Holly Bobo, 20, Tenn. missing. & Karen Swift

[Lady Cop]

well there's a big who gives a fuck... i don't think more than 13 people had ever heard of her before Holly was gone, and they were relatives. Holly was a good 'career' boost for her.

[Cheyne]

Tomorrow (12 October) will be Holly Bobo's 21^st birthday. She will be missing six months on Thursday. The Jacksonsun has an article with a timeline and interviews with her parents and brother Clint. (Unfortunately the Bobo's statements are only put into quotes, not in an asking/answering type of interview). There are some glaring inconsistencies with this story and the interview on 4 August 2011 with Jane Velez-Mitchell.

http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/201110.../110090330

Here is a synopsis of the article:

13 April 2011, sunrise 6:23 a.m. 41 degrees ground is wet due to an inch of rain the previous day.

4:30: Holly woke-up to study for an exam she had at 8:00 am in one of her classes at nursing school.
-Her father Dana woke up right after Holly and saw her door was shut.

5:30: Dana asked Holly through her closed door if she needed gas money. Holly asked her dad to leave her money-which he put on the bar. Holly's mother Karen got up to get ready for work.

5:30-5:35: Dana left for work.

5:30-7:00: Karen got herself ready, fixed Holly's lunch and stuck Holly's breakfast in the microwave. Holly is up, dressed and sitting at the dining room table studying.

7:00: Karen left for work.

7:00-7:10: (approx) Holly spoke with her friend HR by phone for a few minutes.

7:30: (approx) Holly received a call from her boyfriend Drew. Drew and his father were given permission to hunt turkeys on Karen's mother's land, but another relative had stopped Drew and his father as the other relative didn't recognize them. There is a "flurry" of phone calls between the three (Karen, Holly, Drew) to straighten this out.

7:30-7:35: Karen last spoke to Holly.

7:40: JB, a neighbor was outside his home (350 yards from the Bobo residence) getting ready to leave for work. He heard a scream coming from the Bobo house. He tells his mother CW about the scream and left for work.

7:40-7:50: CW called Karen Bobo at the school and told her that she didn't want to alarm her, but JB had heard a scream at the Bobo house.

7:50: Clint Bobo woke-up to the family dog barking. He saw Holly's car still there and called his mother to ask if Holly had caught a ride but Karen didn't answer her phone.

7:50ish: Karen called Clint to ask if everything was all right at home. Clint answered the phone and said that Holly's car was still at the house.

7:50ish: Karen hung-up and dialed 911. Karen gets the Henderson County dispatch. After a "few moments" she hung-up and called home again to speak to Clint. ( the Bobo's live in DeCatur County).

-Clint walked out to the kitchen after he spoke with his mother and he saw Holly and a man dressed in camouflage walking toward the woods. Clint states that he called Holly's cell, it rang 5 times and went to voicemail. Then he called Drew's cell, it rang 5 times and went to voicemail, "What that assured me was they were in the same place because neither one of them answered their cell phone."

-Karen speaks with Clint, who tells her that Holly and Drew are at the edge of the yard walking toward the woods

-Karen yelled, "Oh my God, Clint that's not Drew, call 911!" Karen states that she told Clint to get a gun and go after the man. She then hung-up and dialed 911 and reached Decatur County dispatch.

8:00ish: Clint grabbed a loaded pistol, walked outside and saw a "small puddle of blood" near Holly's car. The neighbor CW pulled into the Bobo driveway and told Clint that she had heard screams about 15 or 20 minutes ago. Clint called 911 at that time. Clint states that he could hear the engine of the first patrol car coming up Swan Johnson Road as he was dialing 911.

-Karen arrived shortly after the neighbor CW and the first patrol car.

-Drew was at work at 8:00

-Dana arrived at home at 8:30

There is more information on their feelings and the fact that Karen Bobo "fell on the floor" in front of secretaries and the principal at the school in the article linked above.

[Cheyne]

From the transcripts of the Jane Velez-Mitchell interview (4 August 2011):

Jane: Holly Bobo was abducted from her home on April 13. A man in camouflage was seen leading her right into the woods. This was about 7:30 in the morning; she was headed to her nursing classes -- studying to be a nurse.

Three days later, April 16^th, Holly`s lunch box is found near a creek, eight miles away from home. Investigators confirm there was also blood found near the home.

Jane: Ok. Clint, it was about 7:30 in the morning. Where were you? What vantage point and what did you see?

Clint: I was asleep in my bedroom and I was awoken by the sounds of our house dog barking.

Jane: And what did you see?

Clint: I saw the silhouette of two people in our garage. At the time I had no idea who either one of the people were. And then come to realize later that that was my sister and her abductor.

Jane: Wait, in the garage?
You were -- how do you -- when you`re asleep -- I`m just trying to get a picture. You`re asleep and then how do you see what`s going on in the garage? Ok, the dog barks, you wake up. Are you on the same level -- it`s all one floor.

Clint: Right. Yes, we have a one story house?

Jane: And you walk into the garage?

Clint: No, I saw them from inside the house and they were outside the house in the garage.

Jane: They were in the garage or outside the garage?

Clint: They were inside the garage.

Jane: Ok so as you watched, it was a man inside the garage with your sister and then what happens?

Clint: And then I got in touch with my mom and found out that Holly was supposed to be in school that morning and realized that that must have been her at the house and then I looked back out and saw Holly and a male walking towards the woods and that`s the last time I saw her.

a~snip~

Jane: So you`re saying you were able to call your mom before they left the garage and after you called your mom you see them walking towards the woods?

Clint: Right. And I told my mom that once I realized it was Holly, I said well, Holly and Drew which is her boyfriend were out in the garage talking.

Jane: So where did you find the blood?

Clint: It was in the garage, under where I saw the silhouette of them kneeled down in the garage.

Jane: When you saw them kneeling down did you think to ask them or approach them? How far away were you?

Clint: No, I assumed -- I was inside the house and I assumed that that was Holly and her boyfriend Drew and he was dressed in full camouflage so I thought that Drew had been to the woods and killed a turkey and brought it back to the house and the two were sitting there over the turkey talking. After I saw the blood, I thought that was blood of a turkey that Drew had killed.

Jane: Did you see the turkey? Or there was no turkey.

Clint: No, it was gone.

~Snip~

Jane: Now, I want to talk about this person who`s a sex offender who`s missing. I understand, Clint, you said that the man you saw leading Holly into the woods was about 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds. Here`s the problem, Victor George Wall, this sex offender who`s disappeared is only 5`5 and 130 pounds. So what are your thoughts on that, Clint?

Clint: Well, I stated originally and never wavered from the description of the man being approximately 5`10 and 200 pounds.

~Snip~

Jane: Clint, I want to get back to you, you were the last person to see your sister alive. You say you saw this guy, a big, tall, 6-foot guy, 200 pounds approximately, in your garage with your sister. They`re leaning down and you think they`re looking at a turkey that they`ve killed. But there is no turkey there.

And then, you say you go to call your mom, and then you see him leaving through the woods -- him leading her into the woods?

Clint: Well, the information that has come, as far as leading, I saw the two walking towards the woods, there was no leading, there was no dragging. They just looked like they were casually walking towards the woods. And it wasn`t until later they realized that my sister went to the woods in fear for her life. That she must have been threatened with a weapon.

Jane: But you called your mom in between when you saw them in the garage and when they walked out into the woods? Why did you do that?

Clint: I spoke with mom -- I spoke with mom initially to find out who the people -- I heard two voices outside our house and I called mom to try to find out who these people were outside our house. But I had no idea who they were.

In my opinion, Clint's stories stink on ice. He either killed his sister or knows who did. I believe the phone calls between Karen and Clint were Clint telling mommy that he had hurt or killed Holly and mommy telling him what to do to cover it up. I believe that Dana doesn't know what happened, but he suspects something between Karen and Clint.

Holly's body could have been placed in the trunk of a car, or a garbage can in the garage before LE showed-up then dumped that night. The lunch box and cell phone were then placed as red herrings in the case. (I believe both were found after anonymous calls to a tip line.)

[Kip]

Cheyne - thanks for the timeline and interview. Very informative.

I just have a problem with Clint being involved and the timeline. The neighbor hears a scream at 7:40. At 7:50, Clint is available to take a phone call from his mother (and apparently doesn't sound out of breath). At 8, the neighbor arrives and sees Clint. 20 minutes is such a short time to have killed Holly and hidden her body. How did he kill her? There were no reports of gunshots. A knife would have left a lot more blood than what was found. He could have strangled her - but he likely would have had defensive wounds.

He could have hit her over the head with something. But it's still hard to move a body. It's possible, but I don't think Clint would be that organized. It's unclear from the timeline whether Clint called Karen at 7:50 or vice versa. If Clint had killed Holly at 7:40, I doubt he would call his mother 10 minutes later to alert her to a problem.

Karen speaks to Holly at 7:35 and everything's fine. Holly doesn't indicate that there's any kind of problem with Clint. I just can't see why Clint would kill he 5 minutes later.

[Cheyne]

Kip, I see your point. This whole scenario makes no sense. The timeline is really tight. I believe Clint knows a lot more than he is saying as does Karen.

These are just my rambling thoughts.

This stinks of a cover-up to me, and the only reason I can think of to cover it up is that Clint is involved somehow. We only have Clint's word that he tried to call Karen at 7:50, Karen states she called Clint after she received a call about the scream from the neighbor, she then tried to call 911 and got the other counties dispatch, hung-up, called Clint and spoke with him again, then dialed 911 and got DeCatur county dispatch.

Why the phone call to Clint between the two 911 calls?

Clint states that he saw Holly and a man walking toward the woods when he went to the kitchen after Karen's first phone call. He then dials Holly's number, lets it ring 5 times and go to voicemail and does the same with Drew's number. Then Karen must have called the second time because Clint says he tells Karen that "Holly and Drew are at the edge of the yard walking into the woods." The Bobo property is only 2 acres and is bordered by woods. How long did it take for Holly and her abductor to walk to the woods? By Clint's account, it would have taken at least 2-3 mins. and possibly longer (the time to place the calls to Holly's and Drew's cell phones). They are still in sight as he is talking with Karen, so they were either walking slowly or Holly was struggling as her captor pulled her along.

If Clint had line-of-sight the entire time, why can't he give a better description than "5'8"-6' and 200 lbs. wearing camouflage."

If Karen did tell Clint to grab a gun and stop Holly and her abductor from walking into the woods, why did he grab a gun, walk through the garage and stop to look at a "puddle" of blood? He was in the garage area when the neighbor arrived, not near the woods.

[Kip]

I could see Karen getting the wrong dispatcher, then calling Clint back - hoping with all her being that everything was okay and Clint would say something like "Holly's here. It was just ____ and they were looking for his dog" - before she called 911 again.

My parents' property is 1 acre. The house is set back from the road a bit. From the back yard to the end of the property is a fair distance. I'd have trouble giving a detailed description of someone at that distance. It might have been hard to accurately determine his height if he wasn't standing up straight - he might have been leaning over if he was dragging Holly.

Clint was probably not concentrating on what the guy looked like. He was probably somewhat panicked and trying to figure out what to do.
Also, if Clint were making it up, he could easily make up a detailed description and sound certain of it.

I have two sons and a daughter. In the similar situation, I have no doubt one son would go charging after the pair, consequences be damned. The other son thinks things through more and likely would hesitate, going through various if-then scenarios in his head.

It's puzzling to me why dogs weren't able to track her - something that casts suspicion on Clint's story.

While I don't think Clint could have disposed of Holly's body in the 20-min time frame, it's possible he could have had a confederate who drove off with Holly. I have no idea what Clint's motive would have been, but with family dynamics, there are often all sorts of undercurrents.

[soothsayer]

Certainly all those phone calls -- and attempted phone calls, like Clint's to Holly and Drew -- are verifiable as to time, duration, completed or not completed. Yeah?

[soothsayer]

Missing from the new account is the bit about Clint seeing them kneeling down in the garage, in silhouette. i guess that can still figure in here; I just wonder why it didn't make it into the article.

[soothsayer]

Holly Bobo's family questions early handling of investigation

When Holly Bobo disappeared on the morning of April 13, the first Decatur County sheriff's deputy arrived at her family's home shortly after 8 a.m., about 10 minutes after Holly's brother, Clint, said he saw Holly walk into the woods with a man dressed in camouflage.

Today marks six months since Holly's abduction, and investigators remain tight-lipped about the case. Her family still clings to hope she will be found, but they have raised questions about how authorities initially handled the investigation.

The Bobo family said they are concerned as to why an immediate, comprehensive search was not done of the woods where Holly, then 20, was taken and that they believe a large portion of people who came onto their property that morning were a hindrance to the investigation. Other neighbors and searchers say a lack of organization seemed to complicate the investigation. Law enforcement officials deny this, despite multiple people describing what one searcher called "a mess."

.....

Robert Middleton is a hunter who lives in Decatur County. He says he is familiar with the area and that he helped with the search when volunteers were allowed to assist law enforcement.

"It was so disorganized I got disgusted," Middleton said. "I've hunted all my life, and I can tell if someone has been in my deer stand two weeks before, but what happened in those woods was a mess. Volunteers were trying to help, but at the same time some of them didn't know what they were doing.

"You had people giving out water bottles and sandwiches in plastic bags to the volunteers, and the volunteers were throwing down the bags and bottles and other volunteers were asking if it was evidence," Middleton said. "With the people ripping through the woods on four-wheelers in the rain, you wouldn't be able to track anybody."

MUCH MORE http://www.jacksonsun.com/article/201110.../110130314

[Lady Cop]

nothing new on Bobo, but another missing woman in Tenn.

Fox
Missing Tennessee mother Karen Johnson Swift would never have run away on her own, leaving behind her four children, friends and family said Monday.

"It’s not in her nature," Carrie Engelhardt, a friend of Swift's, told FoxNews.com. "We’re really concerned and worried because it’s been over a week now."

Swift, 44, of Dyersburg, Tenn., was reported missing by her husband on Oct. 30. Police found Swift's white 2004 Nissan Murano shortly after, abandoned near her home with a flat tire. Her cell phone was not inside.

Investigators have classified the investigation as a missing persons case, saying there's no evidence to indicate foul play.

Dyer County sheriff's deputies arrested a neighbor on Saturday for allegedly poisoning two dogs, including one belonging to Swift, the State Gazette reports.

John E. Hogshooter, 39, was arrested on an outstanding felony warrant for animal cruelty, according to the newspaper.

One of Swift's friends, who declined to give her name, said Hogshooter and Swift "may have had words" before she disappeared. Authorities have not said whether they suspect there is any connection between Swift's disappearance and Hogshooter, who is reportedly being held without bond at the Dyer County Jail.

Swift filed for divorce from her husband in early October, according to friends. She was still living with him at the time of her disappearance.

Authorities over the weekend scoured parts of Dyer County by land, air and over water, according to the newspaper.

Dyer County Sheriff Jeff Box told the State Gazette that investigators discovered possible evidence in an overgrown area, but declined to elaborate on what was found.

"We are searching for anything of interest," Box told the newspaper. "And we are still inspecting other potential evidence, which we have recovered."

Swift is described as 5 feet 5 inches tall with green eyes and blond hair. She weighs about 140 pounds. Anyone with information regarding her whereabouts is asked to contact the Dyer County Sheriff's Office at (731) 285-2802.





Hogshooter

[Lady Cop]

more on Karen Swift here:


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...z1d7aG8XBu

[Jezreel]

MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV) - Authorities continued their search for a Dyer County woman Wednesday, more than a week after she was reported missing.

For more than a week and a half, there has been no sign of Karen Swift, a missing mother of four.

Wednesday, friends were beginning to fear the worst.

"It's just frightening as every day goes by, and they don't know a whole lot more," said Swift's friend, Carrie Engelhardt.

But Swift's friends hope clothing found near the missing woman's home will help lead investigators to her.

"We hear so many different things on a day-to-day basis about what's been found and what's not been found. So you just don't know what to believe until you officially hear it from someone," Bona said.

Investigators say so far they have not been able to link the evidence to Swift. The state crime lab will have to analyze the items to know for sure.

"I do believe they are doing all they can do," Cathy Bona said. "They're searching fields, ponds and rivers looking everywhere they can with what information they have."

Meanwhile, investigators have released photos showing Swift's car parked off the side of the highway about a quarter of a mile from her home, and an aerial photo showing the spot where the car was discovered.

"She was a wonderful mom and a wonderful friend and she would not willingly leave us, so we'd like answers. We don't know where she is but definitely want her back," Robin Alford said.

If you have information about Swift, call the Dyer County sheriff at 285-2802.

http://www.wmctv.com/story/16001060/clot...unty-woman

[Harvest Moon]

I heard this on HLN while driving the other day. "Missing Karen Swift, Holly Bobo, Lauren Spierer, Kate Markham and Paige Johnson connection linked by private investigator Bill Warner". I am not sure that I buy it, since each of the cases seem more personal, but it is an interesting possibility.

http://www.billwarnerpi.com/2011/11/cnn-...swift.html

[Kip]

I heard this on HLN while driving the other day. "Missing Karen Swift, Holly Bobo, Lauren Spierer, Kate Markham and Paige Johnson connection linked by private investigator Bill Warner". I am not sure that I buy it, since each of the cases seem more personal, but it is an interesting possibility.

http://www.billwarnerpi.com/2011/11/cnn-...swift.html

Yes, interesting. There is a remarkable physical similarity between the victims. Several weeks before Holly's disappearance, a woman was approached as she stepped out her door in the morning to go to work. She was carrying a glass lantern or something, and when she dropped the object and the glass broke, the guy ran off. She fits the same physical profile as these missing women.

I don't know why Bill Warner spends so much time debunking the idea that serial killers don't travel far from home - there have been a lot who roamed far.

[Harvest Moon]

Several weeks before Holly's disappearance, a woman was approached as she stepped out her door in the morning to go to work. She was carrying a glass lantern or something, and when she dropped the object and the glass broke, the guy ran off. She fits the same physical profile as these missing women.

I don't know why Bill Warner spends so much time debunking the idea that serial killers don't travel far from home - there have been a lot who roamed far.

Kip, Bill Warner is saying that serial killers DO travel. He was reacting to the criminal profiler, Pat Brown, who was brought in by CNN to add another opinion to the story. In the video I posted, Pat Brown was brought in to cut down Bill Warner's theory. As in, to make the story more interesting to the audience and stretch it out to fill 15 minutes on HLN.

On the other hand, I agree that Bill Warner went into too much detail in the post on his website. Makes him seen less credible.

I have not heard the story about the woman who was approached prior to Holly's disappearance. Is that documented somewhere? I would like to read more. I have not been following Holly's case.

[Kip]

Harvest, sorry I wasn't clear. I knew BW was making the point that serial killers do travel. I think most people believe that - so I just thought it was distracting to his case to spend so much time developing that one specific point - and odd that he used only one example to illustrate it.

Re the other incident:

Investigators in the abduction of Tennessee nursing student Holly Bobo are studying whether the attempted kidnapping three months ago of another young about 40 miles away might be connected.

Heather Sullivan of Hickman County reported that a tall, skinny man in a gray hooded jacket grabbed her arm as she stepped out of her home early in the morning, but when the glass top of a lamp she was holding fell and shattered, the potential kidnapper ran away.

"I was scared. I was numb. I couldn't move. I couldn't say anything or do anything," said Sullivan according to local station WSMV.

Sullivan called police, who searched the woods. No one was found, and Sullivan said she hasn't seen the man since.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-2...04083.html

She did call the police at the time. I think it's very interesting that the guy apparently disappeared into the woods.

This link has a photo of Heather Sullivan:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...b-too.html

[Harvest Moon]

Thanks for posting that Kip. She certainly does look like the other woman who are missing.

I agree with you about BW's comments distracting from the overall case he is making. The main reason I posted the link to his website was so people could watch the CNN video.

[Cheyne]

Heather Sullivan looks a lot like Katelyn Markham (at least in the photo linked).

Ted Bundy had a physical "type" and he operated all over the country. Not that we are necessarily dealing with a serial killer here, but it doesn't hurt to look outside the box.

[Harvest Moon]

Heather Sullivan looks a lot like Katelyn Markham (at least in the photo linked).

I noticed that too.

[sharit]

Hmmm, Karens husband is no longer communicating with Karens family. Well that makes him look suspicious. LE searching river bottom just 3 miles from her home, and where her car was found. This woman is dead and i believe her husband could not stand to loose her. Her poor children are going to loose both parents. another sad story. jmo