My opinions only, no facts here:
My original (conservative) timeline posted earlier on Websleuths, is below, with punctuation modifications. This timeline will be followed by a timeline that includes very speculative reports (excluding the most bizarre!) and extends well beyond April 13th. In the second timeline, speculative reports and rumors will be distinguished from more mainstream information, as explained in the header to my second timeline. To the mods- as usual I present no familial names except Holly Bobo and there are no links to outside sites.
4:30 AM (Holly awoke and was in bedroom studying, witnesses unknown)
5:30-5:35 (Holly still in bedroom, witness is father)
5:30-5:35 (Holly’s father leaves for work, witness is himself)
6:30-7:00 (Holly in bedroom and at breakfast table and mother makes a lunch for Holly, witness is mother)
7:00-ish (Holly’s mother leaves for work, witness is herself)
7:00-ish (Holly talking on phone with college girlfriend, witness is girlfriend)
7:30-ish (Holly talked with boyfriend on phone about him being accused of trespassing on her grandmother’s property across the county that morning while turkey hunting, witness is boyfriend)
7:30-ish (a flurry of calls between Holly/Holly’s boyfriend and Holly’s mother about the mistaken trespassing incident, witnesses are boyfriend and mother)
7:30-7:35 (Holly talked with mother on phone, witness is mother)
7:40-ish (Holly going outside to car-possibly 5 minutes earlier than usual so as to not miss a college exam, no witnesses)
7:40 (someone screamed at Holly’s house, male witness to scream is nearest neighbor to Holly’s house)
7:40-ish (male neighbor tells his own mother who also lives with him about hearing the scream)
7:40-ish (male neighbor’s mother calls Holly’s mother at work about the scream, witness is secretary who relays info to mother) (?note that earlier newspaper accounts may indicate a 7:30 time for the scream AND that the neighbors called 911 at this same time, curiously the 7:30 time for a 911 call was supposedly mentioned by an official; it seems that this is now corrected to 7:40- but did someone call 911 before Holly’s mother?)
7:50 (Holly’s brother wakes up because their house dog is barking, witness is himself; note that I have previously suggested that he may have awakened as early as 7:40 to 7:45 because this allows enough time for all of the following incidents to occur)
7:50-ish (looking out the window Holly’s brother notices Holly’s car is still there and sees the silhouettes of two people kneeled down by the car, he also hears voices of two people, witness is himself)
7:50ish- Holly’s brother calls his mother but gets no answer because mother’s phone is not with her, witnesses are himself and secretary)
7:50-ish (mother gets message from secretary and calls son/Holly’s brother who tells his mother about Holly’s car still being there and the two people he saw, witnesses are son and mother)
7:50-ish (the alarmed mother calls 911 but is not satisfied that she talked to the right office, witness is Henderson County dispatch)
7:50-ish (Holly is seen being led into woods by a man, witness is brother)
7:50-ish (mother calls son again and son says Holly is walking into woods with a man he thinks is her boyfriend-mother says it cannot be her boyfriend and to call 911 and go outside with a gun and follow them, witnesses are son and mother)
7:50-ish (mother calls 911 again, witness is Decatur County dispatch)
7:50-ish (brother tries to call Holly but gets voicemail, witness is himself)
7:50-ish (brother tries to call Holly’s boyfriend but gets voicemail, witness is himself)
7:50-ish (brother gets a pistol and walks out of house and notices blood and a spilled can of soda by Holly’s car, witness is himself)
8:00 (neighbor woman pulls up to Holly’s house and reports the scream her son heard to Holly’s brother, neighbor woman and Holly’s brother are witnesses for each other)
8:00-ish: (brother calls 911 as he hears sirens, witness is presumably the dispatcher- note that this call may have been at 7:59 based on a supposed official comment)
8:00-ish (first police car arrives “just after 8 o’clock”
8:00-ish (the immediate woods where Holly was last seen were searched by up to three officers; this is both indicated and contradicted by these two statements: (“Decatur County Sheriff Roy Wyatt said as soon as deputies arrived, they took a statement from Clint and began searching where Holly was last seen” AND “Wyatt said deputies did not want to enter the area or allow others to do so for fear that they would impair some evidence that might be found and because they were waiting on a search dog and trying to gather information leading them to go a certain direction.”
later than 8:15: (the State Patrol brought in a search dog or dogs; it is implied that this was the same day that Holly disappeared)
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Now I present my Holly Bobo case timeline, with many additional entries of estimable credibility and even some outright rumors added. I have made subtle changes even for the more credible entries, to clarify the witness situation. The very speculative entries will be ?bracketed in question marks.? REMEMBER, phrases that are ?bracketed in question marks? are either unsubstantiated, very speculative, internet rumors, or the consequence of clever trolls. But if you are deeply interested in this case, please read and study the following timeline to get a few new angles.
APRIL 13, 2011
4:30 AM (Holly awoke and was in bedroom studying, witnesses unknown) (An inch of rain fell the day before; this means that anyone using unpaved roads in the area should have left foot tracks and/or tire impressions) (?This would also aid tracking dogs, because the prior rain washed away earlier scents, making new scents seem stronger?)
5:30-5:35 (Holly is still in her bedroom, available witness is father)
5:30-5:35 (Holly’s father leaves for work, available witness is himself and possibly the mother)
6:30-7:00 (Holly is in her bedroom and at her breakfast table and mother makes a lunch for Holly, available witness is mother)
7:00-ish (Holly’s mother leaves for work, available witness is mother)
7:00-ish (Holly talking on phone with college girlfriend, available witness is girlfriend)
7:30-ish (Holly talked with boyfriend on phone about him being accused of trespassing on her grandmother’s property across the county that morning while turkey hunting, available witness is boyfriend)
7:30-ish (a flurry of calls between Holly/Holly’s boyfriend and Holly’s mother about the mistaken trespassing incident, available witnesses are boyfriend and mother)
7:30-7:35 (Holly talked with mother on phone, available witness is mother)
7:40-ish (Holly is going outside to her car-possibly 5 minutes earlier than usual so as to not miss an important college exam, no available witnesses) (?some reports suggest the car was in her long driveway, and other reports suggest it was in a carport?)
7:40-ish (?Holly is confronted by the perpetrator near her black Mustang automobile. She drops her can of pop. According to officials the mystery perpetrator is likely to be someone who was familiar with her daily schedule?) (?it is also said that Holly was led a short distance from the carport back into a semi-enclosed garage?)
7:40 (someone screamed at Holly’s house, male witness to scream represents household of the nearest neighbors to Holly’s house)
7:40-ish (male neighbor tells his own mother who also lives with him about hearing the scream)
7:40-ish (male neighbor’s mother calls Holly’s mother at work about the scream, witness is school secretary who relays info to Holly's mother) (?Note that earlier newspaper accounts may indicate a 7:30 time for the scream AND that the neighbors called 911 at this same time, curiously the 7:30 time for a 911 call was supposedly mentioned by an official; it seems that this is now corrected to 7:40 AM- but did someone call 911 before Holly’s mother?)
7:40 to 7:50 (?Holly is attacked in some manner and leaves a small amount of blood on the carport floor, see later comments?) There seems to be widespread support that blood was found. (My judgment- ?a knife was used in the crime?)
7:50 (Holly’s brother wakes up because their house dog is barking, available witness is himself; note that I have previously suggested that he may have ?awakened as early as 7:40 to 7:45 because this allows enough time for all of the following incidents to occur?) (?It has been claimed that there were two dogs, one inside the house and one tied up or penned outside of the house?)
7:50-ish (looking out the window Holly’s brother notices Holly’s car is still there and sees the silhouettes of two people kneeling down by the car, he also hears voices of two people, available witness is himself) (Note that I am confused about whether the two silhouettes were seen leaning down, kneeling, squatting or sitting)
7:50ish- Holly’s brother calls his mother but gets no answer because mother’s phone is not with her, witnesses are himself and the mother’s school secretary) (I want to clarify this statement; the mother may have physically had her cell phone but since she was in class she turned it off)
7:50-ish (mother gets message from school secretary and calls her son/Holly’s brother who tells his mother about Holly’s car still being there and the two people he saw, available witnesses are son and mother)
7:50-ish (the alarmed mother calls 911 but is not satisfied that she talked to the right office, witness is Henderson County dispatch)
7:50-ish (Holly is seen being led into woods by a man, available witness is brother)
7:50-ish (mother calls son again and son says Holly is walking into woods with a man he thinks is her boyfriend-mother says it cannot be her boyfriend and to call 911 and go outside with a gun and follow them, available witnesses are son and mother)
7:50-ish (mother calls 911 again, witness is Decatur County dispatch) (?some early official reports make it sound like the mother made only one 911 call, but I think she made two and this is an honest error?)
7:50-ish (brother tries to call Holly but gets voicemail, available witness is himself)
7:50-ish (brother tries to call Holly’s boyfriend but gets voicemail, available witness is himself)
7:50-ish (brother gets a pistol and walks out of house and notices blood and a spilled can of soda by Holly’s car, available witness is himself) (?there are early reports that the brother called 911 at this time, but I believe this refers to a slightly later call?, mentioned below) (?Note that I am confused here, because some reports indicate the blood was in the semi-enclosed garage and other reports indicate the blood was by Holly’s car, which I understand was not IN the semi-enclosed garage?)
just before 7:55 AM: (?the abductor has left the woods and is in a vehicle?) This is purportedly based upon early published comments from investigators.
8:00 (the previously-mentioned neighbor woman pulls up to Holly’s house and reports the scream her son heard earlier to Holly’s brother; the neighbor woman and Holly’s brother are witnesses for each other)
8:00-ish: (brother calls 911, just as he hears sirens, witness is presumably the dispatcher- note that this call may have been at 7:59 based on a supposed official comment)
8:00-8:05 AM: (the first police car arrives at Holly Bobo’s house, “just after 8 o’clock”
8:00-ish (the immediate area where Holly was last seen was searched by up to three officers; this is both indicated and contradicted by these two versions: “Decatur County Sheriff Roy Wyatt said as soon as deputies arrived, they took a statement from Clint and began searching where Holly was last seen” AND “Wyatt said deputies did not want to enter the area or allow others to do so for fear that they would impair some evidence that might be found and because they were waiting on a search dog and trying to gather information leading them to go a certain direction.”
8:15 AM-ish (?based upon the original timeline and travel time, this would be the earliest that Holly’s mother would be expected to have made it to her home, assuming that she left from the school where she worked?) (The mother was driven to her home by a friend) (If a friend drove Holly’s mother to the house, it is not clear to me why the mother was not using her own vehicle)
about 8:30 AM: (Holly’s father arrives home from his workplace)
8:35 AM (?this is about when the police may have began a ground search around the property?)
later than 8:35 AM: (the State Patrol brought in a search dog or dogs; it is implied that this was the same day that Holly disappeared) (I cannot establish when the tracking dogs were employed, but believe that it was not particularly long after Holly disappeared)
later than 8:35 AM: (?there are two principal stories; one is that the dogs could not track Holly’s scent into the woods; the other version is that the dogs crossed the lawn to a path and continued a short distance on that path into the woods and lost the scent near a logging road?)
9:06 AM: (?Holly’s cell phone pinged, placing her phone about a mile from her house, near the junction of Swan Johnson and 5 Forks Roads?) (This is a rumor that appeared as early as April 21 to 22, but the exact time and more precise location of this ping may have been added to the rumor mill at a later date)
9:12 AM: (?A cell phone belonging to a publicly-unidentified individual pinged ‘six minutes away’ from the location of Holly’s 9:06 AM ping?) (?The cell phone owner’s vehicle is said to have been seen earlier on Swan Johnson Road on the morning of April 13, 2011?) (?This ping may correlate with the one said to have occurred from a location near the intersection of Highway 882, and Russ Long-Cub Creek Hill Roads?)
possibly the afternoon of April 13: (?It is said that 250 volunteers searched around Holly Bobo’s home. This seems unlikely at such an early date?, but is based upon earliest newspaper reports)
APRIL 14, 2011
daytime: (?at least 50 searchers are active?)
APRIL 14, 2011
evening: (?A landowner discovered Holly’s white sling-bag/lunch box along a creek about 6 to 8 miles from her abduction site. This should also represent the so-called Bible Hill discovery, although it is said to actually be on Gooch Road?) (?I pick the 14th for this find, rather than the 15th, based upon earliest news accounts?) (?Note that this version of discovery is confusing because the earliest reports talked about ‘searchers’, but the initial find was supposedly made by one landowner. Possibly the police immediately went to the site and contributed to the discoveries?)
APRIL 15, 2011
midday to afternoon: (strong storms were forecast for the region during this time period, perhaps searches were delayed for a short time)
ON OR ABOUT APRIL 16 or 17, 2011
daytime: (?The volunteer search is moved to the Gooch Road/Bible Hill area. The duct tape with hair and additional items may have been found here, a day or two later into this search?) (?Anyway, several items may have been recovered, leading to odd internet rumors of the discovery of lipstick, chapstick, jeans, a dollar bill with Holly’s name and two pages from a psychology textbook with Holly’s name on the pages?) It is not perfectly clear to me if these rumors are directed at discoveries in the Gooch Road area.
ON OR ABOUT APRIL 17 or 18, 2011
daytime: (?this is the earliest time span where I can establish that searches were conducted in Natchez Trace State Park, with 350 volunteers, although I have found dates as late as April 22 for the extended search here?) Note that the earliest possible dates for this search could predate the recovery of cell phone records, and instead be based upon a tip or an investigative hunch. Also, around this time interval, officials asked local citizens to be on the lookout for changes in behavior of anyone they know; exhibiting such behavior as missing work Wednesday through Friday or someone who may have excessively cleaned or sold a vehicle or all-terrain vehicle.
ON OR ABOUT APRIL 18, 2011
daytime: (underwater searches for evidence are conducted)
ON OR ABOUT APRIL 19, 2011
daytime: (?The area between Holly Bobo’s home and the yet-to-be-discovered “Easter evidence” location is being searched?) (?It is said that five roads leading to and from Holly Bobo’s house were searched during this time?)
APRIL 21, 2011
daytime: (?The area east of the yet-to-be-discovered “Easter evidence” is searched?)
APRIL 22, 2011
daytime: (500 volunteer searchers are said to be looking at a more narrowly-defined area, after authorities ruled out territory that has been previously thoroughly searched) (My thoughts- ?the police may have acquired and analyzed cell phone records by the 22nd or 23rd?)
APRIL 22 TO 23, 2011
daytime: (?The searches are now reported to be split into two areas. One area matches the search at the intersection of 5 Forks Road and Swan Johnson Road, described below. The other area is said to be the southernmost search, and this location may be equivalent to one shown on the location map I saw on Websleuths?) (my thoughts- ?now armed with the cell phone records, the police are searching the area of the first ping?) (?As mentioned above, there are reports of searches at this late date in Natchez Trace Park; these searches may have been further north and in another county?)
ON OR ABOUT APRIL 23, 2011
daytime: (?police receive DNA information from the blood found at Holly Bobo’s house?) (?It has been claimed on TV that this was indeed Holly’s DNA?) (?The area around the intersection of 5 Forks Road and Swan Johnson Roads, as well as other areas closer to the abduction site may have been searched. The timing of the 5 Forks-Swan Johnson search on the 22nd or 23rd could relate to the internet rumors that Holly’s cell phone pinged about a mile from her house. It seems unlikely that the cell phone records could have been obtained via warrants and evaluated by the police until several days passed from the time of the abduction. So, that could explain why this close-by area was searched at a later point in time- it took days to acquire and analyze the phone data showing where Holly’s cell phone pinged?)
APRIL 23 TO APRIL 24, 2011
daytime: (?This search included the area that has been variously described as “Holladay Road, Highway 69, Eaton Plant off Highway 641, Kolpack, the Tennessee Technology Center where Holly attended school, and the Tri-County Concrete property at 100 Eaton St.” This search location could have been based upon a ping or call from the perpetrator’s cell phone or a ping from Holly’s cell phone, but there is a news report that it was based upon a phoned-in-tip. Anyway, this should be where the so-called “significant find” or “Easter evidence” was made. Early reports and internet chat described a “card”, even a hotel door card, and later rumors suggest either a SIM card or cell phone or both?) (The timing and wording of early news reports suggest either the 23rd or the 24th as the discovery date and that a singular “item” was found) (?It was reported that the police backtracked and later said this evidence might not be related to the case?)
AFTER APRIL 24, 2011
Anytime: (?The public searches ended?)
SLEUTH ON!