Holly Bobo

On the morning of April 13, 2011, 20-year-old Holly Lynn Bobo, a nursing student at the University of Tennessee at Martin, was preparing to leave for clinicals at her family's home in Parsons, a small town in rural Decatur County, Tennessee. Her brother Clint looked out a window and saw Holly being led into the woods adjacent to the home by a man wearing camouflage. He assumed it was Holly's boyfriend and did not intervene. When he later found blood on the garage floor and Holly's lunch box in the driveway, he called police.

Holly's abduction triggered Tennessee's largest-ever criminal investigation. Thousands of acres of West Tennessee countryside were searched by ground teams, dogs, divers, and aircraft. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), FBI, and ATF all participated. Tips numbered in the tens of thousands. Despite the massive effort, Holly was not found.

The case broke in February 2014 when two hunters discovered Holly's skull and other remains in a wooded area in Decatur County. DNA confirmed the identification. Zachary Adams and Jason Autry, local men known to law enforcement, were charged with kidnapping and murder. The prosecution alleged that Adams and Autry abducted and killed Holly and that others helped conceal the crime.

Zachary Adams was convicted of first-degree felony murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated rape in September 2017 and sentenced to life plus 50 years. Jason Autry testified against Adams in exchange for a reduced sentence. A third defendant, Shayne Austin, died by suicide before trial. The case exposed tensions in the tight-knit rural community and the difficulty of investigating crimes in areas where witnesses may fear retribution.