Holly Bobo Missing: Search Intensifies For Missing Tennessee Nursing Student

The governor of Tennessee has tripled the reward for information leading to a suspect in the disappearance of nursing student Holly Bobo.

The 20-year-old student has been missing since April 13. She was heading to class at the Tennessee Technology Center when she disappeared. According to CNN, her brother Clint witnessed "a man in camouflage leading her from their Darden home into the woods." Clint Bobo told authorities that he initially thought the man was his sister's boyfriend.

The investigation has turned up more than 250 leads, but as of yet no suspect.

ABC has more on the search:

Gov. Bill Haslam approved a $50,000 reward from the state, in addition to a $25,000 reward already offered by Bobo's community.

Investigators believe Bobo's abductor lives in or near the 20-year-old college student's town of Parsons, Tenn., and have asked her neighbors to report any unusual activity or a break in peoples' routine those noticed in recent days.

Bobo's cousin, country music star Whitney Duncan, took to Twitter to clear Bobo's brother, Clint, as a suspect.

"My cousin Clint, Holly's brother, is NOT a suspect & I'm sick of people saying that he is," she wrote Monday. "He has been cleared for good reason. Shut up."

Hundreds of volunteers continue to search rural Decatur country for any semblance of a clue in the young student's disappearance.

WATCH: ABC News report:

Comments

[zakwouldhave]

04:06 PM on 04/30/2011

Is technology far off where we can track people.......of course only people who want to be tracked? Something you can attache to shoes temporarily, something!
I know cell phones have helped minimize abductions but we need more. Maybe some kind of hand-held siren device to alert people of an emergency....a pain to carry around all the time but anything helps.
We always hear people say they never thought it could happen in their community....well, everyone should prepare anyways. Keep on the alert for suspicious vehicles, etc. And we have to get tougher on anyone guilty of attempting abductions on any level. The predator escalates behavior based on what he or she can get away with.
I wish I believed that thoughts and prayers can help....we need action, changes and awareness to prevent abductions before they happen!

[anitaj]

01:21 PM on 04/26/2011

My thoughts and prayers are with Ms. Bobo, her family and friends. I hope that she is found safely and that the kidnapper faces the full force of the justice system.

[KCM7]

09:37 PM on 04/25/2011

Beauty ... such a double edged sword.

Opens doors on one hand, attracts the sicko's on the other.

[syhy71]

06:09 PM on 04/20/2011

Funny how they can find 2 marijuana plants in the woods from a helicopter but they can't find 2 people???

[anitaj]

01:11 PM on 04/26/2011

It's all about priorities.

[Katlyn Trent]

05:51 PM on 04/20/2011

Here's the deal. Not from Tennessee.
Believe, basically it is a biker or a biker's trail. It has wildflowers or tennessee cornflowers near.
Could beUs Army Corps of Engineers parks, John C. Clayborn, Hamilton creek. Priestly river trail. Biker knew it was going to rain most likely. Place would be closed. Bike had extention for girl to sit. Look for someone with Bike knowledge.

[Jackie2000]

03:24 AM on 04/21/2011

Nearly everyone uses ATV's in the woods in the area. Police were asking about ATV's, as well.

Besides, the likely perp is already in custody. He's a known sexual predator -- and had intensified his sex crimes, stalking of young women (same age and very similar to Holly)
in the same area and attempted kidnapping in the days leading up to Holly's disappearance.
He was picked up in a neighboring town.
And he's been living/stalking in the same area.

Police are being all hush-hush about it - because he was reported to them multiple times, the knew who he was, that he was a registered sex offender and they FAILED to inform the public that a crazed sexual stalking pervert was preying on women all over the area.

then...he was quietly arrested just days after Holly was abducted.

The only thing they are looking for now is a dead body more than likely....(sad to say)...and more evidence tying him to her disappearance and likely murder.

[Janieh]

09:03 AM on 04/22/2011

They need to put all this information on tv and need to have the one woman who almost got abducted to do a composite drawing and put it on tv. Maybe someone could at least identify the dude then. I don't like the way all this information is not out here for us to be able to help find him. How do you know all this and it's not been announced? Could they show his picture to the woman who was almost grabbed in January? That's what I'd do if I was involved in the investigation. WHY HAS NO ONE JUMPED ON THIS?

[Janieh]

10:05 PM on 04/24/2011

If a neighbor heard her screaming why could her brother not hear her? The neighbor called 911 to say she heard screams from a woman. If the police would of hurried they would of got there before Clint even went outside and found blood some time later. Too much time went by to catch the guy then. Just botched up police work. They found duct tape with a blonde hair on it so he shut her up from screaming any more. He's probably been doing this kind of thing for years and lives somewhere alone so he can do what he wants with his victims. I pray she will be found alive though or escape from him.

[syhy71]

05:39 PM on 04/20/2011

First and foremost, my prayers are with Holly and her family. I do believe, however, the MEDIA is responsible for the rumors about the brother being involved. All one has to do is READ what has been reported and logic would lead most people to believe that. First, it was reported he watched her being dragged, that has been changed to him seeing her "walking into the woods" with someone that "looked" like her boyfriend, or her ex, depending on what story you read. My understanding is it was 7:30 in the morning and she WAS SUPPOSED to be on her way to school....WHY on earth would it NOT strike someone odd that instead of going to school she would be going into the woods?!?! MAKES NO SENSE no matter how you spin it.....WHY GO IN THE WOODS???? Makes no sense AT ALL................Still, I will not assume anything because the media has a funny way of making things SEEM different than they are.....Prayers to her and her family.....and for the sickos and wierdos making assinine comments, know that Karma is a mother...........

[StrawHat]

08:27 PM on 04/20/2011

People who live with houses backed up to the woods -- or surrounded by the woods -- go into the woods all the time for all kinds of reasons: a little exercise, come see this cool bird's nest I found, did you know that the watcha-ma-callit is finally in bloom, let's go visit the kissing tree, shooting cans off of stumps, hunting (it was wild turkey season), etc. They ride ATV's around. Fish in creeks. Sit in home-made tree swings. Sit on fallen logs and chat over a camp fire. The possibilities are endless. If her brother thought she was with her boyfriend (a man the family trusted) then why would he chase them down and demand their business. She's a grown up. He's with her. At the time, why would he question it? For all he knew, the boyfriend was going to propose -- or break up with her -- or ask her to save a future date for a vacation he was planning -- or any number of things he might show up in the early morning to discuss during the relative privacy of a walk together in the woods.

[syhy71]

09:01 PM on 04/20/2011

I am very well aware of that, my point is, she was ON HER WAY TO SCHOOL...one generally doesn't go skipping through the woods at 7 am instead of going to school.(I live in the mts of NC, I know all about the woods and why people go)...I am not trying to persecute the brother, just giving some insight as to why people thought his actions were suspicious....Some of your reasonings sound abit contrite...fish in creeks, kissing tree? really? She is a nursing student and was supposed to be going to school, not goin' to the "kissing tree".............

[Jackie2000]

03:35 AM on 04/21/2011

This whole thing is upsetting and while initial reports sounded "off" and naturally, one would thing "how could the brother not see this as unusual"...you have to realize...we don't know their routine.

We don't know that the boyfriend may have made a habit of coming by to see Holly off to school in the morning. That's what people do in a close-knit community.

It's turkey hunting season...and the bro may have thought he was there to use their property to hunt turkeys.....a VERY COMMON practice...so his timing would have been right....coming out early in the morning to see his girl off to school and go turkey hunting.

So......actually...it does make sense.

And very important -- it is NOT the media's fault for reporting what the TBI has been telling them. Unfortunately -- and this is a FACT -- it is the TBI which was feeding the public all the misinformation and then recanting what they had said the day before, then saying something else, then reversing that the next day and on it went.

How do I know this -- because the TBI issued "Media Releases" -- printed releases -- to the media and distributed them -- which had all this erroneous information.
(ie: "home invasion"...."dragged into the woods"....etc.)

[Janieh]

08:39 AM on 04/22/2011

What is the ex bf names? Have they even been checked out? Why no media attention to the sex offender you talk about being arrested 2 days after she was missing. Maybe he did it. Also, the girl who reported an attempt on herself in January could fully identify him and they could do a composit drawing of him for people to look at and possibly identify him. ??????? It very well could of been him.

[Kimiko Austin-Rijs]

02:19 PM on 04/20/2011

I am so sorry for this poor girls family and more importantly for her. If she is still alive she will be traumatized beyond belief.

[lilacluvr]

12:16 PM on 04/20/2011

If this is a little rural town, then aren't most little towns the same way in the fact that everybody knows what is really going on at any point in time?  And if a stranger comes to town - that fact has been spread around town the first 10 minutes of the stranger's arrival.
 
This whole thing is mysterioius but somebody has to know something.  We can only hope and pray the right person decides to tell what they know.

[Jackie2000]

03:40 AM on 04/21/2011

It wasn't a total stranger. The guy lived just up the road....less than 20 minutes from Holly's home.

He was arrested after she disappeared for sex crimes, attempted abduction and stalking several other women in the days leading up to Holly's disappearance. He's been practicing stalking a long time.
His sexual predatory history goes back 16 years -- he's been at it for a while now.

[Janieh]

09:06 AM on 04/22/2011

LIKE I SAY - WHY HASN'T THE INVESTIGATORS JUMPED ON THE INFO YOU ARE TELLING? IF YOU LIVE NEAR WILL YOU CALL THE TIP LINE WITH THIS INFORMATION?

[Dorothy Pryor]

11:55 AM on 04/20/2011

I Hope and pray she will be found alive, I have something on my mind that bothers me. if someone was watching the home or watching the familys coming and going, then they should have known the brother was still there, and that she leaves before him. So why would they take the chance of taking her and the brothers is at home? If this is a person who has did his homework then he should have known the brother was there and taking Holly could have backfired! Something stinks here, and it's not adding up at all. I just think it's someone she knew and trusted that took her, and the TBI and police know to and they are just waiting until this person slips up.

[Dorothy Pryor]

08:57 PM on 04/20/2011

I think the answers to everyone questions will soon be answered, just wait and see because the TBI has a theory in mind but they by know mean will give it away. You don't need Matlock or Columbo to solve this puzzle, all the peices fir perfectly!

[topkatnc]

01:08 AM on 04/21/2011

I agree .. it doesn't add up ..

[Sandy Sherman]

09:41 AM on 04/20/2011

Good lord! Reading these comments are sickening!

#1 - White women aren't the only ones that get reported on. But you certainly won't see people making such insensitive, cruel comments on those threads.

#2 - Does it dawn on ANY of you clods that the family of Holly may be reading these - and sobbing over your vicious comments?!?!?

[Monsieur Joyce]

10:09 AM on 04/20/2011

Says the...blonde, haired white woman.

[lopside]

04:41 PM on 04/21/2011

For every black woman or man you can mention whose disappearance has received national attention, I'll name 10 white women. You should either pony up, or admit that your "#1" point is simply factually inaccurate.

[anitaj]

01:32 PM on 04/26/2011

You make an excellent point, there should be more reporting on missing people of color. However the fact that Ms. Bobo is white does not mean that there should be no media coverage of the case.

Anyone being abducted is a bad thing.

[pk1973]

01:25 AM on 04/28/2011

Why does everything have to be about race? I mean there is a young girl missing, that is what the focus should be.

[IgnoranceIsStrength]

08:49 AM on 04/20/2011

Unintended consequences of the new sex offender laws. They are now unemployed, homeless and mobile. In my area sex offenders live in the woods in tents and burglarize homes when people are at work then move on. The state planned on building a camp but didn't have the money.

[Patrick Shaw]

01:37 AM on 04/20/2011

"She was heading to class at the Tennessee Technology Center when she disappeared. According to CNN, her brother Clint witnessed "a man in camouflage leading her from their Darden home into the woods." Clint Bobo told authorities that he initially thought the man was his sister's boyfriend."

Really why would he think that ?

Its not hunting season in Tennessee.

Ok a camo hat, maybe a camo shirt....but head to toe camo out of hunting season ?

I assume the brother is reasonably intelligent enough to know spring from fall....especially if he's a woodsman too.

And had the boyfriend ever came at 8am in the morning, on foot, to their house in camo to take his sister from the edge of the woods ?

That's a piece of the puzzle I am sure the

[Jackie2000]

01:51 AM on 04/20/2011

They all were camo there - - if you check out all the fb friends -- even the missing girl is posing in camo with her bf. that's not unusual there. even right now.

look...the guy that likely took her is already in police custody. the police don't seem to know what they are doing there. they are the ones who kept issuing press releases with all sorts of erroneous info. every day they would recant the prior one and say something different.

the guy another police agency arrested has been intensifying his stalking, sexual predator, attempted kidnapping routine in the days before this girl went missing. he's been tied to four stalking/sex crimes and another attempted kidnapping. he lived about 20 miles from her and her home is like a bullseye in the map of his stalking/sex crimes. he's also a registered sex offender. the cops were given all this before the girl went missing, but for some reason, failed to arrest him. it was only after she was abducted, this guy was arrested (quietly) within a few days.

i would leave the bro out of it -- he probably feels bad enuf now knowing that he watched his sister being led away to her slaughter. awful!

[Patrick Shaw]

05:40 AM on 04/20/2011

Yes...understood, my apologies.

He will be torn up all his life. Two direct victims really.

[Janieh]

09:08 AM on 04/22/2011

PLEASE CALL AUTHORITIES WITH YOUR INFO AND TELL THEM TO SHOW THE WOMAN WHO WAS ATTACKED IN JANUARY TO LOOK AT HIS PICTURE. MAYBE IT WAS THIS VERY GUY.

[Stemsmit]

02:18 AM on 04/20/2011

It's Turkey Season in TN,
Clint saw Holly walking off with someone in full camo thinking it was her boyfriend, who hunts in the area, he went to take a shower. It was only when he came outside to see that Holly's car was still there and blood that made him suspect something was wrong.

[Patrick Shaw]

05:38 AM on 04/20/2011

Sorry...my internet went down in mid sentence.

I meant to add my condolences to the family and friends for the fearful time they are going to right now and I hope for the safe and unharmed return of this young lady.

Its just a shame.

There are animals that live among us that we never know about.

One thing that we should always teach women (and men) it is always better to just start screaming.

[bluevalentine]

12:17 AM on 04/20/2011

The argument that missing white women receive better media attention is valid. Perhaps anyone wanting to discuss this on this thread might have acknowledged this woman's plight before debating the racial backdrop. To read this thread as a hole...it is chilling. The fact that this woman is white doesn't mean that she doesn't count. I think most reasonable individuals believe in the personal integrity of life. I wouldn't wish harm on anyone, and I hope I receive the same. As for the media failing on this topic. Can I hear a resounding....OF COURSE...they fail us every day on every topic. I expect nothing less. From where I stand we are all children of God. Period.

[pk1973]

01:30 AM on 04/28/2011

well said I completely agree...it is so sad all of it.

[Stemsmit]

11:35 PM on 04/19/2011

I went to school with Holly for 15 years. It tore me apart inside when I found out Holly had been kidnapped. She's loved by the community, her and her family. Me and my classmates adored her and she is one of the sweetest girls I've ever known. I just keep hoping she's alright and this whole thing will be over any minute now, but I have a sick feeling inside me that that won't happen.

It's pathetic to see some people commenting here can reduce it to something so juvenile. If you think this post on HP is one of the most opportune times to voice your opinion on racism so be it but just know you're not doing anyone any good except yourself and if that is so, I feel sorry for you.

[Kimiko Austin-Rijs]

02:22 PM on 04/20/2011

I am so very sorry for you. I know how it feels to have someone that you love harmed in a violent way. It is my most ardent desire that she is found safe and sound.

[Janieh]

04:13 PM on 05/11/2011

I think LE has it narrowed down to two different suspects, one I know of has had to give a DNA sample swab. He's from a family down there that's influential and can afford the best attorneys. I read where his family won't allow searches on their property. He puts out this info on-line so I guess he doesn't care if anybody knows about it. Blinkoncrime.com I don't know where their property starts and ends but I wish somebody could look around there for Holly. They have to realize it would be better to turn her over and try to make up a story about what happened than the alternative crime. I have prayed for Holly and I hope whomever did this deed steps up and brings her back - at least people could say 'I have to give him/her credit for letting her go. They'd be alot more lenient in that case.