MY OPINIONS ONLY, NO FACTS HERE:
PART III OF THE HOLLY BOBO CASE
I have not been posting here for quite some time, but of course have been reading the many insightful posts in the current thread about this fascinating case during my long absence.
OK, here goes:
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So many, many suspects, so much time to wait for disclosure of Prosecution Discovery evidence to the Defense……Is it just me, or does this case seem to be dragging on forever and ever? Why has nobody confessed and copped a plea-deal by this late date? Very odd. Could they be the wrong guys? And now, one critical potential witness has committed suicide….. and the kidnapper wore hippie leisure shoes?! Somehow, I had pictured laced-up black Army ankle-high leather boots.
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PART III, THE GOOCH ROAD EVIDENCE:
Please see my previous PART I at “Holly Bobo missing from TN discussion thread” *Arrests* #5, post no. 571 (
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...deceased-discussion-thread-*Arrests*-5/page23) and PART II at “Holly Bobo missing from TN discussion thread” *Arrests* #5, post no. 583 (
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...deceased-discussion-thread-*Arrests*-5/page24), if you have not previously viewed these posts. Note that I correctly predicted in my older PART II post [shortly BEFORE Holly’s remains were found]: “any local perpetrator would probably assume that police will arrive from the south. So, any local perpetrator would head north from the abduction site”. We now know that Holly’s remains were found almost directly north from her abduction site and not extraordinarily far away from her home (but further north than I expected). Regarding and following this event of the discovery of Holly’s remains, I previously provided an analysis of the remains at:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...deceased-discussion-thread-*Arrests*-5/page50 . [post 1236].
I prepared a map specifically for this Part III chapter post, but the map available at Websleuths (which now shows the site where Holly’s remains were found) is workmanlike and well-conceived, so utilize that map if you require it, at
https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...217,-88.175486&spn=0.007617,0.013057&t=h&z=17.
I have previously posted a complete timeline for the Holly Bobo case at
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...eDiA-amp-TiMeLiNe-only!-*NO-DISCUSSION*/page9
Just scroll down and you will find my complete and detailed timeline posted in two consecutive posts (posts #215-216). My timeline is very long, involved, and mechanically-boring, so only those truly obsessed with solving this case should bother to read all of it.
My originally-intended post for this Part III chapter of the Holly Bobo case became far too large and complex, so I basically abandoned it. From my complete timeline for the Holly Bobo case, here are my original entries regarding the Gooch Road evidence:
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Evening, APRIL 14 to ?15?, 2011
?A local landowner? discovered Holly’s white sling-bag/lunch box [also called a “lunch purse” by authorities] 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 prefer the 14th for this find, rather than the 15th, based upon ?the very earliest news accounts?). (Note that this version of the discovery is confusing because the earliest reports talked about ‘searchers’, but the initial find was possibly ?made by one local landowner?. ?Perhaps the police and volunteers immediately went to the site and contributed to the discoveries?). (There are limited internet rumors about ?blood on Holly’s white sling-bag/lunch box?). In my opinion, the location of this evidence is the seminal aspect of the Holly Bobo case and the ultimate key to its understanding. Let me explain my personal opinions further- the perpetrator may have planted this evidence to misdirect the investigation towards someone else (someone he disliked and/or who he figured would then become a principal suspect) –OR- the position of this evidence is directly relevant to the identity/general location/path of the perpetrator. No third possibility occurs to me. In my opinion, the location of this evidence is not random in any scenario- it has real meaning to the astute investigator.
ON OR ABOUT APRIL 16 or 17, 2011 daytime:
(?The volunteer search is moved to the Gooch Road/Bible Hill area. The apocryphal duct tape with hair and additional items may refer to this locality, a day or two later into this search?). (Anyway, ?additional items may have been recovered?, leading to odd and somewhat unbelievable 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 provocative but questionable internet rumors are all directed at discoveries in the Gooch Road area or elsewhere. But, unless and until confirmed officially, BEWARE these possibly mythical reports!
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One of my favorite episodes of Sherlock Holmes (with the incomparable late actor Jeremy Brett) is the "Musgrave Ritual". Here are my personal modifications of the "Musgrave Ritual" by Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle for the Holly Bobo case (with apologies to the original author!!):
Whose was it?
She who has gone.
Who has taken it?
ONE who is known and ONE to be named.
What was the month?
The fourth from the first.
Where was the sun?
Low towards the East.
Where were the shadows?
Long towards the shed.
How was it stepped?
North by five and by eight,
east by ten and by twenty, and not under.
What shall we give for it?
All that is ours.
Why should we give it?
For the sake of the truth.
I agree with what Sherlock Holmes said in the “Naval Treaty” episode: “it would be absurd to deny that this case is abstruse and complicated”. If there were not around a half-dozen (including one recently-deceased by suicide) men now implicated/mentioned in some fashion by prosecutors in the Holly Bobo case, we might view the whole affair more simply and rationally than we presently do. Indeed, how many basic abduction and murder cases of one young woman so thoroughly discombobulate the sleuth and encompass so many ‘usual suspects’, before, during and after the fact? The official story reads like a lurid novel. This does not mean that some of the currently named suspects will not lose in a court of law; only that the collective factors of science, justice, official intrigue, politics and revenge sometimes become so impossibly intertwined that the full truth and penultimate revelation are rendered impossible to history.
I will capitalize portions of the below statements to represent my emphasis: HOLLY BOBO WAS NOT IN THE VEHICLE AND ALIVE WHEN THE GOOCH ROAD EVIDENCE WAS TOSSED. A perpetrator does not toss extraneous physical evidence more than a mile or so from an abduction scene WHEN THE KIDNAPPED VICTIM IS STILL ALIVE AND WITH THEM. Any extraneous physical evidence is far less-damning/problematic at that particular point in time and travel than the LIVING VICTIM themselves. And remember, from logical analysis of my timeline, the Gooch Road evidence was likely tossed on the day (i.e. morning) of the abduction. In my opinion, the mere existence of the Gooch Road evidence (if it exists!) is the Rosetta Stone for understanding this particular mystery.
So, what are some of my personal points of interest in this most fascinating case? (not to be confused with the contra-indications of evidence discussed in the introduction to my original Holly Bobo case timeline- these are equally important; particularly what the tracking dog ‘saw’

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1: Holly’s brother is the ONLY material witness and he reported only ONE abductor.
2: Holly’s brother’s description of this ONE abductor is too short in stature to match the height of the two originally-arrested suspects; he saw a man of maximum 70-inch to 72-inch height (depending upon his personal 70-inch estimation or the maximum of the FBI height-range); the first-arrested two main suspects range from 75 to 78 inches in height, being larger and likely of significantly-different body proportions than the material witness observation. (for example, see my post at
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...deceased-discussion-thread-*Arrests*-5/page23). [#571].
3: The abductor was INTIMATELY, if not MYSTERIOUSLY well-acquainted with the manners of Holly’s household on any day of the week, as well as the precise distribution of the property and outbuildings/structures (to hide within or behind or under). He knew almost exactly when Holly, as well as her mother and father were leaving for work or school. He knew that Holly would exit from the rear of her home that day and not the front, and estimated that her brother was not home, OR would not be otherwise available to successfully forestall her abduction. The abductor arrived early and likely hid in an old outbuilding behind the house. All of this does NOT suggest that the abductor was mentally-challenged in the slightest. Instead, cleverness and insight are implied.
4: The location of Holly’s remains as well as the Gooch Road evidence site are equally significant. One kidnapper acting alone could have committed the abduction, driven north from the abduction site, placed Holly’s body, backtracked south and then turned east onto Gooch Road to plant key evidence there (for reasons discussed in my full timeline), AND made it to work or back home on time to establish a partial or complete alibi. BUT, the abductor probably had previous experiences (hunting, recreating, etc.) near the site where the remains were discovered. The abductor knew the region well. Let me remind you; from my timeline, the abductor spent some time arguing with Holly Bobo, before taking her into the adjacent woods by her home. This WAS NOT a random stranger, or a distant seldom-seen thrice-removed relative. The abductor KNEW Holly Bobo well.
5: Whereas I personally find it insensible and irrational that five or six male friends or friends-of-friends or sometimes-acquaintances should risk the death penalty to combine forces before-during-and-after-the-fact and play a collective role in the abduction, murder, and cover-up of the Holly Bobo case (with whom most had scant or no provably-significant prior associations); I find it logical that ONE jealous/angry man who had prior meaningful associations with Holly Bobo could have possessed the motive, means, and opportunity to carry out the entire crime by himself. Having said all of this, ONE jealous/angry man could have had a cheerleader-of-sorts around the time of the crime- an unnamed person. Someone who further provoked and encouraged him to complete the task, but was not physically-involved in the actual abduction and possessed additional motives. This second hypothetical person should have had some sort of historical relationships with the abductor AND Holly Bobo.
Everything above is ‘just saying’. Take it all with a grain of salt. I am just some random guy in cyberspace.
Part IV of the Holly Bobo case, the cell phone evidence, is still being worked on. This is the toughest chapter, because I am unsure if this evidence even exists as ‘reported’. But, I hope this evidence exists.
Sleuth On!