BREAKING: Holly Bobo remains found, TBI confirms
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DECATURVILLE, Tenn. — Human remains found in Decatur County Sunday morning belong to Holly Bobo, the TBI has confirmed at a news conference. The TBI held the conference in Decaturville following an announcement late Monday. The TBI announced earlier Monday that the remains had been taken to a TBI lab in Memphis for analysis. TBI Director Mark Gwyn announced the findings. “It was my prayer as well as the prayer of many others that Holly Bobo will be found,” Gwyn said. “This is not over. This investigation is ongoing to get to the truth.” Decatur County Sheriff Keith Byrd confirmed Sunday that a human skull was found in a wooded area less than 15 miles from property owned by the family of Zach Adams, one of the men indicted for Holly Bobo’s kidnapping and murder. Hunters found the skull Sunday morning while searching for ginseng root, the sheriff has said. Sheriff Byrd spoke at the conference following the announcement. “Tonight gave them some closure, the whole community closure. The innocence of our community was lost when she was abducted,” Byrd said. “God put those guys there to find her remains,” Byrd said. He added that the Bobo family is doing “as best they can.” District Attorney Matt Stowe also was at the conference and said he had met with the Bobo family. He said there will be a news conference with the family at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the sheriff’s office. “We are going to make sure that everyone who played a part in the heinous crime that has attacked the peace and dignity of the State of Tennessee faces a consequence for that,” Stowe said. “You can delay justice, but you can’t deny it.” Stowe also said his office is prepared to seek the death penalty in the case. “We’ll be making a decision sometime in the next couple of weeks in conjunction with the Bobo family,” he said. TBI Public Information Officer Josh DeVine said earlier Monday that the remains would first be tested to confirm they are human, then forensic scientists would begin the process of trying to identify to whom they belong. Holly Bobo disappeared on April 13, 2011 from her family’s home in Parsons. She was 20 years old and a nursing student. She was last seen being led away from the home by an unidentified man. Zach Adams and Jason Autry both were indicted earlier this year on charges of first-degree felony murder and especially aggravated kidnapping in Holly’s death and disappearance. The two men are scheduled to be back in court in December. The TBI announced in June two more arrests in the case. Mark Pearcy and Jeffrey Pearcy are both charged with tampering with evidence and accessory after the fact. TBI agents believe the pair has knowledge of a video of Holly after she disappeared. Stay with WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News and follow us on Twitter at @WBBJ7News for updates on this developing story.
