Tennessee Nursing Student Dragged into Woods by Camouflaged Abductor
April 14, 2011— -- Almost 400 volunteers are searching the dense West Tennessee woodlands looking for a 20-year-old nursing student last seen being dragged by a man dressed in camouflage into the woods near her home, investigators said.
Holly Bobo was dragged "across the carport of her home… toward a wooded area" in the town of Parsons on Wednesday, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Both Bobo's mother and 25-year-old brother watched the woman being abducted and called 911.
John Mehr, spokesman for the TBI, would not say if family members tried to intervene or if they were suspected in the abduction.
Bobo is a cousin of Whitney Duncan, a country music singer and a finalist on the television talent show Nashville Star.
"My cousin Holly was kidnapped this morning," Duncan wrote on Facebook. "Please pray for her & our family. This is really sad & shocking."
Investigators initially believe the young woman may have been abducted from her house in a home invasion, but Mehr told ABCNews.com that "the suspect was never inside."
Police won't comment on what else family members told them or what evidence may have been left behind.
"The investigation is ongoing," said Mehr.
Between 300 and 400 people are involved in today's search, Mehr said.
Investigators are using sniffing dogs and a helicopter to comb the rural area around Bobo's home, about 100 miles north of Memphis.
Calls to Bobo's family were not returned.
Bobo is 5-feet-3 and weighs 110 pounds. She was last seen wearing a pink shirt and blue jeans.
Don Franks, the family's pastor who has known Bobo her whole life, told the Associated Press she is "a fine young Christian girl."
"The whole community is praying for her safety and well-being," Franks said.
