TN - Holly Bobo, 20, Darden, believed abducted 13 April 2011 - #25

[mag84]

He is only 5'5 and 130 pounds...
But why, if he has not been seen since 2007, wasn't he "looked for" before 2011??

At 5'5" he'd only be 2" taller than Holly, and I doubt anyone would mistake that minor difference for 6' 200 lbs.

 

[Yellow Rose]

Wow, I left this case at the beginning of the court trial of Casey Anthony and this is my first time back since then. Absolutely nothing new to go on with HB. It's just so hard when they've given us nothing. It's downright depressing!

 

[nosyone]

I have been so interested in the Holly Bobo case and love to read the Websleuth member's post on the latest reports and theories. I have been going back over the web postings from the beginning of the case and found the following comment that I find odd from Holly's father on April 16th on "Good Morning America";

Nguyen added Holly's father says the person who took his daughter may very well have been someone who knew her routine.

I find that comment a little strange, 3 days into the abduction. I am beginning to think that the Bobo's have an idea who may have taken their daughter and that the TBI may also. I may be reading this wrong, but I know that LE usually keeps the focus on the victim constantly for a long time and that certainly hasn't been the case here.

 

[Carla Lashelle]

I have been so interested in the Holly Bobo case and love to read the Websleuth member's post on the latest reports and theories. I have been going back over the web postings from the beginning of the case and found the following comment that I find odd from Holly's father on April 16th on "Good Morning America";

Nguyen added Holly's father says the person who took his daughter may very well have been someone who knew her routine.

I find that comment a little strange, 3 days into the abduction. I am beginning to think that the Bobo's have an idea who may have taken their daughter and that the TBI may also. I may be reading this wrong, but I know that LE usually keeps the focus on the victim constantly for a long time and that certainly hasn't been the case here.

IDK it seems kinda obvious to me that it WAS someone who knew her routine.

The Bobo house is out in the woods and is not visible from the street or easily visible. It seems highly unlikely that it would be a random crime. For one, the suspect would have had his own vehicle to use as a get away car and this would have been hidden somewhere up the road or in the woods. All that implies some level of planning. Plus the searches along the roadside in front of Holly's school imply that perhaps someone had been out there waiting for her/following her. We dont know all the evidence recovered but perhaps something like a cigarette butt found at the treeline of Hollys property matched a butt found by the parking lot at her school, etc.

 

[~n/t~]

Holly Bobo and the Missing Sex Offender

When Holly Bobo first disappeared, law enforcement officials went through their database of registered sex offenders in the area. It's been shared by this blog how many registered sex offenders there are in the towns of Darden and Parsons, Tennessee. It's a pretty high number, considering that both of these towns combined hold fewer than 4,000 people. Why is there such a high number of registered sex offenders in the state of Tennessee? That's a topic to be explored at a later date, because it appears that the TBI and other investigative officers on the case feel that an RSO may be responsible for Holly's disappearance.

more at the link

http:///viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979748125

 

[Frogzilla]

The family doesn't speak out: they're harshly critized for it.

The family decides to speak publicly: their every word is dissected for clues and inconsistencies.

The family's pastor tries to help: it's insinuated that he's somehow involved in HB's disappearance.

The brother who (as far as we know) had no motive to hurt, let alone kill, his sister: the insinuations about him continue to fly.

Detect a pattern here? It costs nothing to make baseless accusations against the parties involved in this case. But I'll bet it rips open their wounds again each time.

The bottom line is that your post is accurate and it has been unfortunate the way this case has played out in the media. But I am the type of person who tries to look at both sides of the coin. The family has been criticized for not speaking out publicly, but the way they have been portrayed is up for debate. Where one sees deception, another may see hopelessness. This is not a nice thing to say, UGH, but perception often is reality. I think a lot of the criticism they have received is of their own doing, or lack of doing. Their media viability is still high, but their media credibility is very low. I personally thought it was odd on Easter when the family did not thank the searchers, they pulled up in a vehicle and then just left. Maybe emotions were too high two weeks later, but that did not help their image. They have not shown up for any of the local benefits that have been for HB until the sticker campaign. Compare this to Lauren Spierer's parents. They portray themselves like an open book and I have ZERO reason to look at them suspiciously in any way. This is sort of an apples to oranges comparison in regard to circumstances of the disappearance, but still rings true to me. If there is nothing to hide, why hide? At one point in time, another young woman had gone missing in TN and I remember reading an article that stated the Bobo's reached out to help spread the word. That struck me as extremely odd because they were not doing anything to spread the story of their own daughter.
Now, three months later the family wishes to add their version of events that morning, and that contradicts previous versions, one has no choice but to start dissecting their words to find any kind of truth. I have a very hard time taking any information in this case at face value. The original reporting of the story was that CB watched as his sister got dragged into the woods by a man in camo clothing. I DO NOT BELIEVE CB WAS INTENTIONALLY INVOLVED IN THIS CRIME, but that is an eye opening report, and EVERYONE's first reaction was the brother is either handicap or was involved, not very much in between on that report. That was not clarified then and really still isn't much clearer today. Then CB is not a POI, then suddenly nobody is cleared. That in itself makes no sense because CB is a POI by being present at the time of the abduction as a witness. How do you clear a witness to a crime from being involved in a crime and then say they are not cleared? That is a HUGE back step and in no way helped CB. The cousin goes on TV to say CB is cleared, just because. That is a HUGE red flag to me. IMO, far to much deception in this case to feel comfortable with any of the people involved in this story. There has been plenty of time to set the record straight and clear up vicious rumors, but that has never happened. This story started at the Bobo home and three months later the story has not progressed passed the Bobo home. Very odd indeed.

 

[BeanE]

EVERYONE's first reaction was the brother is either handicap or was involved, not very much in between on that report.

ummmmm no, Frog. Just no. I never for a second thought Clint was handicapped or involved. I know many people who never did either. I additionally see many people posting on the net that they never did.

 

[cluciano63]

While it is difficult for LE to "clear" anyone when they don't seem to know what actually happened, it would not be difficult to simply state the family has passed lie detector tests, if they have.

 

[wfgodot]

Holly Bobo and the Missing Sex Offender

When Holly Bobo first disappeared, law enforcement officials went through their database of registered sex offenders in the area. It's been shared by this blog how many registered sex offenders there are in the towns of Darden and Parsons, Tennessee. It's a pretty high number, considering that both of these towns combined hold fewer than 4,000 people.

snippety par moi

"News sources" which use phrases like "It's been shared by this blog" and "It's a pretty high number" should be treated with extreme caution as to the information they may attempt to convey.

 

[wfgodot]

ummmmm no, Frog. Just no. I never for a second thought Clint was handicapped or involved. I know many people who never did either. I additionally see many people posting on the net that they never did.

I now think LE hung poor Clint out to dry with the "changing statements" confusion, but I did think he could have been a suspect - last to see her alive, inexact reporting of what he did say, etc.

 

[OldSteve]

ummmmm no, Frog. Just no. I never for a second thought Clint was handicapped or involved. I know many people who never did either. I additionally see many people posting on the net that they never did.

Agree - and something that makes this case different is (don't know how to word this correctly) Clint is a unique victim - he has the added whammy of realizing after-the-fact that his sister's been taken while he was seeing it happen.

Can't imagine what that's like.... all the, "if only I did this or that" - going through his mind, gotta feel for him!

 

[Frogzilla]

ummmmm no, Frog. Just no. I never for a second thought Clint was handicapped or involved. I know many people who never did either. I additionally see many people posting on the net that they never did.

Please tell me your first reaction to hearing this story then. I would love to hear how anyone could think there was more to the original story as first reported. In order to think anything else, you would have to be making gigantic assumptions. And my reference was not to say there were not a million scenarios that one could assume, but taking the report at face value.
Also, I must add that it would be extremely naive to assume the last person to see a missing person with a sketchy story could be immediately ruled out. I do not buy that for a millisecond.

 

[Lera213]

Ok so at the start of the investigation and a few weeks or longer after the family was kept watch on. An Officer stationed at the house right? Some speculated that it was for their safety.

The father stating someone had to know her routine

this tells me that the family suspects someone who probably was in their home a few times and could return.

Or LE used that excuse and put an officer on them to watch their moves.

I do know that there was massive searching going on for her, and only 48 minutes passed before LE actually went looking in the wood behind them. Nothing found? No broken, leaf litter movement, or anything?

I know CB has been looked at and many have defended him however I'm not saying he did this but I cannot help to think of:

Who had access
Who last saw her
Who had the means/ ATV, GUN
Who knew the area well

This case is a tough one, and she has to be found in order I think to break this case.

LE very quiet on everything tends to make me think they are still looking at a family member distant or direct.

Could be a serial killer, random followed her, watched her, but I would think that he would have been spotted by a neighbor or person.

I think it is time to think like a hunter would think, and how he would hide his kill!

I'm just thinking out loud!

 

[Lera213]

PS the items found in searches was either the perp placed them to throw off the search or indeed HB was able to leave a trail. I'm thinking it was the perp to get the LE off in a different direction.

 

[cluciano63]

Ok so at the start of the investigation and a few weeks or longer after the family was kept watch on. An Officer stationed at the house right? Some speculated that it was for their safety.

The father stating someone had to know her routine

this tells me that the family suspects someone who probably was in their home a few times and could return.

Or LE used that excuse and put an officer on them to watch their moves.

I do know that there was massive searching going on for her, and only 48 minutes passed before LE actually went looking in the wood behind them. Nothing found? No broken, leaf litter movement, or anything?
I know CB has been looked at and many have defended him however I'm not saying he did this but I cannot help to think of:

Who had access
Who last saw her
Who had the means/ ATV, GUN
Who knew the area well

This case is a tough one, and she has to be found in order I think to break this case.

LE very quiet on everything tends to make me think they are still looking at a family member distant or direct.

Could be a serial killer, random followed her, watched her, but I would think that he would have been spotted by a neighbor or person.

I think it is time to think like a hunter would think, and how he would hide his kill!

I'm just thinking out loud!

I thought her parents said it was quite a bit longer before people actually went into the woods but not sure...

 

[BeanE]

Please tell me your first reaction to hearing this story then. I would love to hear how anyone could think there was more to the original story as first reported. In order to think anything else, you would have to be making gigantic assumptions. And my reference was not to say there were not a million scenarios that one could assume, but taking the report at face value.
Also, I must add that it would be extremely naive to assume the last person to see a missing person with a sketchy story could be immediately ruled out. I do not buy that for a millisecond.

I've never, for a second, thought anything other than that a stranger took Holly. When I say stranger, I mean non-family, not a friend, could have been someone she knew of, but not someone she had any kind of relationship with.

An example of what I mean would be a store clerk. She could have stopped by a little store for coffee on her way to school every day. Could have been the same clerk every day. They could have a little chat while she paid for her coffee. But I would call that a stranger, as I would not consider that to be a relationship.

Just trying to be clear about what I mean by stranger - that I don't mean I think Holly had no awareness of the person. I also don't think that Holly necessarily did have any awareness of the person.

I'm very much aware of the statistics on person last seen. I never thought Clint was involved in any way. I would have to spend more time thinking back to my initial reactions in order to tell you why, because I'm now influenced by the plethora of information that's come out since then. I will do that if you really want me to.

Maybe I'm naive. Maybe I'm an idiot. I spend an untold amount of time and effort researching and analyzing these cases. No matter why I think as I do about them, I'm fine with it. Mr. Rogers used to tell me he liked me just the way I am.

 

[Frogzilla]

PS the items found in searches was either the perp placed them to throw off the search or indeed HB was able to leave a trail. I'm thinking it was the perp to get the LE off in a different direction.

I think you could also add that the possible planted evidence was not to throw the search in the wrong physical direction, it could be to try and frame somebody else. I cannot read into the timing and location of the items very much, but it has always stuck with me if LE felt evidence was clearly pointing at one person, let's say DS because it seems there are a couple times a point was being made to clear him, it would be an immediate tip that your perp is a local. Also, if you look at pictures of DS in camo gear, he usually wears a much darker camo than others in pictures and the thought had crossed my mind the perp used that same kind of camo to possibly deceive CB eyes.

 

[docwho3]

I still get the idea that this was a sort of secondary crime
where she surprised someone in the act of poking around the home
looking to either steal outside stuff or to break in & steal inside stuff.

I know that LE has hinted they suspect local
(or at least 'local' in a general area sort of way) involvement but, not
knowing what LE knows, I just have not yet seen any strong evidence
to support such a conclusion. I could see perhaps someone from a town
or two away but I am just not yet seeing the evidence of truly
close local involvement in the crime.

I am calling it a crime at this point because of the blood left at the home
and on the lunchbox found and I believe there was duct tape found
(although I have not yet heard if that tape ever proved to be
case related) & because the brother saw her being led away by a man.
I realize such a thing could be staged to cover up a runaway but
it would be the most elaborate adult runaway staging that I have read
about in my years of being a websleuths member so for now I tend to
count that possibility as being on the unlikely side of things.

There are some things that make me think Holly may have been taken
hours of driving away from where she was abducted even if that
might have been just to dump the body as far away as possible
in the time given.

So I am just thinking out loud but . . . .
Wondering where that perp knows that is close to the interstate
(loosely speaking) like the home she was abducted from, a place
he would know and readily think of taking her?
If this was not a planned a planned attack he would
likely go someplace familiar rather than wander around to get caught
with a captive or a body. I think he would make a bee line for this spot.

***********************************

'. . .Search teams continued to look for clues to Bobo's whereabouts
Sunday in areas around Interstate 40 and at Natchez State Park in Henderson County. . .'
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/18/earlyshow/main20054812.shtml

'. . .Investigators believe the man who took her might have tried to get to
the interstate as quickly as possible. . .'
http://www.newschannel5.com/story/1...unteers-answer-call-for-help-on-easter-sunday

'. . .lunchbox belonging to Holly with blood stains on it. . . '
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1104/19/ng.01.html
(BBM)

rural/remote looking area
http://www.examiner.com/missing-per...s-dispelled-next-steps-picture#slide=32529146

' . . .duct tape with blond hair stuck to it . . .'
http://abcnews.go.com/US/holly-bobo-search-police-make-significant-find-hunt/story?id=13448569


ETA: I know that some of the reporting may be very inaccurate
but I post the links to at least have some basis for us to start on.

 

[Frogzilla]

I've never, for a second, thought anything other than that a stranger took Holly. When I say stranger, I mean non-family, not a friend, could have been someone she knew of, but not someone she had any kind of relationship with.

An example of what I mean would be a store clerk. She could have stopped by a little store for coffee on her way to school every day. Could have been the same clerk every day. They could have a little chat while she paid for her coffee. But I would call that a stranger, as I would not consider that to be a relationship.

Just trying to be clear about what I mean by stranger - that I don't mean I think Holly had no awareness of the person. I also don't think that Holly necessarily did have any awareness of the person.

Maybe I'm naive. Maybe I'm an idiot. I spend an untold amount of time and effort researching and analyzing these cases. No matter why I think as I do about them, I'm fine with it. Mr. Rogers used to tell me he liked me just the way I am.

I think this post is pretty fair to say. Whenever a story of a missing person breaks, people always start thinking stranger abduction until the story is progressed and then everyone can come to a more educated theory. In this case, the story has not progressed at all so I totally see why people get hung up on CB and also why people get hung up on a boogeyman.

 

[Lera213]

I wonder if it wasn't a person CB knew and had over the house a few times that was fixated on HB, knew CB routine and families.

This could be if we go off of Frogzilla's last quoted post to me.