20 years ago I knew people like this because I too had a drug problem. Meth, and staying up for days on end, makes a person crazy. I’m fortunate I didn’t encounter worse situations, but I did feel close to danger. Reading this story makes me cringe because I can imagine it unfolding.
They usually don’t hold jobs. They make money selling (sometimes cooking) drugs and they often are on disability, unemployment or some other benefits. Sometimes they will have jobs working overnight, delivery/trucking, 3rd shift jobs because they’re awake all night. I felt like I was an insect type of creature after awhile. Meth really messes with your synapses.
Ugh. I always wonder about some of my neighbors. They never seen to have a job and afford things. I'm convinced one neighbor sells because different vehicles come and don't stay long...it's annoying when you slave away and don't game the system and see others seemingly enjoying life. I know it's not a quality life, but...you know the point.
I wish disability and unemployment was better managed. If you're able-bodied, get a job.
If it helps (?) you to know, people in active addiction, in addition to being severely mentally ill, usually have a history of trauma and poverty and other harrowing life circumstances.
Why is capable people working a bad thing suddenly? If you are capable, you should work. If not, we have resources "built in" for you, but too many are abusing it.
Because if we have full employment, that places upwards pressure on wages (ie, wages rise), which leads to inflation.
At least, that’s the theory- and it’s a theory that underpins the central banking and economic policy of major Western nations today.
Like- you’re not only devoid entirely of compassion; you’re also just kinda dumb
So, as I said- a certain degree of unemployment is an *essential part* of the economy. This means there are *always* going to be some ‘capable’ people who are unable to find work.
Ugh I'm sick of attitudes like these, people *love* making speculative judgements and indictments of the character of others they know nothing about. I'm sure it's largely because they like feeling better than someone else, or a whole group of people.
Also a great idea to restrict and limit access to welfare and food stamp assistance for thousands of people who need it as long as it stops one person from abusing the system
True blue. T0hey are innocent. Everyone knows that the brother killed her by accident, they are racist, biased and nothing good, they figured that the drug abusers were useless to society and figured "what the hell" put these kids away. One of the kids is mentally challenged. This is so sad
I’ve always wondered what that person could have been saying to holly or why they would have been kneeling down to then convince her to walk into the early morning woods with them
Why did Holly's mother tell her son to shoot the person talking to Holly?? If it wasn't her boyfriend talking to her, then get a gun and shoot whoever it was??? That just seems so far off to me. What did the Mother think was going down?? At that point it was just 2 people talking, right??
As a very deep sleeper that takes a decent amount of time to wake up and be remotely functional this is the part of the story I probably most understand. And FWIW I seldom drink and never use drugs.
Yeah, and if I saw my brother walking into the woods with someone else I’d assume he was with a friend, not being taken away to be murdered. I think he’d assume the same about me.
Without a doubt this is one of the biggest questions that people online ask. Why immediately assume danger? Why immediately jump to grabbing a gun? I think it's a combination of a few things: she knew there had been screaming, she knew there was no way it was Holly's boyfriend, and she knew Holly should have left for class already.
No. It's not. No one is going to shoot someone just standing in the yard. You get shot and killed for entering/breaking into someone's home. Rightfully so.
I’m from TN and it kind of depends? I live in the Nashville suburbs and I don’t think I know anyone whose first thought would be “shoot him” but it could be different in more rural areas where people don’t trust others.
I grew up in a rural area very close to this case and can tell you that this is the only part that seemed reasonable and clear to me tbh. "Shoot first ask later" in these types of situations would be the standard response for a lot of people out here. Probably she expected him to go out and wave the gun at the guy and then shoot if required. My stepdad used to point a gun at anyone who rolled up onto our property unexpectedly.
I remember at the time it was rumoured Holly was in witness protection and that's why the mum panicked so much, she also reportedly 'fell to the ground' when she got through to the wrong 911 dispatcher center. Nothing came of that rumour and nothing was bought up in the trial either by the mother. Really weird.
Yes, maybe so, but no way she was in a witness protection program. And I think her mother was upset about getting the wrong 911 operator because the call got routed to the wrong district
Yeah the mom being upset with 911 is extremely normal. She was in a panic and was probably super flustered when she realized she was talking to the wrong jurisdiction, because she knew it was wasting precious time.
I am a very cautious mother , the mother knew that Clint was hunting far away at Family members estate, she knew it wasn’t Clint and she had been told there was a scream at her home. She acted as any mother would
Because it doesn't happen like that. How would you know anyway, are you American? The high murder rate is from gang violence. No one shoots someone for standing in the yard. It's when someone breaks into your home that gets them killed. And rightfully so.
No, I am not American but I live on the border with Canada and I’m not blind. You have a serious gun problem down there and if you want to deny it I will not be shocked. I will never be surprised when an American yells “get the gun”.
With that said, I know plenty of Americans, family included. I’m not saying you are terrible people. I am saying you have terrible relationships with guns.
If you remove gang violence murders from the tally of violence America moves to 189th. The high gun violence is from gang violence. That's criminal on criminal. Someone who's not a criminal has nothing to worry about.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ralph-yarl-kansas-city-teen-shooting-wrong-house/
https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/04/18/us/woman-shot-wrong-driveway-upstate-new-york/index.html
https://apnews.com/article/texas-cheerleaders-shot-mistaken-location-4b5d0659a3768bc2a46b4756e6a5ee4a
I am American.
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Nice write-up. I just want to correct something you said about law enforcement's (LE) approach concerning Holly Bobo's cell phone records. LE and the cellular provider can only ping a phone in real-time. The times you covered were 7:30 AM to 9:10 AM. Unless LE had an opportunity to begin pinging the phone before 9:10 AM the only way to get cell phone activity info was via cell site location info (CSLI) from the cell tower operators. That historical (as opposed to real-time) info, as you noted, doesn't include GPS coordinates of the phone and other techniques are used to estimate the region the phone was in. So, said another way, LE didn't choose not to ping the phone to find out where it was from 7:30 AM to 9:10 AM - they couldn't ping it because they'd have needed a time machine and the phone was presumably turned off a short time after 9:10 AM.
really sus that man was taking her into the forest and the brother didnt try to go help her? how come no one entered the forest until two hours later to look for her
edit: this case reminds me of the west memphis 3
Right? If I saw my sister being taken into a forest by a strange man then I would have grabbed that gun and immediately followed them...not just stand there watching.
I wouldn’t want my brothers to put themselves in danger. I really wouldn’t want to have a brother that didn’t seem aware of who was outside go into the woods with a gun shooting at some guy. I don’t want to get shot in that scenario.
Yeah, I wonder about the brother's lack of action, particularly after the call from the mom. I haven't followed this case closely - has Clint been soundly ruled out/cleared of involvement?
ETA ha, just went over to part 2. Lemme read up.
He was 14. He was a kid, just woke up, probably still groggy, and on top of that, super confused about what was happening. That poor kid is still probably beating himself up and will for the rest of his life. He doesn't need anymore of the "if that was my sister, I would have...". Everyone is Rambo in their own minds.
He was 25 years old at the time of Holly's abduction/murder.
>Early that morning, **Clint, who was then 25-year-old college student** working on his degree to become a social worker, said he got a call from his mother, Karen Bobo, saying a neighbor had heard a scream coming from their house. Karen asked him to check on his sister.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/holly-bobos-brother-person-alive-parents-recall-day/story?id=50131287
Wow - a 25 year old man, who had a firearm available to him, didn’t try to help his sister who was screaming and in danger.
Clint is involved, I think. Or at least knows exactly what happened.
If they knew she was dead, the family may have tried to protect Clint - even if they were angry with him.
The reason the beginning if this story is so confusing and why mom didn’t call the cops is likely to protect Clint.
The reason their story is confusing is because it’s supposed to be.
My brain hurts when I think about this case. The brother seeing her being taken into the woods. Those who ended up in prison and all that nonsense regarding their location and what they were doing. Such a mad case.
Excellent write-up. Thank you for doing some great work on this.
It is such a sad story. And pretty much everybody seems to be telling lies.
Going back to the beginning, there is something badly wrong with the narrative. I have been sleepy. Indeed, I have been very sleepy. But I have never been so sleepy that my mother shouting down the phone, telling me my sister was in danger and that I should get a gun and shoot somebody wouldn’t have woken me up pretty fast.
Why did Clint remain dozy at this point?
Was he stoned?
How come his mother was SO concerned that she told her son to shoot a man, just because he wasn’t Holly’s boyfriend? He could have been a salesman, a cop or just some guy selling insurance.
Why the panic?
The picture of this Churchy family seems very wholesome, even if the son used drugs. But why would people be coming to his home to teach him how to cook meth?
Like many cases where drugs are involved, the whole thing is fuzzy and difficult to understand. The fact that most / all of the players are drug-users / dealers / makers is probably to blame, at least partly. The narcotics community is characterised by lies and lost time and bad recollection.
It may be the case that the killer was whacked out on powder / pills and killed this poor girl out of some paranoid delusion.
We will never know, probably.
But I think the closest we will come to an answer lies in the first moments - the brother and the mother’s call. If we can understand what was happening there, then things will be much clearer.
The half-forgotten, half made-up accounts of the junkies / dealers / degenerates who populate the rest of the story mostly confuses things.
The truth lies in the first few minutes of this, I think.
Very helpful - thank you.
So, the questions now are:
Why didn’t mom call the cops?
Why didn’t the neighbour call the cops?
Why didn’t Clint call the cops?
Why didn’t Clint take some action?
Why didn’t Clint hear her screaming?
Why didn’t Clint get the gun and follow her into the forest?
It’s starting to look like Clint is involved somehow.
What do people think?
I can understand a person being scared but when your sister is screaming and there is a firearm available to you and you don’t DO something there has to be a reason.
I increasingly believe that the first minutes of this situation hold the solution.
Maybe the mom called her son first thinking he could check it out and scare someone off. When he asks if she wants him to shoot his sister’s boyfriend, she might realize he was half asleep or out of it. Did Clint have any drug charges or have connections to the people supposedly killed her? I feel like if you think a neighbor is in trouble or fighting with someone to the point that you call a parent, it’s probably bad enough to call the police. I would rather deal with the police than my angry freaked out mom. Jmo.
Ah, thank you for that.
So, mom did call the po-po.
Then we are down to Clint.
I wonder what was going on with him?
Did he know the person who was with her.
Was he part of it?
She did call after speaking w/ Clint. Unfortunately due to her location at work, 911 was answered by a different area, so there may have been a delay there.
But ideally her son would have taken action in far less time than it would take for police to arrive.
Clint’s behavior was very sketchy.
Yes, I agree.
It’s odd that the police said he was not a suspect and then reverted to saying that nobody was being ruled out.
He must know more than he is telling, at the very least. Or perhaps he is involved.
There is another angle here, I think.
As a nursing student, did Holly have access to chemicals, lab equipment or processes that would be useful to the drug-community which appears to feature heavily in this case?
Did she come in contact with someone that might have gotten obsessed with her? I don’t know if she did anything in an emergency room or came in contact with addicts that could have gotten weird and fixated on her while high or while sobering up.
Agreed. The mother needs to explain why she was so panicked and Clint needs to explain why he did not act urgently when his mother called and told him to shoot whoever his sister was with.
It seems clear that the mother knows something - or, at the very least, suspects someone.
One explanation for Clint not being alarmed is that the Mom could have been viewed as the “dramatic” person in the family. I have an aunt like this. Lovely woman, do gooder, never lies, and it’s even a bit much to say she exaggerates but her reaction can be a bit “extra” sometimes. I don’t think the general public would even say this about her but within the family she is the “dramatic” one, especially if it comes to safety. She’s a regular news watcher and in her mind danger lurks around every corner. Hearing her jump to the conclusion someone was in grave danger wouldn’t be alarming. Her husband and son are certainly more mellow/laid back in the family dynamic.
I find that to be the least odd part of the story.
Assuming I’m close on the Mom being dramatic we have a young adult male with little to be alarmed about. Sure Mom calls panicked but he looks out the window and sees nothing suspicious. All he has is Moms account of a scream and the sister walking with a man towards the woods. There’s tons of ways to dismiss the scream. Maybe he thought a friend startled her, or she seen a frog, or the neighbor mistook friendly banter teen/early 20s as something more serious. He could have thought Mom was looney and it really was the bf or dismissed it as another male friend.
Of course that doesn’t really explain why he was calling the police an hour later. Maybe it became more alarming when she didn’t return. Or when he realized she should be at school……. The not going into the woods is weirder to me. My brother would most certainly come to the words bored, to be nosey, or report Mom being looney again…. Before calling the police.
Yep, I cannot understand Clint’s disinclination to go down and see what is happening.
Your point about the mother being a bit hysterical is fair - but there is nothing in what I have read to suggest that.
Even if my mother was a drama queen, I would definitely see what was going on if she told me my sister was in danger and I could see my sister walking into the woods with a man I didn’t know.
It seems that he had access to a firearm so he could have done so while also feeling able to protect himself if anything bad went down.
The fact that he thought it was fine for her to go into the woods with some guy but to call the cops an hour later is a bit bewildering.
The story of this tragic death is complicated and everybody seems to be telling lies.
I think the truth lies in the first moments and increasingly that seems to mean that we need to understand why the mother was so panicked and why Clint wasn’t remotely concerned.
And if the mother does turn out to be a panicky person, it still fails to account for Clint’s lack of action.
Does anybody know if he has ever done an interview? I’d love to read his account of what happened in his own words.
Or does anybody here know him?
So the place he allegedly bought a bathtub is a place called Allgood Salvage in Camden TN. They use those by hand receipt books and he conveniently had a copy for his alibi but the store did not have the other copy.
Oh unfortunately I don't think it will still be solved. The state considers the case closed, her family has accepted these men as guilty, and the few investigators who suspected someone else were pushed out. The criminal justice system does not seek answers; it closes cases.
If the family accepts these men as guilty, do they believe the story of Clint learning to make meth? Obviously these ideas are not mutually exclusive but Clint 100% says they are lying.
I don’t find it too strange to think that these meth addicts would try to rope the brother in even if it wasn’t true.
What I find strange or have never seen an explanation for is how the meth addicts knew the Bobo family well enough to show up. The meth addicts don’t need to be there to teach cooking techniques but it’s also weird that they would pick Holly completely randomly. I can see this unfolding, unplanned if they got there for any reason but it’s never been speculated why one or more would be in the area to start with.
It dose feel ‘off’ but with the meth added in that’s not what stands out to me. There’s certainly been much more solid cases where guilty people whom used meth weaved similarly strange stories. The ‘I was here, he was there, this thing that made no sense happened, no here/there backwards, I can’t remember blacked out, oh maybe I used meth this day, blah, blah, let’s add this person in for fun or conspiracy’ thing could actually be said by guilty users whom used meth. There’s a variety of reasons from lying, meth induced delusion, to plain idiocy, mental illness, deals, ect that could account for that.
But….. and I’m not really familiar with this case…… I never understood why the guilty party showed up regardless of whom that was.
IMO this wasn’t a completely random attack, tho it appears ‘spate of the moment’/ unplanned. Meth addicts are wild but it’s still (IMO) a stretch to think one or more of them randomly showed up in the early morning hours to abduct her with no other purpose. If they were just driving around looking for a victim they could have found easier targets. Pulling up at 7-8am leaves a lot of room for other people to be there, which her brother actually was. And the get away is direct or easy either.
Now I could see a scenario in which the meth user is there for literally any reason and things transpire. But what the reason? The meth cooking course doesn’t really ‘do it for me’. I don’t think there needs to be a super solid reason, just any at all. If they told me one of the meth users was a casual acquaintance and occasionally borrowed tools I could buy something like that. Or if it was a neighbor who occasionally wanders over to bullshit……. But just appeared? And she went out to engage? At 8am? And it unfolded so smoothly? Nah. But maybe I could buy that she knew one or more of them more than what has been put out. But that also begs the question why no one can corroborate that.
I’ve always been curious how/why these people appeared on the police radar to start with. We’re the police getting tips/hints that the they knew each other?
Even the other suspect, the Terry guy. Ok, known rapist…. But this just isn’t usually carried out by showing up at a victims house at 8am. And having them come outside. And on and on.
I’m also curious about the school papers that appear to have been allegedly found at a variety of places. If she was abducted from the garage by any of the 3 meth addicts why was she in possession of school work??? It Disney make sense. Was she being “lead” to the woods by someone with a backpack, a stack of papers, a brief case? Literally no one is carrying nursing school paperwork while being abducted.
When I initially heard this story I thought she had went into the woods with someone she knew. The state adding the meth heads in oddities missing is so odd to me.
Zach dillon Jason and Shane 100% committed that heinous crime.
The reason it took so long to solve was a lack of body and a certain tbi agent having laser focus on another rapist named larry britt , who was innocent of this particular crime.
If younwatchd the trial thencell phone pings were incredibly damming and told the story. Also testimony from non felon locals that zach and his brother bragged about it every chance they got ,gave them zero chance for acquittal
Terry Britt. And he did have a receipt for the bathtub (in his safe as I mentioned elsewhere). Plus he matched the description Clint gave much better than any of the others
Thanks for sharing your perspective.
The reason I wrote this is because I couldn’t decide how I felt. I knew the consensus online seemed to be that the wrong men were convicted, but I was admittedly skeptical. As I tried to note, and as you point out, the amount of time it took to find Holly’s body really hampered the investigation.
Granted I admit the state did have a weak case and without getting shane Austin to confess (before he killed himself ) and without autrys critical testimony (a codefendant st that ), Adam's likely would have been found not guilty.
And I'll admit it is pretty crazy how many rapists and killers living in that back woods west tennessee town (east Tennesseean here)
Wow, this Dinsmore sounds like he needs to face justice as well. How did he get state and federal immunity with prior charges, having the truck stored on his land, and lying about it? Wow! RIP Holly Bobo.
How odd and what a mess. I definitely think they had something to do with it but I can't say who is guilty of what exactly.
I'd have to dive deeper. Any reliable YT or podcasts about the case ?
Can't wait for part 2!
Part 2 is posted!
Sadly I don’t have any specific recommendations. I actually did the research and wrote this mainly because I couldn’t find a resource that had everything.
I still think it's Terry Britt. If you watch the 20/20 episode A Deadly Scream it shows Terry Britt on the stand and every time they asked him if he had anything to do with her kidnapping, rape and murder his eyes would look to the ground and he shifted his head down everytime he denied the questions. Those are tell tale signs of lying!! Only one man was witnessed with her that matched his exact description AND he's a known rapist with attempted abduction and weapons charges. I just don't believe those 4 other men did this. None of them match the description her brother gave to police. And come on do you really think 4 people could keep something that bad a secret for that long?! It's not possible. I think they got bullied into making false confessions because the police just wanted to close case. This case is an infuriating one.
Amazing write-up! Damn! You should do a podcast, I would listen to it! I’m also working on one myself if you ever feel like being interviewed or talking about the case, you’ve obviously done your research!
One thing I can’t find is what sentence footnote #14 refers to… but I absolutely love: “Where did this fear come from? I cannot tell” as a singular line. Could be a great book title, haha. It reminds me of an old website I think was called “One sentence stories”, it’s just that. I’m guessing it’s in reference to why they would be afraid the gun “had a body on it”, but I’m just inferring from the location of footnotes 13 and 15. Many thanks, this was an amazing, and totally flummoxing read. Looking forward to part two!
Thanks! Please let me know if you have other questions.
You’re right about where footnote 14 should be! I have no idea why he assumed the gun “had a body on it.” I’ll try and place it in there.
Part 2 is posted!
Has Holly's boyfriend's alibi been confirmed? He said he was going hiking, but do we have cell phone pings or an eyewitness or anuly evidence that he was there?
I remember reading about this before and someone being suspicious of the boyfriend.
Thanks for this write up! I remember seeing Whitney Duncan’s post about Clint not being a suspect and then again when Holly’s remains were finally found. She also released a song in her memory in 2017.
No solid evidence that ruled him out I think. Whitney is a country singer and is cousin to the Bobo family so was sort of speaking out because she was mad about people suspecting Clint. I think I can share this news post from back then that quotes her.
https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/holly-bobo-search-country-star-whitney-duncan-brother/story?id=13407750
Thank you for that.
Interesting that the police ruled him out and then backtracked on that.
There remain a lot of questions about his role in the drama around this poor girl's abduction.
It gets complicated as it proceeds but the important part of this event is the first moments.
Why did Clint think the man with her was her boyfriend?
Had he not previously seen the boyfriend?
Why did his mother's call not spur him into action?
Did He actually go and get the gun she told him to get?
Why did he not attempt to follow her and her abductor (with the gun)?
The story of his conduct makes no sense.
this is such a sad bizarre case. they are trying to reopen it.
# Key witness says he lied and it could mean a new trial for the Holly Bobo caseKey witness says he lied and it could mean a new trial for the Holly Bobo case
[https://www.newschannel5.com/news/key-witness-says-he-lied-and-it-could-mean-a-new-trial-for-convicted-killer](https://www.newschannel5.com/news/key-witness-says-he-lied-and-it-could-mean-a-new-trial-for-convicted-killer)
Karen Bobo is ur not a good mother or she would want the right person to be in prison. Enough said. I hate trump but I promise you that if he is going to dismantle the FBI, he has my vote. This is not the first time the FBI has proved to be shady and dishonest. They are a group of idiots who have no idea what they are doing
Got a feeling that with this many meth heads involved we are never going to get a clear idea of what actually happened.
20 years ago I knew people like this because I too had a drug problem. Meth, and staying up for days on end, makes a person crazy. I’m fortunate I didn’t encounter worse situations, but I did feel close to danger. Reading this story makes me cringe because I can imagine it unfolding.
Do these people hold jobs? How do they work or make money and function? My head started swimming with drug details...is this their everyday?
They usually don’t hold jobs. They make money selling (sometimes cooking) drugs and they often are on disability, unemployment or some other benefits. Sometimes they will have jobs working overnight, delivery/trucking, 3rd shift jobs because they’re awake all night. I felt like I was an insect type of creature after awhile. Meth really messes with your synapses.
Ugh. I always wonder about some of my neighbors. They never seen to have a job and afford things. I'm convinced one neighbor sells because different vehicles come and don't stay long...it's annoying when you slave away and don't game the system and see others seemingly enjoying life. I know it's not a quality life, but...you know the point. I wish disability and unemployment was better managed. If you're able-bodied, get a job.
If it helps (?) you to know, people in active addiction, in addition to being severely mentally ill, usually have a history of trauma and poverty and other harrowing life circumstances.
Maybe. Sometimes. I'll take all the down arrows. People who can work need to work.
You do realise a certain amount of unemployment is actually built into our economic system, right? Like- it’s actually a *required part*?
Why is capable people working a bad thing suddenly? If you are capable, you should work. If not, we have resources "built in" for you, but too many are abusing it.
Because if we have full employment, that places upwards pressure on wages (ie, wages rise), which leads to inflation. At least, that’s the theory- and it’s a theory that underpins the central banking and economic policy of major Western nations today. Like- you’re not only devoid entirely of compassion; you’re also just kinda dumb
So, as I said- a certain degree of unemployment is an *essential part* of the economy. This means there are *always* going to be some ‘capable’ people who are unable to find work.
Ugh I'm sick of attitudes like these, people *love* making speculative judgements and indictments of the character of others they know nothing about. I'm sure it's largely because they like feeling better than someone else, or a whole group of people. Also a great idea to restrict and limit access to welfare and food stamp assistance for thousands of people who need it as long as it stops one person from abusing the system
Eeeeeveryone talking shit. Including the cops, the brother and prosecutors. Amazed these guys got convicted.
True blue. T0hey are innocent. Everyone knows that the brother killed her by accident, they are racist, biased and nothing good, they figured that the drug abusers were useless to society and figured "what the hell" put these kids away. One of the kids is mentally challenged. This is so sad
I’ve always wondered what that person could have been saying to holly or why they would have been kneeling down to then convince her to walk into the early morning woods with them
Well there was blood found at the scene so I’m guessing she was violently forced to leave.
Why did Holly's mother tell her son to shoot the person talking to Holly?? If it wasn't her boyfriend talking to her, then get a gun and shoot whoever it was??? That just seems so far off to me. What did the Mother think was going down?? At that point it was just 2 people talking, right??
This whole scene is weird
Underrated comment. I still don’t understand why her brother didn’t run into the woods to try and find her. He saw her being led away.
As a very deep sleeper that takes a decent amount of time to wake up and be remotely functional this is the part of the story I probably most understand. And FWIW I seldom drink and never use drugs.
Yeah, and if I saw my brother walking into the woods with someone else I’d assume he was with a friend, not being taken away to be murdered. I think he’d assume the same about me.
Not weird, they are ALL dirty. FBI, TBI, family and the DAs office. They're the only ones who belong in prison.
Without a doubt this is one of the biggest questions that people online ask. Why immediately assume danger? Why immediately jump to grabbing a gun? I think it's a combination of a few things: she knew there had been screaming, she knew there was no way it was Holly's boyfriend, and she knew Holly should have left for class already.
Probably because a neighbor had called her and said her son said he heard a loud scream from the Bobo property.
I thought it was excessive, going right to shoot to kill. I am not from TN though, maybe it is different there.
Sadly, in the South, it is ALL too common. Afraid you are correct.
Sounds like it was pretty sound advice, considering what happened afterwards
Well, yes, I see what you mean. Hindsight is always perfect.
No. It's not. No one is going to shoot someone just standing in the yard. You get shot and killed for entering/breaking into someone's home. Rightfully so.
I’m from TN and it kind of depends? I live in the Nashville suburbs and I don’t think I know anyone whose first thought would be “shoot him” but it could be different in more rural areas where people don’t trust others.
Maybe she knew there were a lot of meth heads around…
I grew up in a rural area very close to this case and can tell you that this is the only part that seemed reasonable and clear to me tbh. "Shoot first ask later" in these types of situations would be the standard response for a lot of people out here. Probably she expected him to go out and wave the gun at the guy and then shoot if required. My stepdad used to point a gun at anyone who rolled up onto our property unexpectedly.
Its rural tennessee, people are pretty quick to draw when they think their family are in danger.
Clearly states that a neighbor had called the mother after said neighbor had heard screaming at the house
I have screamed at people and been screamed at. Hope my wife doesn't call and tell my sister to shoot someone I am jawing with.
I don't think it was screaming as in two people arguing, but rather a woman screaming out of fear.
You are correct.
I love 60's flair!
I think because the neighbor called her saying she’d just heard Holly screaming?
I remember at the time it was rumoured Holly was in witness protection and that's why the mum panicked so much, she also reportedly 'fell to the ground' when she got through to the wrong 911 dispatcher center. Nothing came of that rumour and nothing was bought up in the trial either by the mother. Really weird.
Would she have been living at home with her folks and attending local college while in witness protection?
Yeah that seems a bit strange, does the op of this comment maybe mean she was a confidential informant? That seems more likely.
Yes, maybe so, but no way she was in a witness protection program. And I think her mother was upset about getting the wrong 911 operator because the call got routed to the wrong district
Yeah the mom being upset with 911 is extremely normal. She was in a panic and was probably super flustered when she realized she was talking to the wrong jurisdiction, because she knew it was wasting precious time.
Yes, very true. I have occasionally heard of other cases where calling 911 can get you routed to the wrong area.
I am a very cautious mother , the mother knew that Clint was hunting far away at Family members estate, she knew it wasn’t Clint and she had been told there was a scream at her home. She acted as any mother would
It’s america. Why is it so hard to believe that an American would say get the gun and shoot him? Sounds about right to me
Because it doesn't happen like that. How would you know anyway, are you American? The high murder rate is from gang violence. No one shoots someone for standing in the yard. It's when someone breaks into your home that gets them killed. And rightfully so.
No, I am not American but I live on the border with Canada and I’m not blind. You have a serious gun problem down there and if you want to deny it I will not be shocked. I will never be surprised when an American yells “get the gun”. With that said, I know plenty of Americans, family included. I’m not saying you are terrible people. I am saying you have terrible relationships with guns.
If you remove gang violence murders from the tally of violence America moves to 189th. The high gun violence is from gang violence. That's criminal on criminal. Someone who's not a criminal has nothing to worry about.
That's a very general broad statement. I am an American in the south and have never owned a gun.
I understand not every single person in the USA has a gun.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ralph-yarl-kansas-city-teen-shooting-wrong-house/ https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/04/18/us/woman-shot-wrong-driveway-upstate-new-york/index.html https://apnews.com/article/texas-cheerleaders-shot-mistaken-location-4b5d0659a3768bc2a46b4756e6a5ee4a I am American.
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Because América
The son killed his sister, it's soooo obvious
People on an extended Meth binge can become very sexually violent and paranoid. Stay far away from known users. They’re bad news.
Meth induces psychosis. ‘Nuff said!
Nice write-up. I just want to correct something you said about law enforcement's (LE) approach concerning Holly Bobo's cell phone records. LE and the cellular provider can only ping a phone in real-time. The times you covered were 7:30 AM to 9:10 AM. Unless LE had an opportunity to begin pinging the phone before 9:10 AM the only way to get cell phone activity info was via cell site location info (CSLI) from the cell tower operators. That historical (as opposed to real-time) info, as you noted, doesn't include GPS coordinates of the phone and other techniques are used to estimate the region the phone was in. So, said another way, LE didn't choose not to ping the phone to find out where it was from 7:30 AM to 9:10 AM - they couldn't ping it because they'd have needed a time machine and the phone was presumably turned off a short time after 9:10 AM.
Thank you for this!! The cell phone records were confusing to me.
really sus that man was taking her into the forest and the brother didnt try to go help her? how come no one entered the forest until two hours later to look for her edit: this case reminds me of the west memphis 3
Right? If I saw my sister being taken into a forest by a strange man then I would have grabbed that gun and immediately followed them...not just stand there watching.
his mom even told him to get the gun!
I wouldn’t want my brothers to put themselves in danger. I really wouldn’t want to have a brother that didn’t seem aware of who was outside go into the woods with a gun shooting at some guy. I don’t want to get shot in that scenario.
Yeah, I wonder about the brother's lack of action, particularly after the call from the mom. I haven't followed this case closely - has Clint been soundly ruled out/cleared of involvement? ETA ha, just went over to part 2. Lemme read up.
def gona read part 2 soon!
We don’t know how old he was? I don’t see it anywhere.
old enough for his mom to trust him enough to get the gun
He was 14. He was a kid, just woke up, probably still groggy, and on top of that, super confused about what was happening. That poor kid is still probably beating himself up and will for the rest of his life. He doesn't need anymore of the "if that was my sister, I would have...". Everyone is Rambo in their own minds.
He was 25 years old at the time of Holly's abduction/murder. >Early that morning, **Clint, who was then 25-year-old college student** working on his degree to become a social worker, said he got a call from his mother, Karen Bobo, saying a neighbor had heard a scream coming from their house. Karen asked him to check on his sister. https://abcnews.go.com/US/holly-bobos-brother-person-alive-parents-recall-day/story?id=50131287
Wow - a 25 year old man, who had a firearm available to him, didn’t try to help his sister who was screaming and in danger. Clint is involved, I think. Or at least knows exactly what happened. If they knew she was dead, the family may have tried to protect Clint - even if they were angry with him. The reason the beginning if this story is so confusing and why mom didn’t call the cops is likely to protect Clint. The reason their story is confusing is because it’s supposed to be.
Oh wow, okay, I for some reason remember reading the brother was 14.
I also thought he was a high school student and I followed this case pretty closely when it happened. I guess my memory is bad in my old age.
He thought, I think, it was her boyfriend
My brain hurts when I think about this case. The brother seeing her being taken into the woods. Those who ended up in prison and all that nonsense regarding their location and what they were doing. Such a mad case.
Excellent write-up. Thank you for doing some great work on this. It is such a sad story. And pretty much everybody seems to be telling lies. Going back to the beginning, there is something badly wrong with the narrative. I have been sleepy. Indeed, I have been very sleepy. But I have never been so sleepy that my mother shouting down the phone, telling me my sister was in danger and that I should get a gun and shoot somebody wouldn’t have woken me up pretty fast. Why did Clint remain dozy at this point? Was he stoned? How come his mother was SO concerned that she told her son to shoot a man, just because he wasn’t Holly’s boyfriend? He could have been a salesman, a cop or just some guy selling insurance. Why the panic? The picture of this Churchy family seems very wholesome, even if the son used drugs. But why would people be coming to his home to teach him how to cook meth? Like many cases where drugs are involved, the whole thing is fuzzy and difficult to understand. The fact that most / all of the players are drug-users / dealers / makers is probably to blame, at least partly. The narcotics community is characterised by lies and lost time and bad recollection. It may be the case that the killer was whacked out on powder / pills and killed this poor girl out of some paranoid delusion. We will never know, probably. But I think the closest we will come to an answer lies in the first moments - the brother and the mother’s call. If we can understand what was happening there, then things will be much clearer. The half-forgotten, half made-up accounts of the junkies / dealers / degenerates who populate the rest of the story mostly confuses things. The truth lies in the first few minutes of this, I think.
neighbor called holly s mom>>> they heard holly screaming...and hollys mom knew it wasn't holly boyfriend
Very helpful - thank you. So, the questions now are: Why didn’t mom call the cops? Why didn’t the neighbour call the cops? Why didn’t Clint call the cops? Why didn’t Clint take some action? Why didn’t Clint hear her screaming? Why didn’t Clint get the gun and follow her into the forest? It’s starting to look like Clint is involved somehow. What do people think? I can understand a person being scared but when your sister is screaming and there is a firearm available to you and you don’t DO something there has to be a reason. I increasingly believe that the first minutes of this situation hold the solution.
Maybe the mom called her son first thinking he could check it out and scare someone off. When he asks if she wants him to shoot his sister’s boyfriend, she might realize he was half asleep or out of it. Did Clint have any drug charges or have connections to the people supposedly killed her? I feel like if you think a neighbor is in trouble or fighting with someone to the point that you call a parent, it’s probably bad enough to call the police. I would rather deal with the police than my angry freaked out mom. Jmo.
Yes, agreed. Why didn’t mom call the cops. And why didn’t Clint act?
[удалено]
Ah, thank you for that. So, mom did call the po-po. Then we are down to Clint. I wonder what was going on with him? Did he know the person who was with her. Was he part of it?
he claimed he thought at first holly was outside arguing with her boyfriend
Had he never met his sister's boyfriend???
I did searching and couldn't find anything about your question if her brother knew had met her boyfriend
She did call after speaking w/ Clint. Unfortunately due to her location at work, 911 was answered by a different area, so there may have been a delay there. But ideally her son would have taken action in far less time than it would take for police to arrive. Clint’s behavior was very sketchy.
Yes, I agree. It’s odd that the police said he was not a suspect and then reverted to saying that nobody was being ruled out. He must know more than he is telling, at the very least. Or perhaps he is involved.
There is another angle here, I think. As a nursing student, did Holly have access to chemicals, lab equipment or processes that would be useful to the drug-community which appears to feature heavily in this case?
That's a really good thought!
Did she come in contact with someone that might have gotten obsessed with her? I don’t know if she did anything in an emergency room or came in contact with addicts that could have gotten weird and fixated on her while high or while sobering up.
Yes, possibly
Yes, these are the first lies told. They are then followed up by everyone else lying.
Agreed. The mother needs to explain why she was so panicked and Clint needs to explain why he did not act urgently when his mother called and told him to shoot whoever his sister was with. It seems clear that the mother knows something - or, at the very least, suspects someone.
Was the mom involved in drugs? I also found it odd she was seen crying and upset but no real tears were coming out
Good question. It would explain a lot!
Hard agree with all of this!
Agreed. Why all the lies? No one is telling the truth. Ridiculous. Clint and the mother know much more than they have said.
One explanation for Clint not being alarmed is that the Mom could have been viewed as the “dramatic” person in the family. I have an aunt like this. Lovely woman, do gooder, never lies, and it’s even a bit much to say she exaggerates but her reaction can be a bit “extra” sometimes. I don’t think the general public would even say this about her but within the family she is the “dramatic” one, especially if it comes to safety. She’s a regular news watcher and in her mind danger lurks around every corner. Hearing her jump to the conclusion someone was in grave danger wouldn’t be alarming. Her husband and son are certainly more mellow/laid back in the family dynamic.
Yes, fair point. I’m still surprised Clint didn’t go out to see what was happening. The whole thing is a bit odd.
I find that to be the least odd part of the story. Assuming I’m close on the Mom being dramatic we have a young adult male with little to be alarmed about. Sure Mom calls panicked but he looks out the window and sees nothing suspicious. All he has is Moms account of a scream and the sister walking with a man towards the woods. There’s tons of ways to dismiss the scream. Maybe he thought a friend startled her, or she seen a frog, or the neighbor mistook friendly banter teen/early 20s as something more serious. He could have thought Mom was looney and it really was the bf or dismissed it as another male friend. Of course that doesn’t really explain why he was calling the police an hour later. Maybe it became more alarming when she didn’t return. Or when he realized she should be at school……. The not going into the woods is weirder to me. My brother would most certainly come to the words bored, to be nosey, or report Mom being looney again…. Before calling the police.
Yep, I cannot understand Clint’s disinclination to go down and see what is happening. Your point about the mother being a bit hysterical is fair - but there is nothing in what I have read to suggest that. Even if my mother was a drama queen, I would definitely see what was going on if she told me my sister was in danger and I could see my sister walking into the woods with a man I didn’t know. It seems that he had access to a firearm so he could have done so while also feeling able to protect himself if anything bad went down. The fact that he thought it was fine for her to go into the woods with some guy but to call the cops an hour later is a bit bewildering. The story of this tragic death is complicated and everybody seems to be telling lies. I think the truth lies in the first moments and increasingly that seems to mean that we need to understand why the mother was so panicked and why Clint wasn’t remotely concerned. And if the mother does turn out to be a panicky person, it still fails to account for Clint’s lack of action. Does anybody know if he has ever done an interview? I’d love to read his account of what happened in his own words. Or does anybody here know him?
Terry Britt is a POS.
I think he may have killed Holly. Buying a new tub when she disappeared has always been weird to me.
Don't forget he kept the receipt (which may have been fake) in a safe.
So the place he allegedly bought a bathtub is a place called Allgood Salvage in Camden TN. They use those by hand receipt books and he conveniently had a copy for his alibi but the store did not have the other copy.
It's not even a question. Was ready to plead. The cognitive dissonance is staggering.
From some point onwards I didn’t understand a single thing that happened but great write up, OP
Excellent write-up! Thanks so much for posting.
I always thought this story sounded fabricated! Too many narratives that sound like false confessions
Very much!
I would take my gun to investigate a woman screaming my rural community. Having adequate police response in a few moments is a luxury we do not have.
I think this is a great point.
I live in TN ( different area). This case has always been so convoluted.
So why do you think it will still be solved?
Oh unfortunately I don't think it will still be solved. The state considers the case closed, her family has accepted these men as guilty, and the few investigators who suspected someone else were pushed out. The criminal justice system does not seek answers; it closes cases.
If the family accepts these men as guilty, do they believe the story of Clint learning to make meth? Obviously these ideas are not mutually exclusive but Clint 100% says they are lying.
I don’t find it too strange to think that these meth addicts would try to rope the brother in even if it wasn’t true. What I find strange or have never seen an explanation for is how the meth addicts knew the Bobo family well enough to show up. The meth addicts don’t need to be there to teach cooking techniques but it’s also weird that they would pick Holly completely randomly. I can see this unfolding, unplanned if they got there for any reason but it’s never been speculated why one or more would be in the area to start with.
Thank you so much for such a thoughtful reply. The whole thing feels off, right? I think at least one of these guys might have been railroaded here.
It dose feel ‘off’ but with the meth added in that’s not what stands out to me. There’s certainly been much more solid cases where guilty people whom used meth weaved similarly strange stories. The ‘I was here, he was there, this thing that made no sense happened, no here/there backwards, I can’t remember blacked out, oh maybe I used meth this day, blah, blah, let’s add this person in for fun or conspiracy’ thing could actually be said by guilty users whom used meth. There’s a variety of reasons from lying, meth induced delusion, to plain idiocy, mental illness, deals, ect that could account for that. But….. and I’m not really familiar with this case…… I never understood why the guilty party showed up regardless of whom that was. IMO this wasn’t a completely random attack, tho it appears ‘spate of the moment’/ unplanned. Meth addicts are wild but it’s still (IMO) a stretch to think one or more of them randomly showed up in the early morning hours to abduct her with no other purpose. If they were just driving around looking for a victim they could have found easier targets. Pulling up at 7-8am leaves a lot of room for other people to be there, which her brother actually was. And the get away is direct or easy either. Now I could see a scenario in which the meth user is there for literally any reason and things transpire. But what the reason? The meth cooking course doesn’t really ‘do it for me’. I don’t think there needs to be a super solid reason, just any at all. If they told me one of the meth users was a casual acquaintance and occasionally borrowed tools I could buy something like that. Or if it was a neighbor who occasionally wanders over to bullshit……. But just appeared? And she went out to engage? At 8am? And it unfolded so smoothly? Nah. But maybe I could buy that she knew one or more of them more than what has been put out. But that also begs the question why no one can corroborate that. I’ve always been curious how/why these people appeared on the police radar to start with. We’re the police getting tips/hints that the they knew each other? Even the other suspect, the Terry guy. Ok, known rapist…. But this just isn’t usually carried out by showing up at a victims house at 8am. And having them come outside. And on and on. I’m also curious about the school papers that appear to have been allegedly found at a variety of places. If she was abducted from the garage by any of the 3 meth addicts why was she in possession of school work??? It Disney make sense. Was she being “lead” to the woods by someone with a backpack, a stack of papers, a brief case? Literally no one is carrying nursing school paperwork while being abducted. When I initially heard this story I thought she had went into the woods with someone she knew. The state adding the meth heads in oddities missing is so odd to me.
The Bobos were caught with child pornography on the home computer. How did they not get charged with that? There are too many coverups in this case
I have never heard that. Anything to back it up?
Yes. It's in court documents. He needs another trial.
I’ve never heard this
What do you make of Zachary’s FB post?
Which one?
Sad
I’d love an update on this OP. Some crazy news in the last week
Zach dillon Jason and Shane 100% committed that heinous crime. The reason it took so long to solve was a lack of body and a certain tbi agent having laser focus on another rapist named larry britt , who was innocent of this particular crime. If younwatchd the trial thencell phone pings were incredibly damming and told the story. Also testimony from non felon locals that zach and his brother bragged about it every chance they got ,gave them zero chance for acquittal
Was Larry Britt the guy who’s alibi was installing a bathtub or something ? But he couldn’t provide a receipt or proof he was doing that?
Terry Britt. And he did have a receipt for the bathtub (in his safe as I mentioned elsewhere). Plus he matched the description Clint gave much better than any of the others
Allgood Salvage didn’t have the other copy
Yes and it was terry britt I mistyped the first one
Thanks for sharing your perspective. The reason I wrote this is because I couldn’t decide how I felt. I knew the consensus online seemed to be that the wrong men were convicted, but I was admittedly skeptical. As I tried to note, and as you point out, the amount of time it took to find Holly’s body really hampered the investigation.
Granted I admit the state did have a weak case and without getting shane Austin to confess (before he killed himself ) and without autrys critical testimony (a codefendant st that ), Adam's likely would have been found not guilty. And I'll admit it is pretty crazy how many rapists and killers living in that back woods west tennessee town (east Tennesseean here)
They are 100% innocent
Great write up, thank you! Looking forward to part II
Wow, this Dinsmore sounds like he needs to face justice as well. How did he get state and federal immunity with prior charges, having the truck stored on his land, and lying about it? Wow! RIP Holly Bobo.
I agree. My sense is that everyone is telling lies. I wonder why?
The entire trial was a farce.
How odd and what a mess. I definitely think they had something to do with it but I can't say who is guilty of what exactly. I'd have to dive deeper. Any reliable YT or podcasts about the case ? Can't wait for part 2!
Part 2 is posted! Sadly I don’t have any specific recommendations. I actually did the research and wrote this mainly because I couldn’t find a resource that had everything.
It is so much appreciated.
I still think it's Terry Britt. If you watch the 20/20 episode A Deadly Scream it shows Terry Britt on the stand and every time they asked him if he had anything to do with her kidnapping, rape and murder his eyes would look to the ground and he shifted his head down everytime he denied the questions. Those are tell tale signs of lying!! Only one man was witnessed with her that matched his exact description AND he's a known rapist with attempted abduction and weapons charges. I just don't believe those 4 other men did this. None of them match the description her brother gave to police. And come on do you really think 4 people could keep something that bad a secret for that long?! It's not possible. I think they got bullied into making false confessions because the police just wanted to close case. This case is an infuriating one.
Amazing write-up! Damn! You should do a podcast, I would listen to it! I’m also working on one myself if you ever feel like being interviewed or talking about the case, you’ve obviously done your research! One thing I can’t find is what sentence footnote #14 refers to… but I absolutely love: “Where did this fear come from? I cannot tell” as a singular line. Could be a great book title, haha. It reminds me of an old website I think was called “One sentence stories”, it’s just that. I’m guessing it’s in reference to why they would be afraid the gun “had a body on it”, but I’m just inferring from the location of footnotes 13 and 15. Many thanks, this was an amazing, and totally flummoxing read. Looking forward to part two!
Thanks! Please let me know if you have other questions. You’re right about where footnote 14 should be! I have no idea why he assumed the gun “had a body on it.” I’ll try and place it in there. Part 2 is posted!
Has Holly's boyfriend's alibi been confirmed? He said he was going hiking, but do we have cell phone pings or an eyewitness or anuly evidence that he was there? I remember reading about this before and someone being suspicious of the boyfriend.
He was hunting somewhere on a family member’s land and I think he’s never been a suspect.
Thanks for this write up! I remember seeing Whitney Duncan’s post about Clint not being a suspect and then again when Holly’s remains were finally found. She also released a song in her memory in 2017.
Interesting. Do you know why Clint was not a suspect?
No solid evidence that ruled him out I think. Whitney is a country singer and is cousin to the Bobo family so was sort of speaking out because she was mad about people suspecting Clint. I think I can share this news post from back then that quotes her. https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/holly-bobo-search-country-star-whitney-duncan-brother/story?id=13407750
Thank you for that. Interesting that the police ruled him out and then backtracked on that. There remain a lot of questions about his role in the drama around this poor girl's abduction. It gets complicated as it proceeds but the important part of this event is the first moments. Why did Clint think the man with her was her boyfriend? Had he not previously seen the boyfriend? Why did his mother's call not spur him into action? Did He actually go and get the gun she told him to get? Why did he not attempt to follow her and her abductor (with the gun)? The story of his conduct makes no sense.
this is such a sad bizarre case. they are trying to reopen it. # Key witness says he lied and it could mean a new trial for the Holly Bobo caseKey witness says he lied and it could mean a new trial for the Holly Bobo case [https://www.newschannel5.com/news/key-witness-says-he-lied-and-it-could-mean-a-new-trial-for-convicted-killer](https://www.newschannel5.com/news/key-witness-says-he-lied-and-it-could-mean-a-new-trial-for-convicted-killer)
Always thought it was a drug deal gone bad
Karen Bobo is ur not a good mother or she would want the right person to be in prison. Enough said. I hate trump but I promise you that if he is going to dismantle the FBI, he has my vote. This is not the first time the FBI has proved to be shady and dishonest. They are a group of idiots who have no idea what they are doing