TN - Holly Bobo, 20, Darden, believed abducted 13 April 2011 - #31

[R.U.Kidding!]

Sorry, just another thought. Last night I had watched a Dateline show that centered on a young girl who was raped, murdered and thrown off a cliff to make it look like an accident. Her mother, who had a background in law drove the State police and local LE "crazy", so much so they stopped taking her calls or giving her info. She just thought they were totally incompetent and never really took her case seriously.

Long story short : 12 years later-finally the man responsible wen t on trial. For the first time she saw the "crime scene" tape of their investigation, and broke down in tears. The tape showed these officers on their hands and knees looking for evidence, in the water , and literally turning over every inch of ground in that area for clues. When that day was over she went to the officer. She kissed him and apologized for ever believing they weren't doing enough.

I know -so what's the point? We just NEVER know what goes on behind the scenes of any given investigation. Just because there is no information forthcoming, doesn't mean there is NO INFORMATION, or that the case is GOING Nowhere.Let's hope that is the case here. Sleuth's will just have to work with the info we DO have. Just sayin!!

 

[cluciano63]

Sorry, just another thought. Last night I had watched a Dateline show that centered on a young girl who was raped, murdered and thrown off a cliff to make it look like an accident. Her mother, who had a background in law drove the State police and local LE "crazy", so much so they stopped taking her calls or giving her info. She just thought they were totally incompetent and never really took her case seriously.

Long story short : 12 years later-finally the man responsible wen t on trial. For the first time she saw the "crime scene" tape of their investigation, and broke down in tears. The tape showed these officers on their hands and knees looking for evidence, in the water , and literally turning over every inch of ground in that area for clues. When that day was over she went to the officer. She kissed him and apologized for ever believing they weren't doing enough.

I know -so what's the point? We just NEVER know what goes on behind the scenes of any given investigation. Just because there is no information forthcoming, doesn't mean there is NO INFORMATION, or that the case is GOING Nowhere.Let's hope that is the case here. Sleuth's will just have to work with the info we DO have. Just sayin!!

I saw the show too and commmented on it in another thread...but I don't feel that is the case here, JMO. In that case, they had DNA, it wasn't a secret, they just didn't have the tools yet, or anyone to match up with it. The mother was surprised at how thoroughly the officers had examined the scene, more so than she ever expected, and it did help them in court, once they had a CODIS hit years later. It wasn't so much that the LE was keeping things secret in that case, as in Holly's, IMO, where the issue of the phone seems to be "top secret" as well what, if any, other items still remain missing. This case gives me the feeling that LE is basically saying "none of your bizness" to the public and the family just because they can. JMO

 

[~n/t~]

I've seen cases go cold until a new chief of police or sheriff gets appointed and other detectives get assigned to the case.

Maybe Sheriff Wyatt is too emotionally invested in this case. I've never seen a Sheriff cry when an adult goes missing or is kidnapped. Yes if and when a body is found, they do tend to become emotional but on the same day of the abduction? It shows a weakness. I'm not saying this as criticism but only to show that sometimes not the right people are made to take on such a task to find a missing person. I'm sure many mistakes were made because of this.

My opinion only.

 

[cfreyja23]

I've read so many posts about why LE is being so secretive in this case. Maybe I just made the assumption long ago that they really, really meant it when they said that they believe it was a local. If LE thought this guy was a transient or a truck driver, someone passing through, I believe their response would've been much, much more open. We would've seen a lot of information released to the public, because LE wouldn't have a clue who it was if this was a stranger abduction. Releasing information could only help in that case.
Obviously (or maybe it's just obvious to me), LE can't be open about pieces of evidence and information regarding searches because the person is living in the town. Forewarning a person who is 1) in the area and 2) familiar with the community, could lead to destruction of evidence, creation of alibis, threats to the Bobo family, who knows what else.
The lack of new information suggests to me they already have a very strong suspect, but don't have probable cause to make an arrest. Any information released now would not help the case, IMO.

 

[wishuwerehere]

Clint was the last person to have seen Holly before she went missing.

Clint and Holly were alone together in the home before Holly went missing.

Clint has stated that he believed it was Drew he saw with Holly on the morning she went missing. Clint was told, “No, that’s not Drew.” Good thing Drew had an alibi, huh?

I believe there is a fork in the road in this case. On the left you can believe Clint’s story and try to find Holly by finding the mysterious camo man. Or on the right you can throw out Clint’s story because it is all BS.

Is this case simple? Yes. Because there’s only two choices. Clint is either telling the truth about what he saw or he’s not.

A big hole resides in our knowledge about the family dynamic.
And I believe we will never be privy to that info.

jmo

 

[MizStery]

Clint was the last person to have seen Holly before she went missing.

Clint and Holly were alone together in the home before Holly went missing.

Clint has stated that he believed it was Drew he saw with Holly on the morning she went missing. Clint was told, “No, that’s not Drew.” Good thing Drew had an alibi, huh?

I believe there is a fork in the road in this case. On the left you can believe Clint’s story and try to find Holly by finding the mysterious camo man. Or on the right you can throw out Clint’s story
because it is all BS.Is this case simple? Yes. Because there’s only two choices. Clint is either
telling the truth about what he saw or he’s not.

A big hole resides in our knowledge about the family dynamic.
And I believe we will never be privy to that info.
jmo

There are human errors made every day that do not result in a tragedy. For whatever reason these human errors do not queue up in a certain order or someone recognizes a chain is being formed and breaks it before the tragedy happens.

As we read through the timeline the morning Holly was abducted it seems like the tragic chain could have been broken at almost every twist and turn. As I read through the events I marvel at how CB did not
unintentionally stumble on Holly's abduction and break the chain of events that morning. One has to believe CB is either the most unfortunate of human beings or he for some unknown reason looked the other way and
chose not to break the tragic chain and gave the perp more than adequate time and opportunity to "spirit" Holly away. Perhaps I am too cynical(putting CB's retelling under a microscope) but as generous as I try to be in my reading of the timeline I just do not find CB's statement believable. :waitasec:

MOO

 

[OldSteve]

I noticed there were quite a few locals posting back then. Wonder what happened? Did they give up?


Just curious.

o/t Where is BeanE? She was always so helpful with providing links here and Katelyn Markham's case. Hope she's ok.

With nothing new really happening, I'm going to simply watch the Information thread for Holly:
TN TN - Holly Bobo, 20 yrs old, Decatur County, 13 April 2011 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community

Perhaps that's what others are doing too...

 

[TxLady2]

I've seen cases go cold until a new chief of police or sheriff gets appointed and other detectives get assigned to the case.

Maybe Sheriff Wyatt is too emotionally invested in this case. I've never seen a Sheriff cry when an adult goes missing or is kidnapped. Yes if and when a body is found, they do tend to become emotional but on the same day of the abduction? It shows a weakness. I'm not saying this as criticism but only to show that sometimes not the right people are made to take on such a task to find a missing person. I'm sure many mistakes were made because of this.

My opinion only.

In most states, (certainly in TX) the sheriff is elected, not appointed. Most of them are in the job for many years, unless they're not very good and someone better runs for office.
I don't know their setup there but there are only so many detectives in various divisions within the department, so it's not always possible to assign different detectives to a case.
And I wouldn't call being emotional over a kidnapping as a sign of weakness. They're human, after all. Maybe this sheriff is a close friend of the family.

 

[mountainguy777]

Time for LE to do a presser to update status of case.
Dispell rumors
Leads
Hot/cold

 

[Woe.be.gone]

Hi, I spent time last night reading up on this case but didn't/can't read every single post. On thread 29 a male neighbor who lives in a trailer on his mother's property cames into the picture. I never heard about him before - that he came onto the property the morning Holly disappeared because he had heard a scream. That's new info that surprised me.

Also the info about the boyfriend hunting on the the grandmother's (of HB) property that very morning? What are the circumstances surrounding some family member (is it known who?) questioning him and his dad about being there?

These two developments are interesting considering I hadn't heard anything about these activities in the early months when I followed the case.

It seems to me that some information should be easy/straight forward from the beginning - like who was where when and why. I have a very bad feeling about the brother's account of things. Does his account seem too complicated due to something being lost in translation or is it simply too complicated? Then I had the thought that the brother and his family might be afraid of someone which is making them sound strange and guarded.

I know that LE can sit on cases for years just waiting for that one piece of evidence that would secure a conviction to fall into place when all along they're confident who the perp is. I'm wondering if that's the case here. One final thing, the dogs did not track into the woods - that bothers me alot.

 

[Woe.be.gone]

Also, early on there was talk that someone who Holly's dad hired to work in his tree business was angry with him - they had a falling out of some kind. This was touched on and no details were given. Maybe the guy even threatened Dana in some way? If he thinks this guy (whoever he is) did something to his daughter to spite him, I can only imagine how he'd feel. The dad may be quiet because he's filled with rage and has to try to contain himself with every ounce of strength he has while waiting for justice to play out. He may just want to go kill someone himself.

 

[Carla Lashelle]

Also, early on there was talk that someone who Holly's dad hired to work in his tree business was angry with him - they had a falling out of some kind. This was touched on and no details were given. Maybe the guy even threatened Dana in some way? If he thinks this guy (whoever he is) did something to his daughter to spite him, I can only imagine how he'd feel. The dad may be quiet because he's filled with rage and has to try to contain himself with every ounce of strength he has while waiting for justice to play out. He may just want to go kill someone himself.

only a rumor AFAIK. And you would think IF someone like this did exist that cops would look into them.

 

[JenniferTx]

Clint says the guy was wearing camo. Reports indicate it was Turkey Camo. That narrows down the list of suspects, imo.

These rural country crimes seem to all turn out the same way. If anyone followed the Tara Grinstead case, they can compare the crimes. Very rural town. She had one bf, who was with LE that night (or was he?), carousing around and has an alibi. No suspects. This beauty is gone, vanished in thin air.

The cops are mum. No place for media...they're not welcome in these type of areas. I don't think I should follow these real small town murders, it isn't good for my health. IMO, the good ole boy buddy system is alive and well and living out in the rural country.

If this person was said to be wearing "turkey camo" wouldn't it be possible he had a hunting license? Did LE check all of the records of people who had purchased hunting licenses with the turkey tag? Just a thought.

 

[Fishee]

I believe there is a fork in the road in this case. On the left you can believe Clint’s story and try to find Holly by finding the mysterious camo man. Or on the right you can throw out Clint’s story because it is all BS.

Is this case simple? Yes. Because there’s only two choices. Clint is either telling the truth about what he saw or he’s not.

I like simple. Simple is usually correct.

To take it a step further (albeit in a slightly different direction...)

If you don't buy Clint's story, things get exponentially more complex pretty quickly:

-If he knows the abductor, he's covering for an accomplice he hired to kill his sister?

-If he doesn't know the abductor, he saw what he saw and just "let" it happen?

If you buy Clint's story, his reaction was that of someone in a state of shock. Shock is unpredictable and complex.

The simpler explanation is the stranger abduction.

 

[TxLady2]

Simple is usually the way it ends up as well. It's nearly always not as complicated as people make it out to be. I guess a lot of folks love conspiracy theories but I can't see it here... some guy has just gotten away with a kidnapping and that's all it is. No good ole boy network, no being fearful of someone with way too much power and influence, no covering for a boyfriend/relative, etc.

There may be a lot of confusion over Clint's reactions, but when you take into consideration that 1) he may have just stepped out of the shower and was nude, thus not running outside to follow them, and 2) what was happening just wasn't registering with him right then and he may just not be a quick thinker. Plus, initially he thought Holly knew this guy.

I've been in that same state of mind. I came home one day from shopping with my mother and found out my house had burned while I was gone. Still, I was determined to take my groceries home before the ice cream melted, so I was rushing my boys to hurry and get in the car so we could go, and one of them asked me where I planned on putting the groceries. For a couple of minutes it just didn't register... I stood there with my mouth open and then when it hit me I just dropped to the ground, crying. Losing my little dog was the hardest thing to accept.

 

[TxLady2]

I believe the phone was found. I get that from watching the Bobo's reaction when discussed.

As far as Drew goes, not one person has interviewed him. I don't get this "County folk" buisness. These people are college graduates. IOW ,they are educated.

Ok, so LE took the computers. Did they search the house with cadaver dogs? Did they track Holly into the woods? How many abandoned cars are found around there anyway? So that car found close to the trail where they found other stuff of Holly's was there for how long?

I wouldn't think there would be many abandoned cars in that area. This is a very strange case. We have a family who doesn't seem to utilize the media to help find their daughter. No friends, boyfriends or family speaking out for Holly. They have done private fundraisers, etc. There has been much money collected and a big reward but not one clue.

Been meaning to address this, but why on earth would they bring cadaver dogs into the house? Her brother saw her being led into the woods, walking on her own two feet, she obviously wasn't dead. I doubt that they even suspected anything else at that point.
Believe it or not, LE has to start from what the family says initially and go from there. Until something else starts them going in a different direction, they have no choice but to begin with the facts they are told right at first. If you mean did they bring in cadaver dogs later on, I don't know, but unless they have good reason to suspect a death occurred in the home, they wouldn't have, I'm pretty sure.

 

[Carla Lashelle]

Been meaning to address this, but why on earth would they bring cadaver dogs into the house? Her brother saw her being led into the woods, walking on her own two feet, she obviously wasn't dead. I doubt that they even suspected anything else at that point.
Believe it or not, LE has to start from what the family says initially and go from there. Until something else starts them going in a different direction, they have no choice but to begin with the facts they are told right at first. If you mean did they bring in cadaver dogs later on, I don't know, but unless they have good reason to suspect a death occurred in the home, they wouldn't have, I'm pretty sure.

well for one the only witness has a sort of sketchy story and they would want to check the property for a variety of reasons and not just take the word of the only witness that yeah she walked off OVER THERE...

 

[Fishee]

I think the fuel for conspiracies in this case is the lack of info; It's easy to get carried away when we don't know much.

That said, every Sleuther's bestest buddy should be 'ole man Occam.

My guess is the quiet from Camp Bobo at this point is at the behest of LE as to what's in the best interest of the investigation. I doubt it's anything more.

I sometimes think the core of the frustration is just that this case looked so "solvable" in the beginning.

 

[cluciano63]

I think the fuel for conspiracies in this case is the lack of info; It's easy to get carried away when we don't know much.

That said, every Sleuther's bestest buddy should be 'ole man Occam.

My guess is the quiet from Camp Bobo at this point is at the behest of LE as to what's in the best interest of the investigation. I doubt it's anything more.

I sometimes think the core of the frustration is just that this case looked so "solvable" in the beginning.

Mrs. B seemed very frustrated with LE when she DID speak out...perhaps she was chastised. I get a very autocratic feeling about this particular LEA which may or may not be true, but she said, more than once, that they keep telling her that they are not required to keep her informed by law. Of course they aren't, but they seem to get a charge out of telling her that. JMO

 

[wishuwerehere]

I like simple. Simple is usually correct.

To take it a step further (albeit in a slightly different direction...)

If you don't buy Clint's story, things get exponentially more complex pretty quickly:

-If he knows the abductor, he's covering for an accomplice he hired to kill his sister?

-If he doesn't know the abductor, he saw what he saw and just "let" it happen?

If you buy Clint's story, his reaction was that of someone in a state of shock. Shock is unpredictable and complex.

The simpler explanation is the stranger abduction.

IMO, you left out the simplest explanation of all. :twocents: