7:30 a.m. Bobo's 25-year-old brother, who was inside his sister's house at the time, also called 911.

According to police, Bobo's brother said he saw a man dressed in camouflage clothing drag his sister through the carport next to the home and into a wooded area behind it. A small puddle of blood was later discovered by the carport.

Local and state law enforcement authorities coordinated a massive search behind Bobo's home. Investigators found items that belonged to her, such as a lunch bag and cell phone, but nothing to suggest where she was taken. Authorities do, however, suspect Bobo's abduction was premeditated.

Williams has been leading searches for Bobo, and plans to hold another this weekend and on Sept. 22 and 23.

"One of the areas we plan to search is in Holladay. I can't really go into why, but we have a real good reason we are searching that area," Williams said.

Community volunteers are welcome to join in the search efforts, but they are asked to preregister at southeastk9sar.org.

Williams said Holly's parents and her brother continue to conduct daily searches for their missing loved one.

Pastor Kevin Bromley at First Baptist Church, who typically speaks to the media on behalf of Bobo's family, did not return calls from The Huffington Post for comment Wednesday. HuffPost has left multiple messages for Bromley since Bobo's disappearance, but they have not been returned.

Bobo is described as a white, 5-foot-3-inch female, 110 pounds, with blond hair. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt and light blue jeans. Bobo's abductor is described as 5-feet-10 inches to 6 feet tall and around 200 pounds. Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 615-744-4000. For more information, visit www.findinghollybobo.com.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/05/holly-bobo-missing_n_1858592.html

Families Join Forces in Search for Holly

Posted: Sep 22, 2012 8:38 PM CDT
Updated: Sep 22, 2012 9:36 PM CDT

PARSONS, Tenn.- It's been a year and a half since nursing student Holly Bobo was last seen by family and friends. Teams have been searching non-stop, but Saturday they got help from a family that understands their situation.

The family of Danny Tomlinson joined in the search. Tomlinson disappeared after being swept away by flood waters in May 2010. He was missing for nearly five months before his body was found. During that time more than a thousand volunteers helped in the search. Many of those volunteers joined with the Bobo family for another search for Holly. The last time anyone saw Holly an unknown man was leading her into the woods next to her home in Parsons.

The community has continued to show support to Holly Bobo's family.

http://www.newschannel5.com/story/19614412/families-join-forces-in-search-for-holly

Holly Bobo Search Continues

By WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Staff
By news@wbbjtv.com
Story Created: Nov 11, 2012 at 12:18 AM CST
Story Updated: Nov 11, 2012 at 12:44 AM CST

DECATUR COUNTY, Tenn. - The search continues for Holly Bobo after she disappeared from her Decatur County home in April of last year.

On Saturday, rescue crews and several volunteers were out early Saturday morning until around 2 p.m., searching in a new area in Decatur County.

Family members said they are still getting new tips every day, and will not stop searching.

If you have any information about her disappearance, contact the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND.

http://www.wbbjtv.com/news/local/Holly-Bobo-Search-Continues-178537431.html

Memphis, Tenn. - A West Tennessee man has offered $100,000. from his own pocket as a reward to regenerate interest in the Holly Bobo case.

The Jackson Sun reports Thurstle Mullen of Memphis is offering the reward to help bring the case back into focus and give Bobo's abductor a reason to confess.

Mullen said he will offer a reward of $25,000 up front to the person who turns himself in to the police in relation to Bobo's kidnapping. Mullen tells the newspaper, "It's not for ransom. This person must plead guilty and turn himself in. I'm willing to pay money to solve this crime."

Mullen said the remainder of the money will be deposited in a fixed amount depending on the length of the individual's prison sentence.

Holly Bobo was taken from outside her home in Decatur County back in April of 2011.
http://www.newschannel5.com/story/20584480/new-100k-reward-offered-in-bobo-case

By Samantha Bryson
Posted January 26, 2013 at 6:40 p.m., updated January 27, 2013 at 12:07 a.m.

If you kidnapped 22-year-old nursing student Holly Bobo, then Thurstle Mullen would like to pay you $100,000.

Mullen calls it Reward Factor — a product, he says, of a tendency to "dream big" — and the rules are simple enough.

"The guy who took her has to walk into the police station and say 'I got Holly Bobo and here she is.'"

For that, Mullen, a registered nurse, will give you $25,000 up front and pay out the remaining $75,000 monthly for the duration of your prison sentence.

The normal ways of finding Bobo aren't working, Mullen says, so it's time to try something abnormal. "No one has ever tried to solve a crime before by offering to pay the guilty person."

Bobo was led into the woods behind her Parsons, Tenn., home in April 2011 and has been missing ever since. Bobo's family is still searching for her and law enforcement is still investigating, but it appears the trail has long since gone cold.

While there is over $200,000 in reward money available to anyone with information leading to Bobo's safe return, Mullen is quick to point out that such a reward offers no incentive to the guilty party — particularly if Bobo is already dead.

"The goal is to take horrible situations that are out there and turn them into something good. The goal is closure," he said.

To sacrifice your freedom for money might

seem crazy, he concedes. But it's inevitable that the kidnapper will be caught someday, Mullen says, and if you're going to spend decades in prison, then being able to buy yourself a few luxuries will go a long way.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigations spokeswoman Kristin Helm was reticent to comment on Mullen's offer since he has not contacted them directly, but said she has gotten word secondhand about Mullen's reward.

"The typical reward we deal with is for someone offering information that leads to the arrest or conviction of an individual suspected of a crime," Helm said.

There's a million different ways we might use reward money in these cases, Helm added, but she could not think of an instance when reward money was offered to a suspect.

A spokesman for the Bobo family could not be reached for comment.

Although Bobo's reward money is by far his largest offer, Mullen is also offering two other, less publicized rewards of $10,000 each to the murderers of slain Memphis Grizzlies' player Lorenzen Wright and 20-year-old Amanda Tusing, who was last seen in 2000.

This isn't the first time Mullen has seen fit to offer financial incentives or, as he used to call them, "bounties" to solve crimes.

Mullen offered bounties for incriminating evidence against the judges and attorneys involved in own legal troubles in 2008, a land dispute he now sums up as a time when he "picked a fight with the wrong person."

Then, in February 2011, he established Reward Factor as a way to encourage anyone with information about illegal or questionable activities by politicians to come forward to collect their cash.

It seemed like the only way of purging the political system of corrupt politicians, he said.

But after a year with little to show for his efforts Mullen realized his political bounties were doing little more than annoying powerful people and damaging his prospects with the nursing agency he works for.

So, in early 2012, Mullen decided Reward Factor would be about solving violent crimes and finding closure for grieving families.

And if the Bobo family ever does get the closure Reward Factor is meant to deliver, Mullen definitely won't mind shelling out money to the kidnapper of a girl he's never met before.

Mullen anticipates that book deals and reality TV shows will more than replenish the money he'll be forced to dole out if his plan actually does elicit a confession from a kidnapper or murderer.

"The worst case scenario is that I have to pay this guy but I become rich and friggin' famous over this," Mullen said.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/jan/26/memphis-rn-offers-reward-to-holly-bobo-kidnapper/

Interesting. A shot in the dark. Hope it works.

Darden, TN - (WMC-TV) - A purse belonging to missing nursing student, Holly Bobo, has been dug up by a dog near Darden, Tennessee.
Sources tell Action News 5 Investigator Janice Broach the purse was discovered Wednesday around 3:30 p.m. about one mile behind the Bobo home.
read the rest of this story at: http://www.waff.com/story/22015271/holly-bobos-backpack-found-one-mile-from-her-home

(Decatur County, TN) The TBI Confirms a purse found Wednesday is believed to belong to Holly Bobo.
Bobo disappeared from her home in Parsons, Tennessee two years ago.
Kristen Helms with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations tells us an intensive search is taking place in Darden, TN near Box Road.
Helms says a dog brought the purse to the back door of a home Wednesday.
There is a $250,000 reward for her safe return.
Anyone with tips is asked to call the Tennessee Bureau of Investigators at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
Bobo’s brother told investigators he last saw her being led into the woods by an unidentified man in camouflage.
The family is also asking people share tips directly with them. You can email Holly’s family at helphollybobo@gmail.com.
http://wreg.com/2013/04/18/report-holly-bobos-purse-found/

Thanks raine

WOW!!!!!!!!! I have always thought the brother either had something to do w/this or knows more than he is saying. Just WOW!

A new search is under way for missing nursing student Holly Bobo after a dog found what appears to be the woman's purse not far from her rural Tennessee home, a law enforcement official told FoxNews.com.
Bobo, a nursing student at the University of Tennessee at Martin, was last seen two years ago by her 25-year-old brother, Clint, who reported seeing her being taken into the woods by an unidentified man dressed in camouflage.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kristin Helm said authorities are working to determine where, exactly, the purse was found because a neighborhood dog brought the bag back to its owner's home.
The bag found Wednesday in Decatur County "appears to be Holly's purse," said Helm. Authorities are now scouring an area near the woman's home, where volunteers had previously searched, she said.
A massive hunt was launched for Bobo when she disappeared from her Darden home on April 13, 2011. Authorities used high-resolution underwater imaging to search lakes and ponds, as well as bloodhounds to scour rugged terrain -- in particular, Natchez Trace State Park
A small amount of blood was found in the family's carport, where Holly was believed taken from while on her way to school, police sources told FoxNews.com at the time of her disappearance.
Bobo's brother said he initially thought she was being taken into the woods by her boyfriend, but grew concerned when he saw the man's arm holding onto his sister. He called his mother, who then contacted 911, according to local reports.
Anyone with information on the woman's whereabouts is urged to call the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-TBI-FIND. The $250,000 reward is being offered for information leading to Bobo.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/18/renewed-search-under-way-for-holly-bobo-after-missing-tennessee-student-purse/?test=latestnews#ixzz2QtVHXTBo

April 22, 2013 11:18 AM

(CBS/AP) PARSONS, Tenn. - Tennessee investigators and the mother of a nursing student missing for two years say a purse found this week is not that of Holly Bobo.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Kristin Helm said Friday that Bobo's mother had seen just a photo of the purse two days ago and thought it was her daughter's. But after seeing it in person Friday, Karen Bobo said it wasn't.

Neighborhood dogs had found the purse in the hills in west Tennessee on Wednesday, prompting a search for other clues. But nothing was found.

Holly Bobo was last seen April 13, 2011, when her brother said he saw a man in hunting clothes leading the 20-year-old into the woods around the family home outside Parsons, about 125 miles northeast of Memphis.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57580710-504083/holly-bobo-update-mom-says-purse-not-that-of-missing-tennessee-woman/

Holly Bobo vanished from her family's Parsons, TN, home in Decatur County on April 13, 2011, and in a video clip she is seen singing at a coon hunt just one week before her abduction. What may have seemed like a day of harmless family fun was hardly that at all.

It turns out there were no fewer than 21 sex offenders in attendance that day - a startling number discovered by the group Without Warning: Fight Back, which includes an elite collection of detectives from across the country led by Brentwood mom Sheila Wysocki.
must read! go to: http://www.wbtv.com/story/22116238/case-of-missing-nurse-holly-bobo-has-new-clues-new-detectives

Just over two years after she was kidnapped from her home in Decatur County, Tenn., new information has come to light in the disappearance of country singer Whitney Duncan‘s cousin, Holly Bobo.

Bobo was last seen by her brother, Clint Bobo, walking into the woods behind their home with a man dressed in camouflage. Clint believed the man was her boyfriend and that they were having a breakup conversation, so he did not pursue them, not realizing it was a kidnapping until it was too late. He later fell under suspicion, but a new team of investigators his family have engaged says they have checked his story out and cleared him.

According to Nashville’s WSMV, the new team is led by Sheila Wysocki, who made national headlines by solving the cold case murder of her college friend. She now heads a non-profit organization called Without Warning, which has thrown its full resources into the Bobo case. The team has already uncovered startling new evidence and developed a disturbing theory about the crime. After studying a digital “map” left by tracing Bobo’s cell phone, they have concluded that the perpetrator almost had to be someone local who knew the back roads — and who eventually doubled back to almost where the abduction took place.

Duncan rose to fame from appearances on ‘Nashville Star’ and ‘Survivor.’ She stays active in the case via her Twitter account, where she frequently updates her followers on the latest developments in the case and urges her friends in country music to re-share the information as far and wide as possible.

Bobo’s family has not given up hope that she will still be found alive, spending virtually all of their available time handing out flyers, organizing searches and prayer vigils for the young woman.

There is an $85,000 reward for information leading to Bobo’s return. Anyone who might have information concerning Holly Bobo’s disappearance is urged to call the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND.
http://tasteofcountry.com/holly-bobo-missing-new-information/

Interesting, Raine. I always thought Clint's story was odd, and it seemed to keep changing.

5/11/2013 7:15 PM ET
Holly Bobo, the kidnapped cousin of Whitney Duncan, may have been kidnapped by her former boyfriend. Clint, Bobo's bro, says he saw the pair bickering before her disappearance; police initially interrogated Clint, now they're listening to him.

According to Nashville source WSMV, a crime solving organization, Without Warning, has taken a peek into the case, tracing the digital tail of Bobo's cell phone.

The group found that the perpetrator was likely a local of Decatur County, Tennessee, as s/he drove along the locale's back roads, eventually doubling back to the site of the abduction.

There is an $85,000 reward for information leading to Bobo's return. Information concerning Holly Bobo's disappearance may be directed to 1-800-TBI-FIND. Follow Duncan on Twitter for updates on the case.
http://www.rttnews.com/2115607/new-information-surfaces-about-regarding-whitney-duncan-s-kidnapped-cousin.aspx?type=all

PARSONS, TN (WSMV) -
In what could be the most startling piece of evidence yet in the mysterious disappearance of Holly Bobo comes proof that whoever grabbed the young nursing student - and her cell phone - went back to Bobo's home the very same day.

Bobo's abductor made a big mistake by leaving her cell phone turned on, so with the help of GPS tracking, the location of Bobo's phone can be plotted on a map that traces a path through Parsons that eventually heads back in the direction of the Bobo family home.

Keep in mind, Bobo was abducted at about 8 a.m., and the first law enforcement officer arrived at the Bobo home at 8:11 a.m.
much more at: http://www.wsmv.com/story/22239801/holly-bobos-phone-pings-signal-near-home-hours-after-abduction
Video at link

PARSONS, TN (WSMV) -- The search for Holly Bobo has been as agonizing as it is puzzling. Two years have passed since the young nursing student vanished into the woods near her West Tennessee home without a trace.

Law enforcement and volunteers have devoted countless man-hours searching the woods and fields near Bobo's home, but a new team of investigators led by nationally known Brentwood mom Sheila Wysocki is uncovering new developments in the case.

Wysocki received national attention for obtaining a private investigator license and solving her college roommate's murder 20 years after the crime, and she now runs Without Warning: Fight Back with the goal of preventing assaults through self-defense and education.

With the blessing of the Bobo family, Wysocki brought together the full resources of her not-profit group and is working to help the Bobos find out, once and for all, what happened to Holly.

"The first time that I met Sheila, I just instantly liked her. We just clicked," said mother Karen Bobo. "I just feel like somehow, some way, Sheila and her team are going to help us."

Before the Without Warning team could get started, it had a very awkward assignment - it needed to be sure that Holly Bobo's brother, Clint Bobo, had nothing to do with the crime.

Clint Bobo is the only witness to his sister's abduction from her family's Parsons, TN, home in Decatur County on April 13, 2011.

He has been interrogated for more than 17 hours, strip searched, polygraphed and even hypnotized to find out exactly what he knows and remembers. He also turned over his hard drive and cell phone, yet some outsiders still think he had something to do with the crime.

Clint Bobo said he never felt hated until his sister was abducted. He had never been called a criminal, much less a killer, until his sister disappeared.

But ever since Holly Bobo went missing, Clint Bobo has received death threats and has been accused of planning or actually killing his sister Holly Bobo.

"They're warped. In my mind, they're warped," said Karen Bobo, about those who accuse her son of involvement.

Remarkably, it is Clint Bobo's role as an eyewitness that made him a suspect. Sound asleep that April day, Clint Bobo woke up to the sound of his dog barking then heard voices.
http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/22144177/holly-bobo-her-brother-speaks-out
Video at link