Holly Bobo Followed Kidnapper into Tennessee Woods in 'Fear of Her Life'
PARSONS, Tenn. April 15, 2011 — -- A Tennessee college student abducted outside her home as she was leaving for class complied with her camouflaged kidnapper who led her into a nearby woods because she was "in fear of her life," investigators said today.
Holly Bobo, 20, was confronted Wednesday by a man in hunting camouflage who forced her to go wiht him into the woods, said John Mehr, spokesman for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
"We believe he actually had her arm, holding her. We feel she was in fear of her life, so was complying," he told a news conference.
Mehr said investigators "did not see drag marks." He added she was "not forcefully dragged and she's like any other victim, maybe complying with her attacker, but she walked into the woods" outside her Pasrons, Tenn. home.
Bobo's 25-year-old brother watched from inside the home, but did not believe she was being abducted until later. He saw the stranger from behind and believed it was his sister's boyfriend.
Investigators initially said the woman was dragged from near the house's carport into the woods, leading many to ask why the brother had not intervened.
Her brother, said Mehr, "had reasons to believe [the man] was not an attacker."
The officer said that neither Bobo's brother nor her boyfriend were suspects. "We are confident of that," he said.
But police have no leads to the identity of Bobo's abductor.
"There is not a person of interest at this time," he said.
Investigators said they had found new pieces of evidence, including what Mehr called Bobo's "lunch purse," but but would not specify where it was found.
"They have found some evidence that is new and specific to the case," said Decatur County Mayor Michael Smith.The mayor called the newly discovered clues "very encouraging."
While refusing to discuss any other evidence, Mehr said reports that a car had been found containg Bobo's cell phone and some camouflage clothing was wrong.
The search by police and as many as 400 volunteers had scoured wooded areas of three counties over three days, at times during thunderstorms and heavy winds.
Authorities said they believed they were on a trail that was still warm.
"Folks, this is getting good now. Things are happening fast," a state investigator told a crowd of volunteers at the makeshift staging ground in Parsons.
